http://theprojectvoice.org/

A Voice of One's Own: what it means to rise.

living-justice — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:34:00 -0500

A Voice of One's Own: what it means to rise.:

as i’ve mentioned before, i have started praying every day—immediately after waking and before going to sleep. on thursday morning, when i woke, i was so excited that it was the day of one billion rising, though, that i leapt out of bed to get ready and forgot about my morning prayer. (i wish i…

A Voice of One's Own: touched.

living-justice — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:43:23 -0500

A Voice of One's Own: touched.:

voiceofonesown:

I want simultaneously to be alone and be held

Just as I feel simultaneously deep despair and endless hope

Just as human touch has power to both damage and heal

I want my touch to have the power

To remove the damage

Another’s touch has caused.

I want to hold you and in doing so

…

Photo

living-justice — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:02:27 -0500

this reminded me of all the strong people who have participated...

living-justice — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:01:58 -0500

this reminded me of all the strong people who have participated in pv… and of my own story… and of why i get out of bed in the morning. <3

"When I was 13 years old, I woke up one morning thighs covered in blood like a war like a..."

living-justice — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:55:59 -0500

“

When I was 13 years old,
I woke up one morning
thighs covered in blood
like a war
like a warning
that I live in a breakable takeable body
an ever-increasingly valuable body
that a woman had come in the night to replace me
deface me.

You see, my body is borrowed.
I got it on loan.

”

- (via lolitalibertine)

flashbacks and feathers

living-justice — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 02:06:00 -0400

I was laying in bed resting before I headed to the gym for my daily workout. All of the sudden a flashback came upon me. I felt his huge, sweaty hand over my mouth and felt the way its pressure tilted my head back, pushing it into the bed so that I couldn’t see my own body… or what he was inevitably going to do to it. I could feel my breath catching in my throat as my lungs were unable to get the oxygen they needed. I thought I was going to faint, so I calmed my breathing, allowing me to stay conscious. I knew I couldn’t escape if I passed out so I had to try to relax. This may sound weird (as if this entire post isn’t weird), but the most vivid part of the flashback was the feeling that he had more than two hands. I feel almost silly saying it, but the inability to see his free hand made every inch of my body feel vulnerable. I felt every muscle tense, preparing me for whatever was to come. I felt like all of me could be harmed at once, as if he had enough hands to smother all of me as he was smothering my face, to destroy all of me as he was destroying my humanity.

The aftermath changed the way I look at my body. It was as if in some ways my body wasn’t mine anymore, but his—my hands as they traced the cuts down my back didn’t feel like my own anymore, but his. Even remembering it sends chills down my spine and bile into my mouth. I know now that every inch of this body is mine, but when someone treats another as if they are an object able to be owned, to be dominated, to be used and disposed of at will, such an obvious truth can seem as if it is anything but. I laid in bed amidst that flashback and thought the hands at the ends of my own little wrists were his again. They seemed unrecognizable in that moment. It is amazing the power that trauma has to change so much of how we view others and ourselves in the world.

I cannot help but feel in this moment, though, more at peace with this flashback than I ever have felt with one before. Instead of the usual panic that accompanies them, I felt like an outsider watching myself experience it, calmly watching the horror but knowing it would pass. I watched my body transform, watched my hands morph from mine to his, and watched myself look at my own body with confusion and unfamiliarity. I let it all happen and watched it closely with fascination before pouncing out of bed to write it all down. I don’t know if I can fully articulate why the change has happened or what to make of it, but I do know that it has happened and that it feels profoundly beautiful. Being able to watch myself have a flashback makes me feel as if that flashback has less power and control over me. It makes me feel like I can learn from my own experiences and integrate them even more fully into the woman I am becoming.

I often talk about healing as integrating my negative experiences into something beautiful, something that I have control over, even if I didn’t have control over the experiences themselves. I am beginning to think of these negative experiences as mere feathers, pieces of my wings. They allow me to fly just like any other one experience. In my eyes, the only difference is that some experiences are more difficult than others to transform into those feathers. I am in a process, I suppose, of transforming trauma into feathers. Oh, and don’t be surprised if I come back with a feather tattooed along the shoulder that was cut open the night I was raped. The cuts are gone, and there is no scar, but the wound lives within me. I want to transform it, and I want to reclaim my body as my own.

