Gather. Rise. Be Vocal as Hell.

 As we gather speed for International Women's Day and collectively surge into the space created by the ripcord that is the strength, power, grit and light of Grace Tame I ask you to pause and stop, challenge and reconfirm your motives

If you are a keyboard warrior relishing the opportunity to remove ‘SCOMO and his government’ then stop. Shutup. And go home. Because this is not about politics, or a liberal or labour government. Or even an independent one. I am at heart a conservative, raised in the heartland of the National Party before shifting to the Liberal-National umbrella and I cannot ignore that our government is failing us; men AND women alike.

This is about the reality of a culture which still believes itself to be built on the myths of mateship and bonding in conflict instead of the harsh reality; a colonisation determined to quash the oldest living indigenous population on earth, compounded by more than 200 years of embedding systemic patriarchal privilege. A power-based system in which the women who have assimilated themselves and now remain deafeningly quiet wield as much destruction as the (not so good) men.

 Beyond the corridors of power, childhood sexual abuse and an embedded rape culture that erupts in our teens and follows us into adulthood is a pervasive, silent epidemic that spreads from parliament house, through business, sports, educational institutions, churches and our communities. Its heartbeat pulses from the heart of the Sydney CBD to the gates swinging in the wind in the 5 street, 1 shop town that is but a dot on the map.

 So if you are rising up to rid this country of this government then please stand down. 

But if you are rising up because you are prepared to stand with the women and children beside you, to extend trust and belief immediately when they first find that split second of courage to voice that something is not quite right; if you are willing to realise that black holes and the inability to sequence timelines in arrears are not evidence of lies and deception but the very real and proven psychological, neurological and physiological impacts of deep trauma, and prepared to learn the steps involved in the subtle dance that exists between giving victims a voice and re-traumatising them, then gather. Rise. Be as vocal as hell.

 But remember as the heat dies down and men and women like Grace continue their push that true systemic change will only come if each and every one of us take their lead and deepen it;  we must become skilled in our ability to hold space for the women and children we stand beside. 

Every moment, of every day, in every street, in every town, across every culture, race, denomination and occupation, be the one who chooses to stand beside the one who cannot.

 #IstandwithGrace #IWD #ChoosetoChallenge