Eve Ensler's piece "Rising" and me

Twice I've planned to perform Eve Ensler's piece, "Rising", and twice I've decided not to.  Here's the piece:

RISING
Written in Kerala for the women of India who lead the way


This could have been anywhere
And was
Mexico City
Manila
Mumbai
Manhattan
Nighttime men
waiting
like wolves
Drooling
for prey
behind
that single dimly painted door
paying nothing
a couple of  dollars
or euros
rupees
or pesos
to have her
Enter her
Eat her
Devour her
and throw away her bones.

This could have been anywhere
And was
A Buddhist nun on a bus
Trying to stay dry for the night
A woman leader speaking out against
The repressive government
A young woman traveling with her boyfriend
One lost her voice
The other her following
The last one her life

This could have been anywhere and was
Pink wooden crosses
A stack of stones
Red wilting carnations
Empty chairs in a square
Ribbons flying in a sultry wind
I ask Anna Nighat Kamla Monique Tanisha Emily
Why Why
Porque Eran Mujeres
Parce qu'elles étaient des femmes
Because they were women
Because they were women

This could have been anywhere
And was
Where she got fired for being too beautiful
Fined for drinking after she was raped
A serious offer to marry her rapist
Got told it was legitimate but not forcible

This could have been anywhere
They do such a thing
When the girls go for fire wood
Step into the lonely man’s car
Drink a little too much at the college party
Wake up with her uncle’s fingers inside
Run from the screaming machete and guns
Be taken at sunrise
Get a bullet in the brain for learning the alphabet
Be stoned for falling in love
Be burned for seeing the future

I am done
Cataloguing these horrors
Data Porn
2 million women raped and tortured
1 out of 3 women
a woman raped every minute
every second
one out of 2
one out of 5
the same
one
one
one I am done counting
And recounting

Its time to tell a new story
It needs to be our story
It needs to be outrageous and unexpected
It needs to lose control in the middle
It needs to be sexy and in our hips
And our feet
It needs to be angry and a little scary the way storms can be scary
It needs to not ask permission
Or get permits or set up offices
Or make salaries
It wont be recorded or bought or sold
Or counted
It needs to just happen
It is not a question of inventing
But remembering
Buried under the leaves of trauma and sorrow
Beneath the river of
semen and squalor
vaginas and labias
shredded and extracted
stolen
body mines
mined bodies
It is not about asking now
Or waiting
It is about rising

Raise your arm my sister my brother
Raise your one
Billion
Your one heart
Your one of us

I used to be afraid of love
It hurt too much
What never happened
What got ripped away
The rape
The wound
And love
I thought
was salt
But I was wrong
I was wrong
Step into the fire
Raise your arm
Raise your one
Billion
One
One
One
Rising.
Rising.
Rising.
Eve Ensler for One Billion Rising

The first time I was planning to perform the piece was at One Billion Rising here in Richmond at the end of our rally at the Coliseum.  Eve had put the piece out there as something to use at rallies worldwide.  It felt like the perfect fit.  I asked my friend and fabulous actress Jackie Jones if she would help me work it up so I could do it well.  She generously worked with me for a few hours to bring drama and pathos and energy and power to it.  I felt excited at the thought of performing it because it's such a powerful piece.  I was planning to have drummers pick up the beat at the very end where it says One/One/One/Rising/Rising/Rising.  I asked a friend of mine to lead the drumming.  She came over to my house one day very close to the rally to practice so we could get the timing down.

I began reading the piece.  She began drumming.  It threw me off.  We started again.  I couldn't feel in sync with what she was doing so I asked her to listen to the piece all the way through first then we'd try again.  My friend sat on my fireplace hearth and listened intently as I went through the outrages and horrors Eve describes in Rising.  When I finished, my friend told me she felt completely triggered from hearing such graphic images.  We tried again.  It wasn't working.  She said she felt like hearing that piece at the end of a rally to empower women, especially the way we'd crafted the rally, would be like going to the doctor for healing, then, at the end of the doctor's visit, ripping off the bandage and leaving the patient bloody.  I could see her point because just reading it generally left me stoked and energized, but not always in a positive way.  It was hard to perform.  I decided to NOT read the piece at One Billion Rising but instead to read what I had written.  Here's what I used:

We have heard here today some of the horrors being perpetrated here in Richmond as well as around the world.  There is so much pain and suffering, it is terribly difficult to hold it all.

But we have also heard tales of joy and empowerment and triumph – Claire’s daughter’s tragic murder led Claire to become a tireless advocate for others.  Carol’s mother’s death has not gone unnoticed, and thousands of children are better cared for thanks to Carol and her mother.  Rebiya Kadeer’s life has been full of pain and suffering, even as now two of her children are imprisoned just as she was.  Despite all that, we have witnessed her determination to take the higher path and to devote her life to the autonomy and safety of her beloved Uyghur people, especially the women. 

