Reading my personal essay during our school’s assembly on International Day of the Girl (photo credit: Lexie Clinton).
Audre Lorde proclaims in her essay entitled, “The Transformation of Silence to Language and Action” that the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation.
On Tuesday, October 8, my high school feminism class hosted an amazing assembly about intersectionality. We spoke about experiences that not only affected our lives but make us who we are today. This assembly allowed my fellow classmates and me to explore and showcase different dimensions of our lives that we wouldn’t normally address.
I was very nervous about this assignment and the assembly because it took me out of my comfort zone. It’s one thing to write about your life for only yourself, but to read it out loud to your class and then to the entire school was a big step for me.
When it was my turn to get up to the podium I could feel my legs shaking. Every part of me wanted to run out of the auditorium. However, I started to read my piece and by the end I was glad that I did. I read:
Reflecting back on this time in my life, I realize now that I wasn’t always a strong-minded person. I wasn’t always comfortable in my skin. I let societal expectations create my definition of beauty. As Sam, a woman writer of color wrote in, “Loving Your Body in the Age of Patriarchy”, “every day that I step out and love myself is an act of resistance.
I wrote in my own piece that I can relate to this statement because “being an African-American woman in a society dominated by the Master Narrative, you have to be comfortable and proud of who you are and where you come from….We as African-American women tend to think that if we aren’t skinny, or light skinned, or have straight or mixed hair we aren’t marketable or considered pretty enough.”
This part of my essay was very important for me to share to the audience because I connected to iton a very personal level. Growing up, I wasn’t happy with my appearance. My father is biracial and I always wanted to have light colored eyes and relaxed hair like him. Instead, I have dark brown eyes and kinky, curly hair. Although it sounds superficial, these things took away from my confidence and I had very low self-esteem. It took me a while to come to terms with my appearance. As I got older, I found ways to manage my hair and how to present myself in a way that I felt comfortable with; I found my own sense of beauty.
My peers shared stories of privilege, class, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age and geography. As a whole, I believe we realized that a 4-6 page paper wasn’t enough to encapsulate our lives. We lived in a world with many dimensions and even the smallest of stories have shaped us and molded us into who we were standing up at the pulpit. With the Audre Lorde quote projecting as the backdrop of our presentation, we were in fact transforming silence into language in hopes of not only us, but our audience to have a self-revelation on their lives as well.
Here I am with my feminist classmates at the UN for International Day of the Girl. I am second from the right. (photo credit: Ileana Jiménez).
Later that week, on Friday, October 11 the second annual International Day of the Girl was celebrated at the United Nations. I was very excited about this experience because I had always drove past the UN but had never actually been inside. After getting through security and walking into the room where the meeting was actually going to be held, I felt very official. I would be sitting with diplomats from different countries all over the world who hold high titles but we would be sitting as equals. We would be all sitting as active listeners, who stand and support women’s rights and equal opportunities for girls internationally.
The most inspiring speaker of the day was a Mexican girl named Diana. Her opening statement was: “My name is Diana and I am undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic”. This phenomenal girl was the youngest leader of New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC). She is committed to the fight for fundamental rights for everyone, including undocumented immigrants. Her assertiveness in the statement above blew me away. This is a girl who is younger than I am speaking out and acting fiercely and fearlessly for what she believes in. I am inspired and impressed by her boldness and confidence. *Two snaps for Diana*
After hosting an assembly and attending Girls Speak Out at the UN, I felt like I was a part of a larger celebration of IDG across the nation and the world. Although I didn’t physically go out and put out petitions to be signed for equal opportunity for girls internationally, I felt very inspired to address the issues that I heard come up at the speak-out that were relevant to my daily life. I felt a part of the celebration because I was educated on the issue and I was at least given the chance to make a change.
66 million girls are out of school globally. That’s 66 million girls that don’t have the same opportunity that I have. That’s 66 million girls that don’t get basic schooling, that are more acceptable to early marriage, trafficking, and early parenthood. 66 million is just TOO MUCH.
