UN Practicum Blog - Ashley Schmueker
Published on March, 33 2013Because Love is a Form of Activism
While many of the sessions at CSW57 have shared critical information such as program
best practices, prevention strategies, and evaluation results, there are a few that
have pushed me beyond simply intellectual engagement. Two sessions ignited my
passion for activism through performance, writing and film. Lately, I have been
knee-deep in deadlines for papers, projects, family crisis, wedding planning and
preparing to defend my M.S. project in Conflict Resolution this May. Consequently, I
have felt severed from my work as an activist.
Monday's session "Women and Violence: Human Rights Activism through Arts and Film,"
sponsored by Women's UN Report Network and the Women News Network, was by far the
most powerful session I attended. For two hours, we watched trailers and sample
reels from documentaries about the Comfort Women of WWII, rape prevention in Haiti
in the aftermath of the earthquake, and "It's a Girl!" A young woman from the UAE
also shared her short film about her experience as a survivor of molestation. Within
the span of two hours, my emotions went through multiple states. Starting with
shock, depression, and numbness, and then slowly escalating to anger. I sat with the
anger for quite a while and let it manifest into action, or at least, my intent for
action. I felt inspired and empowered to do something. I was on the cusp of a
transformative experience.
Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon. I hustled over to the Taipei Economic and
Cultural Office (after quickly stopping at an epic comic shop I discovered along the
way) for the 2:30 session. "Performing Arts Workshop: Preventing and Responding to
Violence Against Women," led by the Sistren Theatre Collective. It proved to be
exactly what I needed to catalyze the type of creative action I had seen in Monday's
session and offered a space for me to perform activism in a way that I had not felt
called to in months.
We were assigned groups and asked to share stories about how we have seen or
experienced violence in our lives, and then to write a scene, a poem, or a letter
and then perform our piece on stage. My group wrote the letter. I felt nervous as we
formed a line on stage, having written separate short pieces to weave together for
the performance. I looked to the line of women beside me, they were all looking at
me, since I was the first person. An older woman nodded at me and smiled, and I
stepped forward. "This is an open letter to all perpetrators of violence against
women. Why? Why did you chose me..." And as each woman claimed her space to
question, grieve, rage, and inspire, I realized that this is what nourishes me. This
is what I need as a scholar, an activist, and as a woman to heal and advocate for
others.
Last night, our group was prompted to craft a statement on the work that we have
done in our communities to address gender based violence, and to speak about the
work we hope to do. Inspired from the performance session, I chose to use poetry as
my medium for expressing my work. I've also started a blog on creative activism, and
would like to invite you to check it out: http://irbatgirl.wordpress.com. Below, I
leave you my final offering for this blog post; the poem I wrote in answer to the
prompt. May you all find what inspires you and ignites your soul.
Because Love is a Form of Activism
its the blood
its the blood that pushes its way through my veins
that pumps my heart just a little bit
faster
ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
transformation with every beat
anxiety-grief-anger-passion
i think they call it
adrenaline
when you know that the work you are doing
is where you belong
i have belonged
to many spaces where
individual and social change
was co-created
sometimes that space is
staring at a computer screen
hours at a time
americano stains on my to-do list
creating and recreating
curriculum
evolving into performed dialogues of
peace and conflict, international development,
community mobilization and gender
other times i organize with young women on campus
marching through the streets with screaming women
as we reclaim our bodies
and our
selfhood
i have rocked and fed infant girls
two and a half year old
Aradhana in Madurai, Tamil Nadu
orphaned and underfed
she clung to me
so tight
she became a part of me
i held an elderly woman
Meenakshi
telling me the story of her life in Tamil
i could not translate her narrative
yet
i heard her heart
she saw my soul
because love and tattoos transcend linguistics
from the human touch
lotuses and scorpions
we created a new language we both understood
because love
is a form of activism
the work i am doing
the work
the work can only be understood
through the lived experience
of the women and children
who allow me
to share their space
they teach me about what it means
to live with the greatest depth
of feeling and being
in this world
the work i am inspired to do
is the work that keeps my blood
coursing through my veins
into my heart
and out again
cyclical dreams and spirals
that teach me many things
anxiety-grief-anger-passion
i think they call it adrenaline
Ashley Schmuecker
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