April 21, 2013 Day two of the Uyghur Conference, Paris

Today was the second day of the Sixth International Uyghur Women's Conference. The first part of it was all in Uyghur, so I wasn't able to get much out of it, unfortunately, though when Ms. Kadeer spoke at the beginning of the day, I was captivated by her expressions and passion. She's quite an amazing woman. One of the men from her office told me she spoke about her time in prison and about hearing the cries of young Chinese men being tortured to death. She exhorted the women to go back home and take up the cause for the Uyghurs - to let people know what is happening and to demand that their governments where they live now do something about it.

In the afternoon, several speakers taught about activism for human rights - how to do it most effectively. I have done some work in this area with One Billion Rising, but I didn't have any sort of training in it at all - I just worked with a bunch of dedicated people and we made stuff happen. I found it interesting today to hear the steps one could/should take to be most effective. When I compared it to what we did, I was pretty impressed, but it'll be good to have a way to organize ourselves now.

Here are the 8 steps to effective advocacy, according to Sue Vaughn from Freedom House:

1) identify a goal
    A) assess the situation
        1. What's the problem?        2. Who's the audience?
        3. Who are the stakeholders?
        4. Who's your opposition?
2) identify the relevant decision makers

3) educated yourself about the decision makers so you know what makes them tick and what might get them on your side. Learn about their background, education political views, voting history, personal history, close colleagues, family background, political position, strengths, weaknesses, family business, hobbies interests - sounds a bit like stalking but apparently it's really important to talk to these people about the issue in a way they can relate to to make it matter to them personally.

4) use time and resources strategically. If 20% of e people are already on your side, keep those people happy but don't otherwise expend energy on them,
If 10% will never be on your side, don't waste your time on them. Spend your time and resources on the 70% who are undecided.

5) Build your profile or " brand"
     a. Issue credibility
         1. - do your homework
         2. - collect compelling facts and figures
         3. - prepare materials
     b. Legitimacy
          1. - ethics
          2. -accountability
          3. - transparency
          4. - effectiveness

6) build and maintain relationships

7) customize your message and approach

Develop a strong message for each decision maker that addresses HIS or HER needs and motivations. It's about THEM, not YOU. Never underestimate a politician's need to be public ally adored. Select the message that's most effective for each policy maker.
-be specific about what you want for them
- get confirmation
- negotiate a deadline
- follow up
- monitor results

8) celebrate your success!

I think most of those are logical but it helped me to see them laid out so clearly.
After teaching those Sue had the participants break into small groups to work on a problem together. Is joined the group which worked on a German issue. Thankfully there was a woman in it from Germany who translated a little bit for me so I could get a sense of what was going on. Their issue was made up, but could happen. A Uyghur language school in Germany was forced by the government to close their doors. What should they do?

The group of women pictured here along with several others decided it would make sense to ask the authorities why they closed the school and ask me to reconsider. If they wouldn't, they would go to the press and at about how Munich says its a multi-cultural city and takes pride in that appellation so they should certainly be in support of such a school, etc. if necessary they would then go to the government to ask for help. There was a fair amount of discussion about when was the right time to go over the heads of the first people. In other countries, that would be a BAD choice, apparently. It was interacting watching folks work through the issue. I could see advocates being born right then and there. Very cool!

At the end of the day, those of us who had given speeches the last two days were asked to come to the front to receive an award, a certificate, and gifts. The award is a lovely trophy which I will NOT take to China with me - seems like a bad idea somehow! I was also given a lovely necklace and bracelet of light, bright green beads and a beautiful scarf to remind me of my time here from now on. What a sweet gift.

At the end of that - I think everyone received a certificate, and many, many people received gifts - we had a round of photos of every configuration I could imagine. The Uyghurs take a LOT of photos! Many people asked me to be in individual photos with them. I felt so honored that they would want a photo of me. It was lovely.

I also got a compliment that made me feel very good. One of the trainers who speaks Uyghur said she'd been asking the women what they would remember about the conference. Many of them told her that my speech gave them the most inspiration - that they want to tell their stories and to share what is inside of themselves with others. I feel very happy about that. It feels so powerful to have been able to offer that possibility to others, especially if it's a new concept for them. Another man told me that it was so good to have a presentation that was a story, that was simple, as opposed to abstract and academic, because many of the women are housewives without all that much education. My speech went to the heart of the issue and gave them inspiration and thoughts about how they could individually make a difference rather than having to be an academic or human rights worker or whatever. Amen to that. Happy, happy, happy!

