The idea behind this essay isn’t an incredible insight of mine about changing society. Even a casual reading of history, it is abundantly apparent. Social moments evolve by the actions of those who feel oppressed. White males didn’t start the civil rights movements in America.

Black Lives Matter started on July 13, 2013. There weren’t any white people involved in its founding. Blacks founded it. And interestingly, three black women founded it: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.

Its predecessor was the civil rights movement of the 60s. That civil rights movement actually began on a bus in Montgomery, AL, in 1955. Again, whites weren’t involved in the naissance of that movement. Also, it was started by a black woman, Rosa Parks. Whites prohibited her from sitting in the front of the bus.

A century before, a black woman, Elizabeth Jennings, started a civil rights movement in 1854 in New York City. That was a half dozen years before the Civil War. She boarded a streetcar on her way to the church where she was the organist. The conductor and a cop threw her off the streetcar.

The oppressors never initiated necessary social reforms. Today, many other social justice movements address poverty, voting rights, xenophobia, and anti-LGBT. All of these movements were started by the oppressed group.

Another significant social movement deals with sexism. Here again, men are telling women about their reproductive rights. Men tell women about birth control from the Supreme Court down to the smallest community in our country. Justice Clarence Thomas wants the Supreme to look at the issue of mediation for abortions and even the use of birth control pills. Thomas decides on ethical decisions for women but doesn’t follow an ethical course in his life.

While women’s rights are an issue in the States, they aren’t limited to our country. The most recent protests in Iran resulted from the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police in September 2022. The killing was the result of Mahsa not wearing hijab properly. Think about this. Men killed a woman due to her not wearing a hijab properly?

Mahsa Amini

This video tracks the protests in response to the murder of Mahsa.

Aljazeera featured this video in April 2023.

In Aljazeera’s article, many males in the country and the government insist that women wear hijabs. The morality police will arrest women for disobeying their mandate.

It is interesting that women throughout the world have an advantage over sexist and misogynist males. They outnumber males. That is why Mahsa should be a mentor to all women.

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This is an excellent video of the history of the equality of the sexes in Iran.