OBR 2016, A Letter from Eve
2/19/2016
My sisters and brothers across this aching gorgeous earth,
I write you with the fullest heart– at once exploding and melting. The images of millions of faces and bodies dancing, reaching, bending, ignited with an energy that is sacred and militant, profound and playful, radical and resistant. In you, I see the desire and willingness of a billion souls. I see the radiance of bodies breaking out of the chains of patriarchy, out of the torturous violence of racism and caste and class, out of rapes and beatings, out of slums, out of exclusion, out of intimidation and silencing, out of bondage and devastating loneliness and isolation, out of economic despair.
I see the exhausted bodies of refugees suddenly enlivened as they spin with welcoming sisters in the streets of Europe. I see the Roma women proud and visible leading the dance in Croatia. I see the girls in the learning center of Kabul moving their bodies to the sounds of reclamation, taking their city and beings back from imperialist invaders and senseless wars. I see the women in Tacloban, survivors of storms made from greed and plundering, rising for climate justice. I see the worried bodies of the indigenous Lumads rising in tribal militancy in the square in Davao City. I see how their dance is the dance of our beginnings and as they dance, refusing to be moved from their ancestral lands, we are all lead back to ourselves and to protecting the earth.
I see the dance that will never let us forget that “Black Lives Matter” and how when we Say Her Name with our voices and memories it becomes impossible for the police to murder and disappear Black women. I see the bodies of women in wheelchairs who will not be stopped by prejudice or indifference. I see the insistent brave gender fluid dance of gay, bi, queer, and transgendered women and men and persons. I see hundreds of cities in Italy, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Germany, and the Philippines rising, one after the other, burning fires across countries and culture. I see the unstoppable dance of youth refusing to inherit a world of hatred and cruelty, their dance that knows education is a right and their strong bodies settling for nothing less. I see radical Artistic Risings in Delhi, Dhaka, Oakland, Atlanta, Santa Fe, San Francisco, London, and Guatemala City...
Press Release - One Billion Rising 2016: The Revolution Escalates
For the fourth year, activists in 200 countries rose up to demand an end to violence against women and girls as part of the global One Billion Rising movement. Using dance as a form of protest, OBR activists called for revolution & system change to end violence against women & girls in the streets and across social media. Rising events are being held from 14 February to 8 March, International Women's Day. Upcoming RISING events are scheduled in Hong Kong, DR Congo, India, London, & Mexico, and many more. The campaign trended on Twitter in Philippines, Germany, Italy, Austria, London, Berlin, Frankfurt, & Munchen.