Each of the women you heard speak today is a beautiful example of power used for good.  Each has accessed her life’s purpose, the reason she is on this planet, the reason her life matters, and each is boldly and courageously pursuing her vision for a better world.

Take the time, I beg you, to listen deep within to your own still small voice that knows why you’re here, what you are meant to be doing, and pledge today to do one thing to grow that voice, one thing each day, to give voice to the beauty you have to offer the world.   Just imagine a world where each of us is living the life we were born to lead – giving the world the gifts that only we have to bestow.

THAT is the vision of SEVEN billion rising and of Heaven on Earth.  Thank you.

I think my friend was so right about Rising in that case and that it was kinder and gentler to not use it.

The next opportunity I had was to perform it, memorized, in the Richmond production of The Vagina Monologues in April.  Julie Willard cast me to do that monologue.  I felt honored to be chosen to do that one because it's the final piece in the show and is so dramatic.  I also felt a little bit scared - would I actually be able to memorize it?  how would it be to perform on stage again after 30+ years?

I started going to rehearsals and practicing it, working on memorizing it.  At rehearsals, I noticed that after I read it, I would feel hot and flushed.  My adrenalin would be pumping.  It would take me a while to calm down.  OK.  Something to notice.

I practiced it one on one with Julie.  She gave me excellent direction to say it with less umph, less drama - let the words do the talking.  Maybe I didn't need to "perform" it - maybe I could just put it out there and let the words do the work.  Be more understated.  It was good coaching.  It felt very different.  I was performing it the way a preacher performs a rousing sermon.  Speaking it as if I were talking to a friend, telling her these outrages, telling her I was done, that something different had to happen, brought it home in a different way.  I think it was more powerful.  I don't think it was any less disturbing.

I started to memorize it.  Chris helped me while we were on vacation at the beach.  I started dreaming about the images in the poem.  Nightmares.  Uncomfortable images.  Uncomfortable stories going through my head.  It wasn't fun. The words would flow through my head during the day since I was trying to commit it to memory.  I started to wonder if this was the right thing for me to be doing?

Right around this time, I got the email from the Uyghurs asking me to speak in Paris at their conference.  It was to be 2 days before The Vagina Monologues.  I could come back in time for the play then leave again shortly thereafter for China to see Dylan, a trip I'd already planned.  Then I realized that was too much.  I felt like it would be physically too grueling.  I realized that if I would go to Paris, I could fly more easily to Beijing from there.  It would mean missing The Vagina Monologues, but everything else fit really well.  I spoke with my friend Denise Bennett, a consummate storyteller, actress, and performer, to see if she might be interested in doing the monologue.  She jumped right on it!  Then I contacted Julie to let her know the situation.  She could not have been more gracious. 

I felt tremendous relief to not be doing that particular piece.  It felt perfect for Denise to be doing it.  And it felt wonderful to think of going to Paris to speak before a group of women about women's empowerment, my topic for the Uyghurs.

It occurred to me that, again, I wasn't performing "Rising". 

Then I remembered when I spoke with Eve at the Omega Institute in September.  I said to her, "When I grow up, I want to be just like you."  Without skipping a beat, she looked me in the eye fiercely and clearly and with defiant love and said, "No, be YOU!"

It occurs to me that, with "Rising", I was trying to speak her words, but they just weren't fitting.  What worked, instead, was for me to write my own words and to speak those.  She was so right - her job is to be her.  My job is to be me.  Thanks, Eve, for wise, wonderful words, very well placed.  There's only one Eve, and there's only one me, and the world needs both of us.  And there is also only one YOU!  What unique gifts are you offering the world these days?  I'd love to hear!

Open letter about One Billion Rising RVA

Dear Friends,

I'm so grateful to you for reading my blog and for caring enough about issues I care about to follow my story as it evolves.  Today I have a request for you.  I am asking that you get involved in One Billion Rising wherever you live in the world.  Risings are happening in 182 countries, so you're very likely to find one within an hour or two of where you live.

If you live in Richmond, VA, you are in luck, because there's one happening at the Coliseum.  And I'm going to tell you all about it!

This past fall, you may remember, I went to a conference called Women and Power at Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, NY.  There I heard Eve Ensler, author of Vagina Monologues, speak about what she has seen as she's traveled the world, speaking with women from here in the US to the Congo to Bosnia and all around the world where horrors are being perpetrated on women.  I learned that one in three women will be beaten or raped or abused, or perhaps even killed, in her lifetime.  The stories Eve shared moved me to action.  She created One Billion Rising as a worldwide movement to bring attention to the fact that one in three women equals over one billion people on this planet.  Her goal, and mine, is to END violence against women.  NOW. 