Tomorrow Laura will be going back to Germany - less happy, happy - but we'll get to spend the day together in Paris before she leaves. We plan to go to the Pompideau to see some modern art. Afterwards I think I'll go to the Louvre -my first time there since 1971 when I went with my family to see the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. Tuesday I'll go on a tour of Paris with the Uyghur women, but I don't know what we'll see then. Wednesday I leave for Beijing. crazy! What a life!!

April 20, 2013, my speech at the Uyghur Conference: Self Expression is an Act of Courage

Self Expression is an Act of Courage


― Mahatma Gandhi said “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality,". My speech today is about just that.

There once was a woman named Anna who lived in constant fear – fear of doing something wrong, fear of being seen, fear of being yelled at, fear of getting in trouble. Day after day she became more and more afraid and shrank down inside herself, becoming smaller and smaller until soon she was no more than a speck of dust on the furniture. Her baby daughter cried ceaselessly and she despaired of ever making her happy. Each day Anna tried harder to please her husband, to comfort her children, to satisfy their needs, to clean the house more thoroughly. She saw there was not enough money to meet their obligations for they were poor. Indeed her husband worked hard but was unable to earn enough money to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. Her children were hungry. She was hungry. What food they had, she gave to her husband, but he complained it wasn't to his liking.

Though she had very young children, she knew she must find work just so they could eat. She took her children out into the street with her to find work and eventually found piecework she could do, ironing shirts for one of the wealthy families in the city. She carried the heavy bundle of shirts along with her weary children back home, arriving exhausted but elated to have found a way to help her family survive. She spent the rest of the dat ironing, feeling a surge of hope for the first time in ages that she would be able to buy food for her children the next day.
When her husband arrived home that evening, she told him the good news. He responded by striking her, throwing the shirts on the floor and stomping on them. he told her harshly that no wife of his would work – he would provide for them – was she trying to make him look like a fool in front of his friends? She was to return the shirts, just as they were, the next day and never try such a foolish stunt again.

She wept herself to sleep, her stomach growling with hunger, her children whimpering in bed beside her. The days became a monotony of fear, hunger, and a deep, deep sadness.
One day while sweeping her floor, Anna heard strains of music from the neighboring apartment. She stopped and leaned on her broom, listening, a faraway look in her eyes, remembering a distant time, a place, a joyful feeling… She caught herself and resumed sweeping, work needing to be done. But the music persisted and Anna found that she was sweeping in time to the beat. Her baby daughter looked up at her and wondered. Her older daughter came into the room, surprised to see a glimmer of a smile on her mother’s face. Anna laid down her broom and took her baby into her arms. She began swaying in time to the music, some primeval force filling her with joy. Her older daughter held her mother's leg at her thigh and swayed to the music with her mother. The three were united by the rhythm of the ages, coursing through their veins, their ancient memories. The woman moved her hips. Her body became a conduit for the holy within her. Her mouth opened. Sounds escaped, the likes of which she had never heard – haunting, terrifying, achingly beautiful, sublime tones, speaking of longing and sorrow, great suffering but greater joy. She sang the songs of her mother, pouring from her lips, bathing her daughters. Standing in the middle of her humble abode, colors and light streamed forth from her as she recalled the wellspring of the eternal pouring forth from her loins, her mouth, her breasts. Her baby suckled from her, gasping and giggling with glee as she filled herself richly from her mother’s milk. The older daughter watched in amazement as the colors flooded the room, bursting forth now from every crack and crevice, full of the joy of self-expression. She opened her mouth and discovered the same flow of beauty pouring forth from her own lips.

The three, bound by blood, swayed and sang and drank in the elixir of life all around them and knew it was very, very good. Never again could the world be dark or lonely or full of sadness or despair because they had discovered the eternal wellspring inside themselves that was deeper and richer and more true than any temporal circumstances could ever be. Blessed be.
**********
Drink it in, my sisters, my brothers. Drink in the elixir from the wellspring of creativity, the source of our being.

In the midst of oppression, despair and loneliness, even then, even in the darkest night, there is a place of joy within us that yearns to spring forth. We are wiser than we know. We are more beautiful than we can begin to imagine. We are blessed beyond measure.

