Nafisa and I recall our first ever march, it was for ‘Stop the War’ during Mr Blair’s time!

Nafisa: “I remember so distinctly walking up the station stairs towards the exit and seeing a see  of people. We’d said to dad we want to march after seeing it on our TV’s. I was only ten.”

Selina: “I felt like I was making a difference. I felt it was my duty as a Guardian of the earth to look after it and its people. I thought to myself silently ‘I want to march, this isn’t fair. Why are we going to war it’s not fair’, then I heard Dad say ‘ I will go’ and three voices behind him – my two sisters and I – following with ‘us too!’ and we got ready, and made our way with placards in hand too. “

Thirteen years later and me and Nafisa are still marching for causes and rallying troops together. Recently we went on the #equalpayday march with the women of USTWO, Nicki Sprinz rallied us all together, placard in hand, gloves on and voice ready to let the world know WHY.

Before the march we’d seen the hashtag and there was a whisper that women across the country would leave their desks and walk out of offices across the city. We approached women we saw and asked quietly ‘Are you coming? ‘ and the nod was a sign we were going to unite on the streets of Shoreditch. As we walked through the city we had female cab drivers beep their horns, men peering of their glass offices saluting us and women marching to meetings in high heels giving us a thumbs up and a smile. If we got even one person tweeting or talking about it we had a small win on our hands. 

#whyIMarch To protect the rights of everyone & to stand in solidarity with the women & men marching in the US on 21st Jan. @womensmarchlon pic.twitter.com/OCvtzOOISn

— Nicki Sprinz (@Sprinzette) December 18, 2016

If current trends continue, women won't see equal pay for another 116 years #EqualPayDay #IcantBelieveWeareStillProtestingThis pic.twitter.com/XAfzAaHS1j

— zeyneb varol (@zeynebvarol) December 5, 2016

We also did a walk for Syria where I took my daughter Aishah. Children are also never too young to understand that they too, can be part of change and are very much part of a community. To make change in the world, you have to change gear and step out into our dysfunctional yet beautiful world and take action. 

I share this hadith time and time again, but it is the answer to why we attend Marches and if you are ever disheartened, then have a read.

In the past 24 hours, there have been 11.5 million #WomensMarch Tweets sent around the world pic.twitter.com/XZ3V4Bf0l3

— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) January 22, 2017

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23womensmarch&src=tyah&lang=en