Murder, Compassion, Love, Courage, Action ...
The man at the back raised the opening lines
"There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life.." and forty people joined in singing We are the World.
Murder and violence
The murder of Dwayne Jacobs and others in Jamaica, the murder of Delon Melville in Guyana who had received threats because of his perceived homosexuality, the attacks on others , mobilised by mobs and often with impunity was the background to a Call to Action : Everyone has the right to be! initiated by the CatchAFyah Feminist Network. In a Caribbean in which no convictions have been made laid, and where the Churches muttering that their version of love means no one should be attacked but tempering that with 'homosexuality is an abomination' apparently worse than the sin of righteous murder.
Guybow, the LBT Women's Network of Guyana and friends decided that it was important to connect homophobic and transphobic violence with the other experiences of violence as people started thinking of action.The venue was at Moray House Trust, space kindly donated.
Gulliver started the discussion with the experience of the trans community and the discrimination faced by the community, even in death where the investigations petered out. Gulliver talked about trans being blamed for the violence meted out to them, for being punished for the right to be. Colleen from Guybow spoke to the murders and discrimination against LGBT , sharing the quote from one of the youth at a camp "“He who is without sin, cast the first stone” . Tiffany spoke to the experience of women with disabilities, of those who cannot report and for whom services do not exist. She spoke to the experience she had of escaping from a man on the road who was harassing her. (The taxi driver said that 'she is beautiful.. and then said.. 'she must take compliments'.. we asked him does he know when compliments become threatening.. he could not answer)
Love
Shonette lost her son Shaquille when police shot him four times September 11 2012 in Agricola. Shonette spoke of that pain and relived the experience. She spoke about the need for love and using her Christian faith as a tool to not let that happen. She spoke of love for all persons and not judging. She spoke of forgiveness for the police who killed her son even though there was no justice as she spoke of her faith in a greater justice.
Compassion
There were some puzzled looks when we announced Oliver who is President of the Guyana Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His presentation linked the cruelty to animals to the cruelty to other human beings. He spoke of the research that showed how criminal behaviour started with cruelty. He spoke of an action of teaching compassion, through encouraging caring for animals. He shared this quote from Albert Einstein.
Nicola spoke of economic violence.. of the experiences faced by those who are poor. She spoke of the experience of a woman with a disability who could not use public transportation to access health care.. and she spoke of those who had to choose between rent and food, school and light bill and of how many persons stay in abusive relationships because of the economic situations.
Priscilla talked about child sexual abuse , and of ways how some children survive that abuse. She spoke of the denial of adults and the victim blaming. She talked about sexual harassment in the work place, and the silencing which happens around that sexual harassment. In her talk, she called for a breaking of the silence on child sexual abuse, to stop blaming children for being abused.
Courage and Action ..
Nicolette spoke of her community and how she and others recognised that the community was becoming more violent. She talked about forming the groups.. including a community policing group. She told Shonette ' I am sorry for what the police did to your son and to you'. She also said.. that she learned that not all police are bad. She spoke of the frustration of trying to help a woman in an abusive situation who went back to her partner. She also spoke of working with children to prevent violence, and also of the difficulty of doing that work. She led the group in singing 'We are the World'
Lina asked persons to think of actions in terms of dealing with the individual, the community, in implementing policy and national laws. In the discussion afterwards.. these stand out in my mind..
- the elderly were left out of the discussion, and the discrimination and violence faced by the elderly, often unreported. There was a need for campaigns to ensure that the elderly were treated with respect at the post offices and other pension collection spots.
- personal action starts with family. One woman talked about 'not just jumping on the bandwagon of anti-violence work because it is sexy, but also about understanding personal responsibility.
- an Amerindian man said he recognised that any work to deal with homophobia in Amerindian communities would be countered by the heavy influence of many churches. He had recognised the importance of the intersection of the violence.
- another man said that he felt that the narratives should not only be negative, that he was glad when Nicolette said that some police were good. He felt that there should be some success stories told as well.
- another woman spoke of the need for rehabilitation of the perpetrators, and that prevention work was needed.
- a young woman talked of her action as forming a Human Rights Group at the University and getting others involved
- another woman talked of her decision to do something.. writing, organising and contributing.. and personal decision to dump a boyfriend who did not want her to have a lesbian friend. She talked of action immediately to challenge discrimination.. of the gym instructor's contempt for an elderly customer; and of her Nani telling her to go build benches for the elderly..
- another man said that you have to deal with discrimination and violence when the issue is 'hot'
- a reverend committed to talking more about compassion for LGBT persons in her church; and to keeping the discussions going about domestic violence and child abuse
- another young woman said that she recognised that many persons would be afraid to speak out and to take any action. She shared this quote from Aung San Suu Kyi's Freedom From Fear..
Some people left early. Some persons connected with each other for follow up action. Others who had experienced violence were there quietly . Time ran out as it usually does.
There is a report in the Guyana Times. Lina wrote about the event here.