With peace and hope,

A Voice of One's Own: good morning, world.

living-justice — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:59:29 -0400

A Voice of One's Own: good morning, world.:

voiceofonesown:

Lately, I’ve been finding that my openness to the spirit is necessary to my survival. Not survival as in being alive, but survival as in being fully alive. I want to be open because living less than fully alive seems so very unacceptable.

Somedays I think that the most beautiful, radiant light…

"I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it."

living-justice — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 03:54:50 -0400

“I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it.”

- Maya Angelou (via voiceofonesown)

Photo

living-justice — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 10:54:26 -0400

seaof-gold: supcurran: this is amazing. love this but...

living-justice — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:24:26 -0400

seaof-gold:

supcurran:

this is amazing.

love this

but really….

"people are scared of survivors, scared of trans/gnc folks, scared of feminine folk because when we..."

living-justice — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 07:13:19 -0400

“

people are scared of survivors, scared of trans/gnc folks, scared of feminine folk

because when we get power, they are scared of losing it

the thing is

we radiate power

because we dare to love ourselves and share our stories

”

- -femmesandfamily (via engmtc)

it’s weird when your best friends are also your greatest inspiration

(via femmesandfamily)

"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and..."

living-justice — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:15:52 -0400

“We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.”

- starhawk

First photo session was a great success. Thanks to the many...

juliesayo — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:25:13 -0400

First photo session was a great success. Thanks to the many courageous participants and volunteers. This would not have been possible without you!

-pv

"when all things align and power is at hand, your voice comes surely and strong. and you say what you..."

living-justice — Sat, 05 May 2012 10:49:38 -0400

“when all things align and power is at hand, your voice comes surely and strong. and you say what you mean, and the things that you say are heard as your truth.”

voiceofonesown: we’re doing the first official project voice...

living-justice — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:26:00 -0400

voiceofonesown:

we’re doing the first official project voice photo session and looking for participants! let me know if you are interested!!

“the opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.”-rent

A Voice of One's Own: bleeding from her wounds.

living-justice — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:59:42 -0400

A Voice of One's Own: bleeding from her wounds.:

voiceofonesown:

for a friend

“my hands held onto the hurt so tightly that they bled

my palms became rags soaked through and

my fingers were my understanding,

but the spaces between them could not be filled.

I could not know, but I could try

and I would fail

so I would try again,…

Federal Government Pressures Sexual Assault Prosecution

juliesayo — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:51:34 -0400

One of my favorite quotes on social change is from former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, “The justice system can knock down walls and open doors, but it cannot build bridges–that job belongs to me and you.” My philosophy on change has always been to engage with the institutions that create and perpetuate systemic oppression. Without working the system, behaviors and attitudes can remain the status quo. Systemic change is slow and often frustrating but there are times when these powerful systems provide hope for sustained positive change.

Unprecedented in recent history, the Department of Justice is investigating the lack of sexual assault prosecutions in a Montana town despite increases in sexual assault reports. Although this may be seen as a gross overstepping of federal power, pressuring states to step up enforcement and prosecution around sexual and domestic assault is a step in the right direction and evidence that the current administration is determined to protect survivors of assault. Low prosecution rates are not isolated to Montana, Baltimore too has a problem in assault reporting and prosecution because of a mistrust of the police and legal system. My hope is that project voice can fill this void of mistrust and provide a safe space for storytelling, healing and building bridges for survivors to connect and develop meaningful relationships on their journey of healing.

Check out more on this story from NPR’s All Things Considered, here.

-j

Photo

living-justice — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:36:29 -0400

Photo

living-justice — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:04:57 -0400

voiceofonesown: i wanted to share one of the many photos...

living-justice — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 08:05:55 -0400

voiceofonesown:

i wanted to share one of the many photos we’ve been referencing. a huge, inexpressible thank you goes out to all those who were involved in making this happen.

with hope and gratitude, mt