Listen to MaryBe's poem for women in the Fight for $15

Stand Up KC Poem by MaryBe McMillan

North Carolina State AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer MaryBe McMillan traveled to Kansas City last week to address the Fannie Lou Hamer Women’s Committee of Stand Up KC, where she performed a spoken-word piece - a poem written in honor of Women's Equality Week.

Give it a listen on SoundCloud:

Women deserve an equal wage
We’re worth more than pocket change
Earning 78 cents to the man’s dollar
Is enough to make a grown woman holler
We work just as hard as the guys
But it’s less our paycheck buys
Enough of getting nickel and dimed
While the bills fall further behind

We want fair and equal pay
Anything less is not okay
We want equal opportunity too
And not just for a select few
We women have what it takes to lead
And in case it’s a reminder you need
Look at Ella Baker, Norma Rae
And all us sisters here today

We are the Fight for $15
And we’re like nothing you’ve ever seen
We’ll stand up and fight like Fannie Lou Hamer
Too bad if you want us to act any tamer
We’re taking on this town
And we’re not backing down
We will not go away
Until all have better pay

We’ll show politicians the door
Who say we aren’t worth any more
We’ll strike, we’ll rally in the street
And united, there will be no defeat
All across this land
Wages will expand
Unions will grow
And everyone will know

We women led this fight
And we won because of our might
We’re like nothing you’ve ever seen
We are the unstoppable, indomitable, phenomenal Fight for $15

While you're at it, listen to Labor's poem for the Moral March.

Check out this Instagram by Stand Up KC:

"2/3 of the 20 million low wage workers in America are women. And when those workers take to the streets against the largest corporations in the world like McDonald's, it inspires all working people." - MaryBe McMillan, Secretary Treasurer North Carolina AFL-CIO #AFLCIO #StandUpKC #FightFor15 #KansasCity

A photo posted by Stand Up KC (@standupkc) on Aug 29, 2015 at 4:17pm PDT