My Story

Tonight was the viewing of V-Day: Until the Violence Stops, a documentary about the V-Day movement started by Eve Engler, at Charis Bookstore in L5P, sponsored by Charis Circle and Men Stopping Violence. Facts come from V-Day.org and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Coming up:

V-Day Atlanta GA

As part of the 2007 V-Day Worldwide Campaign, Atlanta GA is proud to present a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds for local organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

5 April 2007 - 7:30 PM
With Special Guest Doria Roberts

Venue: Tabernacle

152 Luckie Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Fact: 28 Central African countries practice female genital mutilation on girls, usually between the ages of 4 and 12.

Fact: There are 3 types of FGM: clitoridectomy, the amputation of the clitoris; excision of the labia minora as well as the clitoris; and infibulation, the removal all external genitalia including the labia majora, after which the edges of the wound are stitched together, allowing for only a tiny opening. In Somali custom, prior to a girl's marriage, the best man uses a bull's horn to re-open the stitching for her husband.

Fact: The clitoris is a bundle of 8,000 nerves, the most nerves in a single location in the human body, male or female.

Fact: During WWII, Japanese soldiers were given "comfort women" on the battle field. These were South Asian civilians who were forced into military sex slavery between 1932 and 1945. Many women have been shunned from their children after speaking out seeking justice, compensation, an apology from the Japanese government.

Fact: Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

Fact: Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey.

Manhater? I hate cultures and societies that tolerate, condone, and promote violence against women, children, minorities, marginalized, ANYONE.

I have been encouraged to reconsider my sexual orientation based on, among other choices, my decision to sometimes NOT shave.

I have been asked: Are you a lesbian? Because I chose to attend a women's college. Because I claim my freedom to defy society's or anyone's definition of what makes me feminine or womanly. I choose to create, modify, and uphold my own images of beauty and sex appeal.

Are you a manhater? Because I wear a shirt that says about my alma mater, Agnes Scott College, "Not a girls' school without men, but a women's college without boys."

And these questions never come from strangers. They come from friends, people who know me!

Christian Peace Witness

Quick Facts

• March 16, 7pm: ecumenical worship at the National Cathedral with two overflow locations
• over 3,000 Christians processed 4 miles from the National Cathedral to LaFayette Park
  
• at least 222 people arrested in Divine Obedience
• Weather: High--41 deg F, Low--30 deg F (felt like 17 deg F), Precipation--(rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow) 2.49 in., Wind--ranged from 15 to 20 mph throughout the day and night
  

Key Speakers:

• Jim Wallis--author of God's Politics; President and Executive Director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal
  

• Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson--President of the North American Region of the World Council of Churches

• Rev. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, Ph.D.
  Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia

• Celeste Zappala--Gold Star Families Speak Out, gsfso.org

• Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr.--Director of the Hip-Hop Caucus
  
  

While I actively wrestle with the label of Christian and whether or not I claim it for myself, I participated in the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in Washington, D.C. on Friday, March 16. An explanation on the website offers the reasoning for creating a specifically Christian witness. However, I found the downloadable PDF interfaith invitation even more meaningful in my decision to invest my energies in this endeavor.

On Friday morning over 3,000 Christians from 48 states began to gather in our Nation's capital. I arrived on a coach bus with a group of 37 Presbyterians from Atlanta. We left Atlanta at 9:30 pm Thursday night and arrived in Washington, D.C. at 11am Friday morning. After being photographed as a group by an Atlanta-Journal Constitution photojournalist, we dispersed for lunch and various workshops.

I attended a lecture given by Rick Ufford-Chase at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, just a few blocks from the White House. By far the most motivating speech I've heard in most of my life. Few stick out in my mind. His most poignant statement for me was this: "Apathy is not an option."

After lunch with my afternoon crowd, Zeena, Azzie, Sophie, and Xandria, we returned to NYAPC for warm shelter and workshops. I attended the second half of the Extended Nonviolent Action Training for individuals considering Civil Disobedience and therefore risking arrest by crossing Pennsylvania Ave. from LaFayette Park to pause and pray for peace in front of the White House. The law requires that protesters (and I believe all civilians) keep moving in front of the White House.

The afternoon included debriefing and a role play on the process to expect in being arrested. Leaders of the CPW event had been in negotiations with the National Park Police in expediting the the evening, so that information was shared in this training. Experienced protesters shared their perspectives and encouragement for the discernment of whether to participate and what outcomes could be predicted based on various choices inside the process of being arrested. I participated as a peace witness in the role play and felt the simulation of being arrested. Very moving experience.

Next I headed over to the National Cathedral for the worship service. I planned on taking a bus from the Metro station, but I ran into a few from my group, so we started the mile walk together. At our differing paces, we gradually split into 3 groups. Thankfully, a few of us gathered in the basement of the church and were able to claim a section of excellent seats for the entire group. Eventually, almost all of us re-convened in these seats for the worship service.

In my state of reduced mobility I registered for a shuttle instead of walking the 4 miles with the crowd to LaFayette Park. In seeking out the logistics of this transportation, I walked around the Cathedral after the service with a few volunteers who had invited me onto their van. Eventually, instead, I ran into my pal Sophie (I will now call her Ebony because she jokingly referred to us together as Ebony and Ivory:)), who also was unable to walk the 4 miles, and we took a shuttle together.

We were delivered to NY Ave Pres and joined the worshippers there until the time came to walk 4 blocks to LaFayette Park and converge with the processers from the Cathedral. As early arrivers, Ebony and I were able to stake out a spot on the police barricade in order to see best view the Civil Disobedience. In the waiting time, we were interviewed by a Reuters journalist and photographed (extensively) by a Sojourners photojounalist.

The crowd grew in numbers and activity. We alternated between singing "We Shall Overcome" and "Ain't Gonna Study War No More." Eventually, we could feel the presence of the processers. Then we heard the megaphone commissioning of those participating in Divine Obedience.

On the CPW website, 787 people registered to participate in Civil Disobedience. Because of the large numbers, the Police brought buses to the site for processing. This action was planned yet unprecedented. If the usual process had been followed, the arrest process could have lasted until Monday due to the large numbers.

Ebony and I both longed to witness the arrests. We saw the first wave of 100 cross PA Avenue. We saw some kneel, others stand. We heard them sing and sang with them from across the street. We heard, though couldn't quite decipher, the three warnings from the police. But when the bus pulled up to block our view, we finally hurried back to NYAPC to join our Atlanta group for the journey home.

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:30 PM

Until the Violence Stops: Film Screening & Discussion Location: Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Avenue11189 Description: “V-Day: Until the Violence Stops” chronicles how Eve Ensler’s Off-Broadway solo show The Vagina Monologues grew into V-Day, an international grassroots movement to stop violence against women and girls. Join us to view this powerful documentary in anticipation of V-Day Atlanta on April 5 at the Tabernacle (with Eve herself, Jane Fonda, and Pearl Cleage!). This program is co-sponsored by Men Stopping Violence who, along with Charis Circle, will be a beneficiary of the April 5 performance.