I came home from the conference and immediately began to organize One Billion Rising RVA.  I am joined by a core group of four other organizers, and, with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance as our fiscal sponsor, we are creating the main event for Valentine's Day AND a large number of complementary events throughout the months of February and March.  These events include Women Rise! (an art show with art which responds to the theme of women rising to end violence); 2 performances of The Vagina Monologues; 4 evenings of Beyond Barbie (the performance series I created in 2011 to accent issues of importance to women); Cranksrising, a scavenger hunt/bike race; and others!  The support from the community has been tremendous and leads me to believe that the time is ripe for bringing awareness to this issue and that we can truly make a difference NOW!

So how can you help? 

We need everyone in the city to know about the event!  We are hoping to have at least 10,000 come to the event - women, children AND men - we love our V-Men!  We can't end the violence without men!    If you have contacts with the press, I would be tremendously grateful if you could get me in touch with them so we can get the word out most effectively.  If you can forward this email to everyone on your email list, that would be HUGE!

We also need financial support.  The Coliseum is being incredibly supportive and is charging us only the bare minimum to use the facility - phenomenal! - but we still have $5000 in bills to pay - not bad for an event which will reach, potentially, everyone in the city and surrounding area!  If you feel moved to make a donation, I would be very, very thankful.  You can donate through indiegogo at http://www.indiegogo.com/OBR-RVA/x/2115411?show_todos=true.  You can even get thank you gifts like tickets to the Vagina Monologues or advertising at the event for your company if you'd like.  We would love to get Richmond's companies involved in this movement and in this event so the community will KNOW that this is important, not just to the people suffering the abuse, but to everyone.  Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse hurts business.  People suffering from these horrors are more likely to miss work and to be less effective when they are there because of the tremendous energy it takes to deal with the fallout of it.  By supporting this event, you are supporting your employees - and most likely many of your loved ones - and showing them you, too, want to end the violence.

I'm asking you to attend the event!  And encourage your loved ones and employees to come as well!  It's during the lunch hour, so you won't miss much work.  Walk over to the Coliseum and bring everyone you can think of.

We need over 300 volunteers the day of One Billion Rising.  If you have an hour or two you'd like to donate, or if you can bring your employees and have them do community service that day, yay!  We'd be delighted!

Please come to the complementary events as well!  They will be wonderful!

Thank you for taking the time to read this email.  I hope to hear from you and to learn how you feel you can help.

I'm attaching our press release here so you can learn more about the event.  Please feel free to forward it to anyone you would like.  And please get in touch if I can answer any questions or if you'd like to donate or volunteer!

Thank you so much.  Your support makes a difference.
Susan 

Press release

*********************************

Did you know that over 354,000 women currently living in Virginia have experienced, or will experience at least one incident of sexual violence in her lifetime? (Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Center for Disease Control, 2010) Further, 971,900 (1 out of 3) Virginian women have experienced, or will experience at least one incident of severe physical violence from her intimate partner, including rape, physical violence, and stalking. (Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Center for Disease Control, 2010.) These statistics are alarming. That is why the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance (Action Alliance) has partnered with over 60 community leaders, artists, performers, slam poets, musicians, and local sexual and domestic violence non-profit organizations, to launch “ONE BILLION RISING RVA,” a rally to raise social awareness about sexual and domestic violence and to call for an end to these horrors.

On February 14, between 11 AM - 2 PM, at the Richmond Coliseum, potentially 10,000 or more people will gather to call for an end to violence against women, to learn what's already being done and what needs to be done, to celebrate women's strength and empowerment, and to dance and feel the energy of 10,000 people united in a common cause.  It promises to be an extraordinary event, the first of its kind in Richmond! One Billion Rising RVA will be a joyful and empowering event that will include informative, sobering, and uplifting talks, slam poetry, music, dance, and art that is appropriate for all ages. It will also include a community resource fair at which community members will receive information about sexual and domestic victim services in Richmond.

ONE BILLION RISING began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s* 15^th anniversary, One Billion Rising RVA, in part sponsored by the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance**, will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and women and men across the world as we express our outrage, demand change, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.

 “When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women,” said Ensler. “Now, we are both stunned and thrilled to see that this global action is truly escalating and gaining force, with union workers, parliament members, celebrities, and women of all backgrounds coming forward to join the campaign. When we come together on February 14, 2013 to demand an end to violence against women and girls it will be a truly global voice that will rise up.” (To learn more about Eve Ensler and her intentions for One Billion Rising, please read the following article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/24/one-billion-rising-end-violence-women, or her most current article in The Guardian:  http://onebillionrising.org/blog/entry/the-delhi-rape-savile-ohio-this-violence-will-no-longer-be-tolerated.  Eve is a powerful writer who doesn't hold back!  She makes for great copy!)

