Every woman must own her story; otherwise we are all part of the silence.
Interpretation
Women should take control of their narratives to break the silence around their experiences.
This quote emphasizes the importance of women owning their personal stories and experiences. It suggests that by sharing their truths, women can break the silence around their struggles and traumas, fostering understanding and empowerment. Failing to share these narratives contributes to a collective silence that hinders progress and solidarity among women.
In practice
This quote can be used in a women's empowerment workshop to encourage participants to share their experiences.
In every single culture I encountered, there were always women who defied cultural norms to do what they believed was right for them. This phenomenon has never been related to how rich, poor, successful or not successful the woman may be.
I find it amazing that the only group of people who are not fighting and not killing and not pillaging and not burning and not raping, and the group of people who are mostly β though not exclusively β who are keeping life going in the midst of war, are not included in the negotiating table.
War is not a computer-generated missile striking a digital map. War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war ... we will have more humility in our discussions of wars... perhaps it is time to listen to womens side of history.
As women, we must speak out, speak up, say no to our inheritance of loss and yes to a future of women-led dialogue about women's rights and value.
There's a lot of projection that if you're in service then you shouldn't look good. I'm no different from anybody else. I like clothes, I like shoes, I like to go have nice dinners, I like to dance. Just because I've dedicated myself to serving women, why do you think I need to sacrifice myself?
In my 20s I was such a serious, boring-looking person. I would never do my nails. I never even danced. But I was taught by the women. They had gone through hell, but they would dance and sing. I came to realise I can't argue for a happy world if I am not happy myself.
I grew up in the South under segregation. So, I know what terrorism feels like - when your father could be taken out in the middle of the night and lynched just because he didn't look like he was in an obeying frame of mind when a white person said something he must do. I mean, that's terrorism, too.
The battle goes on for me; as a gay man, I shall not be happy until I see equality across the board.
For the sake of a dying, suffering world count the cost, pay the price and set the captives free
For cancer patients like me, and for others who suffer from chronic or life-threatening illnesses, natural disasters don't put health on the back burner.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Moral courage is the highest expression of humanity.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.