"There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life.." and forty people joined in singing We are the World.
Murder and violence
The murder of Dwayne Jacobs and others in Jamaica, the murder of Delon Melville in Guyana who had received threats because of his perceived homosexuality, the attacks on others , mobilised by mobs and often with impunity was the background to a Call to Action : Everyone has the right to be! initiated by the CatchAFyah Feminist Network. In a Caribbean in which no convictions have been made laid, and where the Churches muttering that their version of love means no one should be attacked but tempering that with 'homosexuality is an abomination' apparently worse than the sin of righteous murder.
 |
| Galtung's triangle of violence |
Guybow, the LBT Women's Network of Guyana and friends decided that it was important to connect homophobic and transphobic violence with the other experiences of violence as people started thinking of action.The venue was at Moray House Trust, space kindly donated.
Gulliver started the discussion with the experience of the trans community and the discrimination faced by the community, even in death where the investigations petered out. Gulliver talked about trans being blamed for the violence meted out to them, for being punished for the right to be. Colleen from Guybow spoke to the murders and discrimination against LGBT , sharing the quote from one of the youth at a camp "“He who is without sin, cast the first stone” . Tiffany spoke to the experience of women with disabilities, of those who cannot report and for whom services do not exist. She spoke to the experience she had of escaping from a man on the road who was harassing her. (The taxi driver said that 'she is beautiful.. and then said.. 'she must take compliments'.. we asked him does he know when compliments become threatening.. he could not answer)
Love
Shonette lost her son Shaquille when police shot him four times September 11 2012 in Agricola. Shonette spoke of that pain and relived the experience. She spoke about the need for love and using her Christian faith as a tool to not let that happen. She spoke of love for all persons and not judging. She spoke of forgiveness for the police who killed her son even though there was no justice as she spoke of her faith in a greater justice.
Compassion
There were some puzzled looks when we announced Oliver who is President of the Guyana Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His presentation linked the cruelty to animals to the cruelty to other human beings. He spoke of the research that showed how criminal behaviour started with cruelty. He spoke of an action of teaching compassion, through encouraging caring for animals. He shared this quote from Albert Einstein.
"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."
Nicola spoke of economic violence.. of the experiences faced by those who are poor. She spoke of the experience of a woman with a disability who could not use public transportation to access health care.. and she spoke of those who had to choose between rent and food, school and light bill and of how many persons stay in abusive relationships because of the economic situations.
Priscilla talked about child sexual abuse , and of ways how some children survive that abuse. She spoke of the denial of adults and the victim blaming. She talked about sexual harassment in the work place, and the silencing which happens around that sexual harassment. In her talk, she called for a breaking of the silence on child sexual abuse, to stop blaming children for being abused.
Courage and Action ..
Nicolette spoke of her community and how she and others recognised that the community was becoming more violent. She talked about forming the groups.. including a community policing group. She told Shonette ' I am sorry for what the police did to your son and to you'. She also said.. that she learned that not all police are bad. She spoke of the frustration of trying to help a woman in an abusive situation who went back to her partner. She also spoke of working with children to prevent violence, and also of the difficulty of doing that work. She led the group in singing 'We are the World'
Lina asked persons to think of actions in terms of dealing with the individual, the community, in implementing policy and national laws. In the discussion afterwards.. these stand out in my mind..
- the elderly were left out of the discussion, and the discrimination and violence faced by the elderly, often unreported. There was a need for campaigns to ensure that the elderly were treated with respect at the post offices and other pension collection spots.
- personal action starts with family. One woman talked about 'not just jumping on the bandwagon of anti-violence work because it is sexy, but also about understanding personal responsibility.
- an Amerindian man said he recognised that any work to deal with homophobia in Amerindian communities would be countered by the heavy influence of many churches. He had recognised the importance of the intersection of the violence.
- another man said that he felt that the narratives should not only be negative, that he was glad when Nicolette said that some police were good. He felt that there should be some success stories told as well.
- another woman spoke of the need for rehabilitation of the perpetrators, and that prevention work was needed.
- a young woman talked of her action as forming a Human Rights Group at the University and getting others involved
- another woman talked of her decision to do something.. writing, organising and contributing.. and personal decision to dump a boyfriend who did not want her to have a lesbian friend. She talked of action immediately to challenge discrimination.. of the gym instructor's contempt for an elderly customer; and of her Nani telling her to go build benches for the elderly..
- another man said that you have to deal with discrimination and violence when the issue is 'hot'
- a reverend committed to talking more about compassion for LGBT persons in her church; and to keeping the discussions going about domestic violence and child abuse
- another young woman said that she recognised that many persons would be afraid to speak out and to take any action. She shared this quote from Aung San Suu Kyi's Freedom From Fear..
“Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.”
― Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear
Some people left early. Some persons connected with each other for follow up action. Others who had experienced violence were there quietly . Time ran out as it usually does.
There is a report in the Guyana Times. Lina wrote about the event here.
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