The rally being held on Feb 14th is not the only event associated with One Billion Rising RVA.  There are also many complementary events being held.  Here is the information about those:

• Two separate versions of The Vagina Monologues, both a community and a college (VCU) performance.  These will be held towards the end of March, Auditions will be held at the Action Alliance Headquarters at 5008 Monument Ave, Suite A, Jan 27, 1-4 PM and Jan 30, 6-8 PM.

• Women Rise! is an exhibition celebrating women and our empowerment! Richmond area artists will be displaying their interpretation of the One Billion Rising theme in all media. The Opening Reception, including an Awards Ceremony and Juror's Talk by Susan Singer will take place February 9 from 1-3 PM at Crossroads Art Center at 2016 Staples Mill Rd. Artwork will be on display through March 3.  Entries are being accepted until Jan 25 and must be sent digitally.  For more information, please go to http://onebillionrisingrva.wix.com/onebillionrisingrva#!services2/c1a63

• CRANKSRISING by Women's Multisports of Richmond, Inc​, February 9, beginning at 10 AM
  The concept is simple: The riders get a manifest with lists of local store stops and needed items, then they head out to see how many items they can buy and carry back to the finish. The fastest riders to navigate the streets and checkout lines win prizes, although it is not all about speed. One of the options on the shopping list will be a perishable item which will take skill to deliver. The pile of items gathered will benefit Safe Harbor shelter for survivors of sexual and domestic violence.  For more information or to sign up, please go to http://www.womensmultisportsofrichmond.com/cranksrising.html

• Four new installments of Beyond Barbie: Four Fridays in February, the incredibly successful performance series launched by Susan Singer in Oct - Nov 2011 and produced by Dawn Flores this time around.  The segments will take place at Unity of Richmond, 800 Blanton Ave, Richmond at 7:30 PM, each Friday in February.  The four segments are as follows:

·         The Heart’s True Scale: An evening of storytelling with Denise Bennett, ​Friday, February 1, 7:30 pm

Lured on by a strange crow, a hapless Harper finds himself trapped in a deep dark cave . What he finds there will test the true scale of his heart (all puns intended). It's a story about the healing power of love even in the wake of violence and pain. The Heart's True Scale is an original fairy-tale for adults. Using voice and harp, humor and drama, Denise Bennett cleverly combines elements of traditional storytelling and theater to heal, captivate, and enthrall her audience.

·         Breaking Free: Transcending Barriers of Mind, Body and Circumstance, Friday, February 8, 7:30 pm

Each of us has barriers that we sometimes allow to hold us back, be they handicaps, mental illnesses, bad marriages, race, gender, prison or other circumstances. By witnessing the courage of others, we can increase our own courage and learn to break free. Produced by Dawn Flores with Susan Singer, and featuring Lisette Johnson, Jenny Warne, Jacqueline Jones and the work of Jess Lucia, this evening celebrates, through stories, song and dance, the lives of women who tapped into their own courage and resilience when confronted with life's extraordinary challenges.

·         Women in Power: Creating Roadmaps for Others, Friday, February 15, 7:30 pm
Produced by Dawn Flores with Susan Singer, this evening showcases women who have experienced, in profoundly personal ways, a need in their communities and have taken action to create or support programs that inspire, educate and empower others. Sylvia Clute shares insights into the inequalities within the criminal justice system and lays out an inspiring new vision of restorative justice. Kathleen MacDonald, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Gail R. Schoenbach FREED Foundation, powerfully and compassionately shares her knowledge and understanding about recovering from and eliminating eating disorders.

·         Sacred Circle Dance, Friday, February 22, 7:30 pm

Sacred Circle dance is an empowering way to reclaim wholeness by sinking into the body and building a sense of community through movement. In a safe and sacred space, Peggy O’Neill guides participants in simple steps in time to beautiful music from a variety of cultures. Peggy has been teaching dance since the 80’s and has lead local, national and international gatherings with grace and gentleness. This event is for women, men, and teens and no ability or previous dance experience is required. Proceeds will benefit One Billion Rising RVA.

*About V-Day

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 14,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine's 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine's Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. V-Day's newest campaign is ONE BILLION RISING which will culminate on 021413 with a global action worldwide. www.vday.org

**About the Action Alliance

The Action Alliance’s mission is to ensure “that all Virginias live a life free of sexual and domestic violence.” The Action Alliance is Virginia’s is a 501(c3) and is the statewide coalition and leading organization for sexual and domestic violence services in Virginia. We are the umbrella organization for over 70 sexual and domestic violence nonprofit agencies in the commonwealth. The Action Alliance also operates a 24-hour hotline service for victims, provides training for professionals working in the sexual and domestic violence services, works with local government to improve response to victims, and launches public awareness campaigns about sexual and domestic violence, such as RVA’s ONE BILLION RISING to reduce sexual and domestic violence. http://www.vsdvalliance.org/secAbout/indexAbout.html