Listening Across Our Differences

Sponsored by Anglican Women’s Empowerment, “Listening Across Our Differences: Empowering Women Cross-Culturally for Transformation” invited a panel to discuss deep listening as a way to heal from violence and oppression. Moderator Semhar Araia (of UNICEF), invited panelists Dr. Jacqueline Ogega (President of Mpanzi Empowering Women and Girls in Kenya), Rev. Dr. Paula Nesbitt (author), and Pumla Titus (Chair of the International Anglican Women’s Network) to talk about their work using listening as a way for women to transform those experiences that dehumanize them into a community of empathy and forgiveness. Though much of the discussion was based on cross-cultural research, panelists’ experiences with storytelling as healing came out of Africa and the African diaspora. The concept of storytelling between women as a tool to achieve inner-harmony posits that listening is an active, rather than passive act that incorporates intention, love, support, and vulnerability. Panelists have found that in running workshops that encourage women to share their stories, bridges are created that provide relief from the burden of trauma. Dr. Ogega told the story of an ill village woman in Kenya who needed some of her time that she felt she could not give. By the time Dr. Ogega returned to the village, this woman had passed, leaving Dr. Ogega with a strong sense that had she taken the time to stop and listen, she might have been able to help this woman heal. This got her thinking about her feelings of misappropriation by white women, causing her to ask the question, but am I even listening to the people that look like me? This is why the cross-cultural nature of listening is important: it can address historical power imbalances and encourage women to reevaluate the lines of their own power and others’ power, thus bringing about positive change. I came to realize that while my first impression was “what a simple solution”, there is nothing simple about it. A woman’s relationship with listening is complex and influential; so often assigned the role of “listener” to the patriarchy, turning this action from passive to active can lift us up and out of subjugation.