One Billion Rising

Today was the first large-group rehearsal in Portland for the V-Day flash mob dance that will take place all over the world, in over three hundred countries and thousands of cities and towns on February 14, 2013. It's for all people to rise up and put a stop to violence against women. Rising to say rape is unacceptable. Rising to say domestic violence is unacceptable. We are rising and dancing, however we are able, to say we won't allow it any more. This is where it ends.

This picture is from today's rehearsal, and there is a selection of additional pictures of the rehearsal here.  For heaps of information about the event, check here and look up the location nearest to you. I'm hoping that on February 14, we will inundate Blip with pictures of V-Day Risings near us.

Warning: there is a three-minute film on the website that includes, in the first minute, dramatization of violence against women. Survivors of violence may find this dramatization triggers post-traumatic stress syndrome, so the video is marked "Trigger Warning." Survivors may choose not to watch that film, though there are many other videos on the website that are inspiring, joyful, and beautiful to watch.

Also on the website is the choreography for the flash mob dance, as created by Debbie Allen. That's what we were rehearsing today.  

In other news, I heard from Joseph, the man featured in my blip yesterday. He got the pictures I sent him via email. I also sent him a link to yesterday's blip, and here's his response, in an email to me:  

Close enough.

Thank You for the "prints" you sent to me.  Quicker'n One-Hour-Photo, you are.

Definitely, close enough.

For not having taken notes, but only relying on memory of what was uttered by multiple speakers skittering across multiple topics, you got the spirit of the storytellers laid-out on your blip.  You've extrapolated "the rest of the story" from uttered outlines.

'Tis a talent one can develop from having a curiosity about & keen interest in ones fellow humans, or it is a "gift" you've put to good use.  Do keep it up!

Thanks, Joseph. I mean to do that.