Take a moment now to access your Source to feel your own well. Move to the natural rhythm inside you. Allow your power to come forth. It is as deep as a woman giving birth, as broad as the heavens, as beautiful as the sun streaming on an infant’s face in the summer sun. It is the moon, the stars, and the sun combined into one powerful force, streaming forth, blessing you with eternity. You are this source. You are this wellspring of power. Once you have experienced it, you can access it always. Regardless of the circumstances, you can feel that well. You can express it in song, in dance, in poetry, in paint, in stone, in movement, on paper or canvas, in clay. Stand before your medium and allow the Source of your being to fill you with love and wisdom and empowerment. Listen for the next right step – a stroke of paint, a line of poetry, form in clay, song on your lips, movement in your hips, a moment of protest, an assertion of your rights. Let it forth.

Imagine a world where women and men always go to this wellspring before they act, where their acts of courage spring from this source, where actions and love pour forth from the same spot. THAT is a world I would like to live in!

Our Uyghur sisters and brothers have this same wellspring of creativity and life force to draw from, but they do not have the freedom to express it. Can you imagine the pain of feeling moved to dance or sing or paint or say what is true for you, and knowing that if you do, you might go to jail or even be condemned to death? – For something as natural as expressing your inner Truth! The situation in East Turkestan is dire. People are arrested daily for any form of protest which the Chinese government feels threatened by. The government is so frightened of losing power, it will do anything it can to suppress disagreement with its actions. It has torn down entire neighborhoods of historical buildings and has relocated families to new regions in order to break up communities. It has denied children the right to go to Mosques in an attempt to curtail religious practice. It gives Han Chinese preference in receiving jobs, leaving Uyghurs struggling economically as well as spiritually. it has turned dance, once a traditional form of self expression, into a parody of its former self, something to please tourists. The Chinese government has suppressed self expression in almost any form. Uyghur women bear the additional brunt of their policies. For example, they may be forced to have abortions if the government believes they already have enough children. Whose right should it be to make that determination?? It is even harder for women to find work than men, so young women sometimes take work in other provinces, thinking they can help their families, only to find they were tricked and cannot come home, Instead, they must survive as factory workers under the most inhumane of circumstances. The brutality the Uyghurs are forced to experience is inexcusable and must be stopped.

This is a travesty. It is not right for people to be denied freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom to be their authentic selves, or any other human right.

We here in this room who, presumably, live in countries where there are more freedoms, must let the world know what is happening in East Turkestan. We must tell others about the repression our sisters and brothers are experiencing. We, who have freedom of expression, owe it to those who don’t to tell their stories. It can be daunting to break the silence and to take a stand against oppression, but what other choice is there? To remain silent and watch as the Uyghur people are decimated and obliterated? NOW is the time. NOW is the time to speak. To write. To paint. To sculpt. To tell others what you know. To put pressure on China by turning world opinion against their actions in East Turkestan. People cannot protest what they do not know. We MUST share what we know with others.

I realize that might be a daunting request. I personally find it a little bit unnerving to take such a stand You see, my son, Dylan, lives in Beijing right now. He is studying Chinese at Beijing University, and I am going to visit him in just a few days. Yes, I am going to China. And I am speaking out against China right now. I was worried I might not get a Chinese visa if the government found out I was going to speak here today. I have worried I might have problems when I get to China. But I cannot allow those concerns to hold me back. That would be giving into the abusive oppression I’m speaking out against today, and I refuse to do that. Oppressors win when we fear the consequences of standing up to them.

So I’m employing my motto:“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” I want my life to mean something. I do not want to arrive at the end of my life and regret what I didn’t do that I could have done that might have made someone else’s life better. I have found my voice. I can and will use it. I encourage you to do the same. Thank you.

###########THE END#############

Susan Singer is an artist who paints female nudes of all sizes and shapes, a writer who shares her inner life openly, and a speaker and activist who encourages others to be their unadulterated, authentic self. She lives in Virginia in the United States with her husband and three cats while her three children are scattered all over the globe. She believes passionately in the right of all people to live fully self-expressed.
April 20, 2013
For Sixth Annual International Uyghur Women’s Conference.

 

Video of me giving this speech at the Six Annual International Uyghur Women's Conference, Paris, France, April 20, 2013

April 20, 2013 Day one of conference, day 3 in Paris

11:37 pm. Novotel hotel, Roissy, near Paris, France. April 20.

