The community assembly on Domestic Violence was in my mind a great success-why?-because I saw Afrikans from all over Atlanta coming together to try to put our arms around a BIG ISSUE in our community. We shared our experiences, we found out some of the facts and offered some suggestions...But our BIGGEST VICTORY was in seeing each other's humanity. NO ONE IS PURE IN THIS ISSUE we all have ways in which we have supported oppression and the healing is in knowing that NONE OF US ARE BORN DEMONS - we may have some demons but that comes from experiences in life that we got to heal. I was encouraged by many people that have healed (or are still healing) from their experiences with abuse and violence of all kinds - things that were at times hard to conceive of anyone having to experience yet they are POWERFUL VICTORS. The Creator, the SpiritWorld and the Ancestors have given us a precious gift in our experiences and it is the ability to heal from them and come out stronger and wiser than we had been before - this is why it is in our best benefit to explore our experiences. Don't walk away from experience but walk towards it - take an up close look and see it for what it is.
My understanding of what COMMUNITY actually is and what it isn't is becoming more and more clear. It is not a clique-it is not exclusive. We Africans throughout the world need each other- we really need each other- the last person you should be ashamed to come to is your brothah or sistah. The Tao is an old text from the Asian culture and it is very profound. The story is that war was breaking out and chaos existed everywhere. A young military man saw a elder leaving town to go be a hermit in the forest. This elder he knew was very old and must have seen many things and understood many things. He begged the elder before he left to write down some words of wisdom to help the community as they go through turmoil. The elder agreed and the small book called the Tao is his advice. One of the verses says, "A good man is a bad man's teacher and bad man is a good man's work. If you don't understand this then you will understand very little about life." I take from this that it is never good enough to say, "this person is bad' and walk away. It is our responsibility if we know another way to show this person what we know. A good teacher knows this...We have got to be generous with each other-very giving of our wisdom so that all of us can heal.
BIG THANKS TO THOSE WHO SHOWED UP (organizers, organizations, community folks) AND DID THE WORK and are still doing the WORK.
Peace,
Sistah C
DAY 36 (write it down, meditate on it and journal your thoughts)
36. My inner supply instantly and constantly takes on form and experience according to my needs and desires, and as the Principle of Supply in action, it is impossible for me to have any unfulfilled needs or desires.
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2 comments:
Havung attended the same community event, it is evident to me that your healing is indeed on the way because of your ability to see the positive, promote the positive. It is only through positive action that real change, revolutionary change will occur.
This is not about rapistss, molestors, and pedophiles.It's not even about victims. Rather, I know that this is about a real living construct, a community with laws, taboos, and ingrained behavior that endorses white male patriarchy's ownership of everyone and everything under the roof. Not only is a man's home his castle; but also all those who dwell within are subject to and live at his beck and whim.
For us to be free of sexual abuse and battery gender non-specific because I do not believe the gender of a victim does not really matters to a rapist.
The gender solidarity of all those who have been brutally sexually from without and witin prison walls by friends, foes, dates, or relatives will be a fundamental building block in a coalition of rape victims who aim at community-wide eduaction projects that reimagine relationships between people.
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree that we NEED to begin to re-imagine better relationships. We have to be willing to partner - truly partner in relationships with integrity. We are at war- with this society and to a great deal ourselves. Our soul wants to be complete yet we are being encourage to accept less than what we deserve to serve who and what??? Using our traditions is good if and only if it promotes our healing and restoration. Many of us are confused about what makes a good husband and what makes a good wife. They think that tucking our flaws under the carpet pretending all is well is the sign of a superior person- that we should not air our dirty laundry but be dainty and flawless. I am scared for those types because they perpetuate a false sense of being and project that onto everyone they meet. It is time AFRICAN people to stop pretending, stop lying - address the issues - if not for ourselves for your children and future generations.
Thanks again for your comment!
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