Turning point

I'm never quite sure what to blog about. Do I talk about issues that concern me? People that have influenced me? Do I share a favorite recipe or poem, write about the environment, movies, music, historical figures, or theology? All of these things interest me, so it often takes me about half an hour to actually decide what I want to spend time reflecting on.

Today, it will be an issue that concerns me.

About a year and a half ago, I sat in a classroom in 129 Lake St. and watched a documentary on the femicide that is taking place in Ciudad Juarez, a city that sits right at the US-Mexico border. Through this film (and subsequent readings and research), I learned about the unspeakable crimes against humanity that are taking place in Juarez, Chihuahua City, and expanding into Guatemala. As I watched families share photos and stories of their sisters, daughters, and friends who have been horrifically tortured, raped, mutilated, and murdered simply because they are women, I remember feeling bewildered and overwhelmed. Learning about the impunity that takes place in the face of such injustices caused me to think long and hard about the privileges I hold as an educated US citizen and the responsibility I have to better understand this issue and become an advocate for these women.

You could say that this film and the class I was sitting in marked a turning point in my education. Though I appreciated previous class discussions on important theological concepts and doctrines, this class incited a deeper passion and commitment to issues of gender and equality, a commitment that I believe will be a part of my studies and career for many years to come.

This issue poses not only a theological challenge for me but also a deeply personal one. I think it gets at the essence of my own vocation. How can I live my life in a way that will honor not only the memory of the hundreds of women that have been senselessly disappeared and murdered in the past decade and a half in these cities of Mexico and Guatemala but also the stories of the women, men, and children who are affected daily by the reality of domestic violence here in the U.S. and around the world?

What are ways that I can be an agent of change as an individual, a member of my family and community? How can I build connections and relationships, create supportive spaces for people to share their stories and to be heard? In what venues and contexts can I help to educate and advocate for those affected by this issue? When and how do I step in when I hear someone being degraded or abused? Beginning to ask these questions and live them (as Rilke says), I hope to somehow, someday live my way into an answer.

For more information on these issues, please check out:
National Organization for Women: http://www.now.org/issues/global/juarez/femicide.html
REACH Beyond Domestic Violence: www.reachma.org
Fundacion Sobrevivientes: http://www.sobrevivientes.org/