Today is the day. If you wear
denim today or you don't, the IMPORTANT thing is to remember that no one deserves to be raped, no one deserves to be beaten, and we can all encourage education to overcome rape culture and domestic violence.
Sexual abuse and domestic violence happens across racial, social, and economic boundaries. We have seen this in our society and across the globe.
Sex trafficking is another manifestation of this "hidden" violence in our local and global society. Educating ourselves about this modern day slavery is something we can all do. I had no idea that
Atlanta was, because of the high volume of air traffic at Atlanta-Hartsfield airport, a hub for the sex trafficking trade!
There are organizations across this country and around the world standing up to sexual abuse and domestic violence. Do what you can to help end this scourge on humanity.
As another blogger reminded me, we have seen this, and worse, in the Native American/First Nations populations on reservations here in our own country that have been neglected/overlooked. Which leads me to another topic that, as a nation, we have not faced: systemic racism in our society. This is not an issue that is solely relegated to America. It exists in other countries, too. Many of you have written about situations in your own countries and how they are or are not being addressed. I'm only talking about here today.
It's been said that history is written by the victors. Here in America, history has been written by the privileged. The general and accepted history of the founding of this country, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and more, has not been written by those who have suffered, but by those who have prospered. People of understanding have written VOLUMES of information about these subjects, but sadly, have not been read or even acknowledged, for the most part, outside of academia or ethnic communities. Perhaps it's because of the internet and the 24 hour news cycle that white people are starting to see what people of color (POC) have grown up knowing: we are not safe in our own skins! Recent accounts of African-Americans going about their business and being either shot dead, detained, or questioned about their motives for being in a place have brought focus on what has always been known in the community as "driving, walking, sitting, just plain being, while black." POC (and this includes Native Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Asians, and the ethnically mixed) have all experienced various forms of the same concept. Sadly, in the news we've heard and seen the return of code words for ethnic and religious groups being used by members of our government to describe citizens and/or immigrants. On one hand, I am glad that those who harbor feelings of their racial superiority are out in the open for all of us to see, but on the other, it saddens me that concept still exists here.
(At this point, I feel the need to share an old Southern expression: If you throw a rock at a pack of dogs, only the hit one yelps! Make of that what you will, I make no apologies for what I write.)
In order to treat this trauma that is part of our national psyche, we have to talk about it truthfully. We need to speak to each other and we need to LISTEN to each other because we are all infected and affected by this scourge, this subconscious damage. Articles in newspapers, magazines, print and online, are being written and talked about. Talk shows are featuring guests with first hand stories to share. If you're interested, you'll find them. One podcast I've listened to is hosted by
Katie Couric. She recently did one with Bryan Stevenson (#58) called "Re-Righting History."
He's also the founder of
National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. It is a remembrance to the victims of lynchings. The story he recounts in the podcast is testament to the power of education.
