MESSAGE FROM EVE
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Dear V-Friends and Risers,
2015 was a revolutionary year for V-Day and
One Billion Rising.
The V-Day campaigns expanded the dialogue around sexual violence. Activists raised
funds and awareness through performances
of The Vagina Monologues and A Memory, A
Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer—from a prison in upstate New York to a theater in Tehran.
The plays catalyzed important conversations
and inspired new works of art.
City of Joy and V-World Farm continue to
blossom and grow in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, transforming pain to power. The
women who graduated in June are new seeds
of revolution. The farm is going even deeper,
transforming pain into planting, healing the
body and the earth.
In its third year, One Billion Rising called for
Revolution, to escalate tectonic global change.
It was stunning to see how the call resonated
around the world. Never have we seen such
diversity—children, men, older people, LGTBQI,
religious leaders, people of all abilities, farmers,
workers, NGOs, presidents and prime ministers. Never have we seen such creativity; the
movement continues to be led by art, theater,
music, dancing, poetry and drumming because
that is where revolution is activated. Revolution
exists on many levels—our hearts, mindset,
against the state, against violence, against patriarchy, against inequality of wealth, revolution of
our beliefs, consciousness, and a rising for the
earth. Almost every country of the world rose,
and many inside each country, all 34 provinces
in Afghanistan, 200 risings in the Philippines,
all of India, across Taiwan, 22 states in Mexico,
most of Germany and Italy.
Some places rose to oust their president, some
rose to end abuse in families, some rose for the
power of love not the love of power, some
rose to save their rivers, their mountains, some
rose to demand wage increases, to end modern
day slavery, some rose for peace, to make their
colleges safer, some rose to end poverty, racism
and imperialism.
What we know is that all these stories are connected and as we rise we are weaving a larger
tapestry, a larger story that knows that any
economic system where one percent owns half
the wealth—85 people make the same as 3.5
billion—any system that blames the poor, the
raped, the marginalized, the orphaned, the hungry, the oppressed and the abused for their suffering is a system that is perpetuating lies, cruelty and brutality. It’s the system that has failed us,
the system that values success over solidarity,
profits over people, criminalization over care,
and greed over sustainability. The revolution is
the evolution of the new system. Which is why
we continue the call for Revolution in 2016.
Join us this year—ONE BILLION RISING:
RISE FOR REVOLUTION Listen! Act! Rise!
Eve Ensler, Founder