The discussion began with a poem titled, Visionary Work, from the book Tea With the Midnight Muse. The poem concluded with the words, "The work of a visionary is to take powerful action in the present", many of the women and men in the room nodded their heads in agreement. Applause filled the space, making thirty people feel more like one-hundred.
The moderator then asked us to ask ourselves, "What do you think your peace is? Why are you here?"
As each person pondered the question, a basket was passed around the room in with which were flyers, cards, and a bundle of red thread with scissors. We were then asked to snip off a piece of the red thread and ask the person next to us to help us to tie it on. The thread is meant to symbolize our connectivity, peace, and mindfulness within ourselves and others.
Lys Anzia, founder of Women's News Network, began the panel discussion. She exclaimed, "arts for social change is increasing because there is more to talk about and do. If you are an artist and an activist you're living in at the right moment". Anzia went on to list organizations with funding for creative activists; which include, https://www.creative-capital.org/ and https://www.womenarts.org/. Her hope is to foster more diversity in the world of women in the arts.
Noorjahan Akbar, editor and director or freewomenwriters.org, was next to speak. Her story began with a woman who was stoned to death for falling in love. She explained that this story inspired many other women to write poetry. In contrast to the women who used their poetry to express their hurt, Akbar was exposed to books being handed out in Afghanistan, which contained radicalizing content. The books essentially listed subjective and unfair rules for women. Akbar noticed the books were negatively impacting youth, so she decided to create a book of real feminist literature.
Akbar recalls, "it was incredibly empowering to me. I realized my work was not done, it had just begun". The goal of Free Women Writers is to highlight and uplift the voices of women at a local level. Passionately she said, "Afghan women have never been silenced. It's a question if they are listening or not". Free Women Writers recognizes the importance of identity and courage.
Sheila Katzman, chair of cities for CEDAW/NYC, was next to speak. Katzman discussed the importance of theatre, social drama, and action methods to promote women's economic empowerment. She defined her work as applied theatre, which means "by the people, with the people, and for the people". More of her training method is explained through her website; http://ten-lanterns.com/.
The panel concluded with Rosjke Hasseldine, who discussed the importance of mother-daughter relationships. The writings of her book is the creative tool which has helped to empower her and hopefully other women to turn arts and culture into economic and personal sustainability.
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