Sisters,
Have any of you seen the HBO Documentary - The Greatest Silence : Rape in the Congo? It was a very HARD and PAINFUL documentary to watch for so many reasons....
Those women look like us.. Those women could be us...Those women are us....
Those brothers look like ours...those brothers could be ours...Those brothers are ours.
Words cannot express the horror....Tears can not flow enough...and only hearts can triumph in the strength that we know all too well to be the foundation of Womanhood. But I am tired that we have to be so strong all the time.
It was difficult to select a category for this blog...does it fall under culture and politics, or everyday living (for the women of the Congo and worldwide), parenting...?
I watched the documentary with a sister friend and my boyfriend and there was tears and disbelief. At some points I just had to walk out of the room. Where do we begin? I know one place is with these young boys. I am not a mother yet - but I am an Auntie. And I implore ALL of us who have a special place in a young boys life to start teaching him to truly respect not only the sacredness of the feminine principle but the HUMANITY. I am sure most of us can relate to being on the receiving end of some much un-desired attention from a man. It has been so socially acceptable. There is NO reason why a man should feel completely comfortable grabbing any part of my body in the club or gawaking at me as if I am not really standing less than 3 feet away from him. It is this kind of thinking that is at the basis of men feeling that women are here for them and their pleasure.
I don't know what to do for the sisters short of smuggling some machine guns to start firing shots. How much longer do we have to continue to swallow our pain, cry silently in our beds and give up the ghosts while we are still here?
We must declare our sacredness and we must let the world know that we are hurting. I think it has become expected that we just pick up and keep it moving. We are the walking wounded and are in need of healing.
The men need to be held accountable and need to be check for any thoughts that are less than affirming to the humanity of women.
It hurts to know that parts of my ancestral homeland is so low in the areas of human development and love for each other.
If you have not seen the documentary - I implore you - a quarter of a million women in a small part of Africa alone needs us to know their story.