Today was a fascinating day! 10 hours of listening to speeches either in Uyghhur or being translated into Uyghur. It's like no other language I've ever heard - it's related to Turkish. There were also speeches in French, English, and Turkish. The subjects ranged from Women's Rights 101 to Amnesty International France's President stating their support for the Uyghur cause. There were about 80 Uyghur women in attendance and about 15 men. The women were mostly dressed in beautiful, colorful headscarves and fabulously beautiful dresses out of really interesting cloth. The designs on the cloth were so pretty! Many of the dresses were glittery, mostly very tailored, like a stylish business suit. Some of them wore elaborate Uyghur hats like Ms. Kadeer gave Chris after OBR. I could have admired their outfits all day!

This morning we got up at 7:30 so we'd have time to have what ended up being a sumptuous buffet. Eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, prosciutto, fancy cheeses four kinds of bread, hand squeeze orange and grapefruit juice, cereal, and fruit galore. We, Laura and I, were both pretty darn thrilled! We were hungry!

After breakfast we went to register for the conference. It was to start at 10 and was close. To starting on time. I came to learn about "Uyghur time" today - a very relaxed sense of time... At one point they asked the folks to take a fifteen minute break - American time, not Uyghur time! Things flowed pretty smoothly.

After lunch, there was a talk by a woman from Freedom House. She will be doing a training tomorrow about how to do human right's work. She has traveled all over the world recently to Burma/Myanmar to do work. It sounds like she has a very interesting life. I can't really imagine all the places she's been and things she's done. We went out for drinks after dinner with three other speakers. It was fascinating hearing their stories of working in the field. This afternoon, one of them said doing human right's work is like hitting your head against a wall. Another quipped that he's done both and the human rights work hurts more. Apparently the sense of overwhelm and the lack of tangible progress gets to him at times. Then there are the good stories -like the fact that the woman who went to Burma was able to hold an open human rights training there recently - something unheard of just a few years ago. Another woman who's from Taiwan talked about their society now and how it's democratic and free - amazing. So good things do happen and tomorrow we'll get to learn ways to help make it happen more easily. Good stuff.

At 2 I gave my speech. I felt a little bit nervous but not too bad. I first read a quote by Ghandi, “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality." That was the perfect lead-in to a story I told about a young woman living under oppression who found her voice through music. I brought that around to the idea that each of us has the ability to find our own voice and to live from that Source. I asked them to take a moment to access theirs. Then I talked about the Uyghur people who are not allowed to live out their dreams or to express their authentic voices. I encouraged the women to tell the stories of those who cannot tell their own, to help spread the word about the oppression the Uyghurs are experiencing. They applauded many times during the speech after Omer's translation. It was a little odd working with a translator and having to stop to let him speak keeping the drama going - I definitely went for the passion of the story. (Another of my blogs has a transcript and video of the speech if you're interested.)

I also mentioned that I realize it can be scary to do this kind of work and told that I'll be going to China to see Dylan in a few days but that I am not willing to let myself be intimidated by oppression. My motto is "feel the fear, and do it anyway." I enjoined them to do the same!

After my speech, during the coffee break, women came up to me and wanted to have theirs picture taken with me. One woman was very, very kind. She didn't speak English very well, but she quoted Shakespeare - unfortunately I can't remember her quote - darn it! She told me that she really liked my speech - that she laughed sometimes and then she cried. That it was a very true story - her story - and that I was a good actress. I felt moved by her kindness.

I am really enjoying speaking in front of groups these days. The synergy between the crowd and me feels so good. And I feel so passionate about the message -it makes me very happy to be able to share something I feel so strongly about.

I hadn't been quite sure if my talk would work or not because it was a story then an invocation to action. The other speakers' talks were practical about human rights and things like that. I wondered if I should be more focused on the practical. When I listened to my gut though I knew it was the right thing to do. Later in the Q&A session a woman thanked me for inspiring them, for giving them something to aspire to. That made me feel so good. So happy. I don't know of anything more gratifying than to inspire someone to be truer to themselves. It's such a powerful way to live.

This evening several of us speakers walked around Roissy where the hotel is until we found a restaurant that was open. It was fun talking to them about their experiences. I'm learning a lot about this field of Human Rights, but I feel like an absolute neophyte. There is so much to learn!

Well, that's it for tonight. My roommate and Laura have both turned in for the night. Guess I should too so I can get a decent night's sleep.

Bon nuit!