VOF 1: Talking, marching, singing, and struggling our world into being

The most exciting thing about Web 2.0 is that it allows us to narrate and make meaning of our lives, and then to share this with others. It allows us to tell our own stories from our perspective. It lets a person find and develop their own voice, for those that choose to take on that challenge. This is radical when so many of us are taught or forced through actual or threats of violence or isolation to be silent.

It creates space to speak one’s truth, to speak one’s hurt, to speak one’s outrage, and to share one’s passion and positive solutions. It can be used to create dialogue on a global scale. This is empowering for women and silent/silenced people all over the world, because it allows people to see the connections between our common struggles for justice. For those that are oppressed, it allows them to connect with others and share their strategies. It is an amazing tool for creating powerful, joint actions on a global scale. For those that may participate in the oppression of others, even indirectly, it allows them to learn about how their daily choices, for example their economic choices, effect the lives of others. It can teach us to be allies and to work in solidarity with the struggles of others. It can expose the web of interconnectedness that runs through all our lives in this globalized world. Injustice takes so many forms, but holds so often the same roots. It can be a powerful tool for reflection about all our various roles in all the many relationships in which we participate. We can talk about it, because we can see it. We can connect on a personal level. Instead of reading dribble or impersonal stories that the corporate or main stream media provides us, we can put the power back into stories as tools to teach us how to live in peace, liberation and trust with each other. The stories that we tell ourselves, about who we are and about how the world operates, impact our worlds.

It is time for a new set of stories and a new way of talking.

This is empowering for me, because I made a promise to myself that I would find my voice, and this is a chance to do so. I want to play with ideas and to dialogue. I crave interaction on a global scale that I can use to create personal and social change in my local space, and support others to do the same. I want to connect with people who fight against injustice in other places, just like I work to fight injustice in my community. I want to learn from other people, and be inspired and delighted by them. I want to find a community to talk, paint, march, love, struggle, sing, teach and dance the world into liberation and peace.