Saturday, February 24, 2018

Thank you.

Firstly, let me extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has reached out, left comments, voicemails, emails this week. Your support and camaraderie has been been both heartwarming and empowering.

And thank you to those who have given me a vessel to get my opinions across.

A lot of those who have reached out have said thank you. There is no reason for thanks. I thank each and every one of you. I know I have a big mouth, am stubborn and opinionated. These are my attributes - and this is what I can do to make my way and try to make a contribution to those who need it, in a world that is both scary and changing under our feet.

I have said this week that activism these days is a double edged sword - we are both disheartened that we must still have the same conversations and fight for the same things as our sisters and brothers before us, while also feeling hope about the uprising and united voices we now see coming forward.

I feel hopeful that we are now in a time of change, that we are setting the wheels in motion that will finally put an end to what have been cycles and repetitions of age-old debates and battles.

We have finally had enough; it was enough a long time ago.

There is a message here: every action makes a difference, no matter how big or small you might feel it is. There is a butterfly effect of every voice who speaks up, every action that takes a stand and every one of us who puts our fist to the air and says no more.

Your activism, your feminism, might not look like mine and mine might not look like yours - we are unique individuals with our own ways of fighting back.

Some of us march, some wave our flags and yell on the hill, some write, some sing, some sit and make decisions within ourselves that we will change things within our own lives to perpetuate new attitudes - these will all make change.

It all makes a difference.

Our activism is shaped by our our personal colours and experiences. The manifestation of our reactions is a direct result of who we are and what has led us to be who we are.

As we venture into tumultuous times, times of political change where we will all make a difference in this world by stepping up and saying, "Enough," remember that there are uncountable others who stand beside you in stopping the injustices in this world. There are also those who are silent, for their own reasons, and it is our job to give a voice while helping them find their own.

Remember that, despite our differences, we all must work toward a common goal of being good to one another and creating a world that is just and loving.

I will never question your activism, your integrity, your feminism, your reasons. I will stand beside you and be a voice where I can. It is the least I can do.

And in a world filled with hatred, misogyny, violence and so much wrong, know that no act is too small, too large, to make a difference.

Only by saying it is enough will we create change.

And I've never been so hopeful.

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