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V-Day (The 15th annual celebration) February 14th 2013
"One Billion Rising!"
By mickielynn on 2013-02-12 11:39:42
[caption id="attachment_4134" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="1 Billion rising: Dance as a powerful, non-
violent, creative protest and catalyst for change."]
T Py
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| Lh mil Win) ia,
ai “4
Ay
be [/caption]
ONE BILLION RISING
Strike/Dance/Rise
Thank you for joining ONE BILLION RISING, V-Day's most ambitious campaign yet. When we started V-Day
14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women. Since then, hundreds of
thousands of V-Day activists in audiences and on stages in over 140 countries have come together to demand an
end to violence against women and girls. The funds we've raised together have kept organizations’ doors open,
and the issue front and center in local media. But still today, the United Nations states that 1 in 3 women on the
planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime that's more than one billion women and girls alive today. V-
Day wants the world to see our collective strength, showing them exactly what one billion looks like. ONE
BILLION RISING is a promise that on February 14th, 2013, we will ensure that millions of women and men
rise up around the world to say, "ENOUGH. The violence ends NOW."
[caption id="attachment_4129" align="alignleft" width="271" caption=" Logo for and link to 1 Billion Rising the campaign
TBILLION 22 5) 38.
against violence toward women and girls worldwide."] [/caption] This is a
statement by Eve Ensler the playwright and author of The Vagina Monologues and the person who helped create V-Day to
bring attention to the horrific violence against women, girls and young men all over the world. As of last week there were
people signed up to act against this violence in 197 nations of the world. Violence against women and children takes many
forms, including rape as a weapon of war, such as in the Congo and in the ethnic struggles in the former Yugoslavia. It also
takes the form of denying women and girls control over their reproductive health and trying to force them to become
"uterine replicators" against their will by denying them contraception and sex education. Lifelong violence comes in the
form of economic and power discrimination that creates lives of poverty and denial and discrimination about job, wages, and
education. Wars, drone violence, and occupation create special situations where injury and loss are part of women's and
children's lives. This particular day is meant to call attention to and bring about change in the situation of explicitly physical
violence. Here's more from the V-Day website:
To date, V-Day has raised over $60 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women
and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and
funded over 5000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Egypt, Kenya, South Dakota,
Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, and Iraq. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory [over Violence],
Valentine and Vagina.
Here's a page with several informative videos and other sources of information if you want to read further. I especially
recommend the 12 minute video of an interview with Thandie Newton on UK's channel 4 called "violence against women is
a pandemic.
Embedded video at http://www.youtube.com/embed/WdxJSZY-IBA?feature=player_detailpage
There are local events in the Capital District of NY and all over the US on Thursday, February 14th but whether you attend
one or not the question remains:, "What are you doing in your own life to stop violence against women?" On V-Day,
February 14, 2013, I've added the words to Eve Ensler's newest monologue composed in India where some of the most
recent mass rapes have taken place: Eve has just written a new piece which she composed during her recent travels in India,
amidst the incredible uprising there. We envision this monologue as a beautiful addition to your event to motivate the
participants to dance. RISING Written in Kerala for the women of India who lead the way This could have been anywhere
And was Mexico City Manila Mumbai Manhattan Nighttime men waiting like wolves Drooling for prey behind that single
dimly painted door paying nothing a couple of dollars or euros rupees or pesos to have her Enter her Eat her Devour her and
throw away her bones. This could have been anywhere And was A Buddhist nun on a bus Trying to stay dry for the night A
woman leader speaking out against The repressive government A young woman traveling with her boyfriend One lost her
voice The other her following The last one her life This could have been anywhere and was Pink wooden crosses A stack of
stones Red wilting carnations Empty chairs in a square Ribbons flying in a sultry wind I ask Anna Nighat Kamla Monique
Tanisha Emily Why Why Porque Eran Mujeres Parce qu'elles étaient des femmes Because they were women Because they
were women This could have been anywhere And was Where she got fired for being too beautiful Fined for drinking after
she was raped A serious offer to marry her rapist Got told it was legitimate but not forcible This could have been anywhere
They do such a thing When the girls go for fire wood Step into the lonely man’s car Drink a little too much at the college
party Wake up with her uncle’s fingers inside Run from the screaming machete and guns Be taken at sunrise Get a bullet in
the brain for learning the alphabet Be stoned for falling in love Be burned for seeing the future I am done Cataloguing these
horrors Data Porn 2 million women raped and tortured 1 out of 3 women a woman raped every minute every second one out
of 2 one out of 5 the same one one one I am done counting And recounting Its time to tell a new story It needs to be our
story It needs to be outrageous and unexpected It needs to lose control in the middle It needs to be sexy and in our hips And
our feet It needs to be angry and a little scary the way storms can be scary It needs to not ask permission Or get permits or
set up offices Or make salaries It wont be recorded or bought or sold Or counted It needs to just happen It is not a question
of inventing But remembering Buried under the leaves of trauma and sorrow Beneath the river of semen and squalor vaginas
and labias shredded and extracted stolen body mines mined bodies It is not about asking now Or waiting It is about rising
Raise your arm my sister my brother Raise your one Billion Your one heart Your one of us I used to be afraid of love It hurt
too much What never happened What got ripped away The rape The wound And love I thought was salt But I was wrong I
was wrong Step into the fire Raise your arm Raise your one Billion One One One Rising. Rising. Rising. Eve Ensler for One
Billion Rising
