I loved the movie Gladiator. Memory tells me, I went to see the film anywhere from 6 to 8 times on the big screen. I was mesmerized by it. Such a colossal spectacle in every single way – the music, the opening battle sequence, the costumes, the plot, the words, the vengeance, the colosseum battles, and the brilliance of Maximus Decimus Meridius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Lucilla, Proximo, and Senator Gracchus. Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North and General of the Felix Legions, is perhaps one of Hollywood’s greatest military commanders. A just commander, a good killer, an honorable leader, a man-of-word, noble, compassionate, who fights for what is best for the people and the glory of Rome. “There’s no one left to fight sire.” Tells Maximums to the Emperor after the opening battle, Marcus Aurelius replies “Ah, there is always someone left to fight.” And then, a bit later, Marcus Aurelius tells Maximus he must do one more thing for Rome. Just like now. “They care about the greatest of Rome,” Lucilla tells Commodus. Commodus responds, “The greatness of Rome? And, what is that? “It’s an idea. Greatness. Greatness is a vision,” Lucilla, ever the Caesar that could never be. Marcus Aurelius on his last night alive, tells his daughter when he meets her later after the battle, “If only you had been born a man, what a Caesar you would have made. You would’ve been strong, I wonder, would you have been just?”And she was the Caesar. Only she wasn’t. Just like now but different.Everything is so colossal. Commodus reins and the games are running on an insane double edge knife. On one edge, proclivity towards genocidal warfare tactics, and global extinction on the other. The original sins, the Native Nations’ near genocide and slavery built the nation and its worst mistakes coming back to bite us in the ass.In this metaphor of sorts, we, the resistance, are Maximus, and the women, Lucilla. There is a knowing, that there is a way to make the dream, arguably the greatest dream that ever lived, a reality. Called to do one last thing for Rome, the resistance rises because there is a belief that it is possible to rise to true greatness. The dream, the promise, and democracy seem to be cracking at record speeds and it is frightening. The empire slowly and steadily losing its footing. Humbling lessons for Rome.
This Commodus, along corrupt senators and closest allies are throwing filth and base vitriol of all sorts to get their way. They live in an alternative reality. One, where white supremacy seeks to duel us all to death. I’m beginning to believe there indeed is a colonized planet out there in the solar system where they, those who survive, will go to when they finish taking everything they can, and the earth collapses.Lucilla, a true Caesar if ever there was one, relegated to the side for being a woman, in the end, was the one that led the men to pick up the good man that died striving to avenge the death of his family and the death of the great empire. So, #IStrikeFor that very essence…A Day Without a Woman is my stand of solidarity for the thousands of women who fought long years and hard for equity and standing.
#IStrikeFor the rights and dignity of billions of women around the globe; of billions of innocent people;black, yellow, red, and brown people - la quinta raza; Native Nations; Puerto Rico; Latin Americans Muslims; the Jewish people; Palestinians; asylum seekers; immigrants from all over the world no matter their religions; the disabled; the LGBTQ family; students; poor people of all shapes, colors, sizes, ethnicities, and faiths; veterans; prisoners of war; incarcerated and abused human beings; education; the importance of Net; Neutrality; healthcare; Planned Parenthood; humanists; whistleblowers; artists; arts and culture; Water; the Amazon and the Congo rainforest; oceans and ocean life; the crops; precious minerals; life; and our earth.