What does it take?

I have time on my hands. Well, I would've spent the time doing other things, but considering that I am currently waiting to hear back about a repair I need, I figure I will fill that time. So I figure I will discuss something that's been eating at me for quite a while.

As a crisis worker, I hear a LOT of difficult and traumatic stories. I'm trained to do this, and frankly, I've come to see it as a privilege that people I haven't met are trusting me with their stories. That is not easy for them to do. Additionally, as a crisis worker, I try to work for social service and social change. While it's important to treat a problem, it's also important to consider why that problem even exists and what can be done about it.

Recently, I learned that a student at a local high school in a very affluent community was very brutally attacked and left for dead a couple of months ago. The story broke all over the papers, and I really felt awful for the young woman and what she's been through. I've spoken to many people from this community, and they've had a lot of questions for me about how they can talk to their kids and families about what happened. I'm glad there's some sort of a dialogue about this--frankly, I think our silence on these issues allows them to foster and go unreported. It just makes me angry that a very highly publicized and very horrific case is what spurred this community into awareness and action. I cannot and will not discuss specific client cases due to confidentiality, but I do know that this one case is one drop in a pretty enormous bucket of survivors in this particular town. Just because the town is so wealthy and well-off does not make it crime-free.

But that got me thinking...what does it take to move people to action? The realization that yes, this could happen to them, in their community? The realization that no matter how much you do to "reduce your risk," the only thing that will reduce your risk of rape is to never be around a rapist in the first place?? (Yes, I'm playing Alex the Advocate here. Can't turn that off!) Why is it that a particularly horrific and publicized event gets people talking and mobilized, yet the cases that happen daily warrant no attention?

I don't know the answers to these questions. Not now, with too much caffeine in my system and too little sleep. I guess I will close with a quote from the divine Cherie Moraga. Read it and think about it in the context of this entry. This is from her poem, "What Does It Take?" from her amazing book Loving in the War Years:
If they took you,
I would take to the streets
scream, BLOODY MURDER.

What does it take to move me?
your death
that I have ignored
in the deaths of other women?

Isn't the possibility
of your dying
enough?

I love that poem, but I think it's applicable for here. Why does this one story get everyone fired up, but not the thousands of others? And like Ms. Moraga mentioned, isn't the possibility that it could happen bad enough? I guess now that they are fired up, I hope this momentum lasts.

Girl on the platform

Three girls catch the eyes of everyone around.
They bask in the attention, they're new in this town.
Two girls step out of the room and into the light.
Same situation, but something's not right.

Now I'm once again the girl on the platform
And I'm figuring out what I should do
The last time I ever walked these streets
Was when I walked the streets with you.

I've got one foot on the platform
I've got one foot on the train.
I know what I need to do,
But do I make my choice in vain?

Only two girls will return this time around.
All eyes are upon them as they wander through town.
Though they can speak out and stand up for what they believe,
Each one feels an emotional aching that never will leave.

Now I've gotta stand up and let myself be counted for,
Even if I'm not sure of my direction.
Make my choice at this crossroads and not look back
And ignore my thoughts of apprehension.

I've got one foot on the platform
I've got one foot on the train.
I know what I need to do,
But do I make my choice in vain?

Two girls leave the hotel and head through the town.
They'll find a way though their path to take.
What happened is in the past, this is the now
And they're prepared for what is at stake.

I can't forget you or my sisters before me
But now this path is mine to tread.
I'm heading back firm in my resolve,
And I'm ready for what is ahead.
Yes, I'm ready for what is ahead.

I've been working on this number for a while. The apprehension and emotional tension was all there, but I couldn't get it out for a while. Sometimes, emotion cannot be logic-ed away or explained--it's just there! I play acoustic guitar, and it seems like everybody's got a folk song with a train in it, so now I do. And I've shamelessly added some quotes from songs I like (but as a tribute, not as a copycat!). See if you can spot them. I need to find a way to set it to music....as I am a far better lyricist than composer.

It Won't Take Long

They said some men would be warriors,
and some men would be kings.
And some men would be owners of land
and other man-made things.
And false love as the eternal flame
would move some to think in rings.
And gold would be our power
and other foolish things.

But you who dream of liberty
must not yourselves be fooled.
Before you get to plead for freedom,
you have agreed to being ruled.
If the body stays a shackle,
then the mind remains a chain
That'll link you to a destiny
whereby all good souls are slain.

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all
It won't take long, and you may say
"What has that got to do with me?"
and I say "You mean to tell me that's all?"

Of three men in a desert wandering,
one is knowing and two are scared.
They say time is in the river,
but the river is not there.
Dry in spirit, dry in body
two will lend themselves to death
And in grief one weeps into his hands
and drinks his bitter tears

'Cause it don't take long,
it don't take too long at all
It don't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
and I say "You mean to tell me that's all?"

And as I stand before you now,
I am hopeful in my rage
You know love has finally called for me,
I will not wilt upon its stage
But still smaller than my nightmare
do I print upon the page
Do we have to live inside its walls
to identify the cage?

'Cause it takes so long,
why does it take so long,
But it takes so long, and you may say,
"I don't really care what you're talking about,"
and I say, "Are you trying to say you don't belong?"

I am my mother's daughter,
but I have seen myself in you
It's this blessing that I follow now,
and so I must speak true
I dreamed of thousands dying,
it was you and you and you,
And while the city sleeps so quietly
there is something we must do

And it wont' take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know if I wanna know what you're getting at,"
and it makes me wanna say, "So long."

Because grief will come in measures,
only grief alone will know
And you'll see it on your family,
on your own face it will grow
And they'll try to keep you hungry,
then they'll tell you to eat snow
You know pride can be a moving thing
if we learn the strength of "NO!"

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't think this has anything to do with me,"
"But did you ever think you could be wrong?"

At noon on one day coming,
human strength will fill the streets
Of every city on our planet,
hear the sound of angry feet
With business freezed up in the harbour,
the kings will pull upon their hair
And the banks will shudder to a halt,
and the artists will be there

'Cause it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't think I can be a part of that,"
and it makes me want to say,
"Don't you want to see yourself that strong?"

Division between the peoples
will disappear that honoured day
And though oceans lie between us,
lifted candles light the way
Half will join their hands by moonlight,
the rest under a rising sun
As underneath the sun and moon,
a ritual'd wailing has begun.

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know how to be a part of what you're talking about,"
and it makes me want to say, "Come on! Come on!"

And beware you sagging diplomats,
for you will not hear one gun
And though our homes be torn
and ransacked we will not be undone
For as we let ourselves be bought,
we're gonna let ourselves be free
And if you think we stand alone,
look again and you will see:

We are children in the rafters,
We are babies in the park,
We are lovers at the movies,
We are candles in the dark,
We are changes in the weather,
We are snowflakes in July,
We are women grown together,
We are men who easily cry,
We are words not quickly spoken,
We're the deeper side of try,
We are dreamers in the making,
We are not afraid of "Why?

Performed by Ferron
Improved incredibly by the Indigo Girls

I love this poetical, powerful, nine minute song. It never fails to get me really inspired and pumped up, and on days when I'm feeling unsure, it gets me back to my kickass self. Consider it an acoustical form of audio caffeine. And my coloring of the words is intentional. Right now I'm kind of in need of some audio caffeine.

I need to move forward. In the end, that's really all I can do. And though we certainly don't have to live inside its walls to identify the cage, that doesn't mean we can't break the damn cage and move on.