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Creative Responses Final
Creative Responses Final
Dear Embur,
Be loud,
be proud,
be angry—if you’re angry.
But most of all—
be the inconvenient
Other.
“We are fish in the water of our own stories” says Marshall Ganz. In Resistance School, people
are taught to coach each other to tell their personal narratives. This is how I imagine it might go
if I were in the situation of the young woman he spoke with initially. He says it’s not an
interrogation if there is empathy behind the questions—if someone cares.
Olive Trees
She jumped
right into
the pit.
Her father
clapped.
Others
followed.
Those trees.
They are more than branches and leaves.
They are life.
They are love.
They are everything.
To him
jail
isn’t scary anymore.
To him
jail just happens
when you fight
for what is
just.
To him
those trees
are everything.
To her
those trees
are life.
To them
those trees
are love.
This village
is more than
just people—
These people are
bound by roots.
In Budrus, villagers rallied around their livelihood—the olive trees. When that was threatened,
they acted—peacefully. Ayed said “we gave these trees the names of our mothers” and I was
struck by just how powerful and connected this community was. They were bound to each other
just as they were bound to the land.
Manifesto
But—
Be an ally
be a friend
be a shoulder
be a comrade
Be unapologetically me
be not sorry
be not caring
be more me than ever
and don’t…
Be okay
with doing it alone
with being lonely
with being the fun-sucker
with being the only one yelling
Be okay
with standing on your own
with marching with strangers
with comforting strangers
with being a stranger
Be okay
with fighting my family
with explaining things
with looking up facts
with having an open mind
Be okay
with being a feminist
with being loud
with being proud
with being angry
Sarah Ahmed writes the “Killjoy Manifesto,” and this is mine. The crux of my manifesto is to be
okay—with whatever comes from being a feminist. That may mean fighting with my father or
trying to convince my mother. Maybe trying to teach my brothers and help raise my nieces and
nephew to understand what and who I am. And I have to be okay with that. Whatever that
entails.
The Tool Kit
How?
We assemble—as avengers—
our tool kits.
Books
and learn to argue with them.
Life
and the experiences we’ve lived.
Words
and the guts to speak them.
Allies
and the love to help them.
Emotions
and the strength to show them.
Space
and the ability to give it.
Peace
and the self-love to break it.
This is my tool kit, in response to Sarah Ahmed’s own. I liked the tools she chooses to arm
herself with, and I stole some. But I wanted mine to be simple, yet complex. A feminist, in my
mind, should break the peace that enables harmful behavior, yet give space if it’s needed. She
should be strong but feeling. Empathetic to the struggle of others and be willing to help if she
can. This is my tool kit and others may disagree. And that’s fine. As long as we are all allied.
And dissatisfied.