Did you attend the One Billion Rising in Lyons 2013?
One out of every three women will be physically or sexually assaulted in their lifetime = 1 billion women.
One Billion Rising began on Valentine’s Day 2012 and was the biggest mass action to end violence against all women in human history. Each February we rise and celebrate within our communities through dance to show support and to show that we are survivors.
Over the years, One Billion Rising has also been rising for justice, revolution, solidarity against exploitation, rising as a way of life, raising the vibration, using art, gardens, rising for the bodies of all women and girls on the earth, and now rising for freedom.
In 2013, Mayama’s Jasmine Lok hosted a One Billion Rising celebration dance to Lyons’ Sandstone Park.
My kids and I were there that day, dancing in the park for my Mother, who had recently been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and we wanted to send her some good energy. I am so very lucky that she did not end up having cancer. That Valentine’s day is still a very special memory. It was so healing for me to be able to take part in community dance, because I felt like we were all dancing to heal my Mom.
“Dancing insists we take up space, and though it has no set direction, we go there together. Dance is dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive, and contagious and it breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere, at anytime, with anyone and everyone, and it’s free. Dance joins us and pushes us to go further and that is why it’s at the center of ONE BILLION RISING” – V Ensler
Rising on our own is good, but the real power comes from rising collectively. Together, we can create the future we’re rising for.
To find out more, visit onebillionrising.org
For more local video, check out https://wisdomtokeepmoving.com/category/2020-the-year-in-review/