One Billion Rising

A week ago today I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in One Billion Rising in Chicago.  It was honestly one of the most moving days of life.  It was so incredible to come together with hundreds of strangers who were all so full of love and support for survivors of violence and to prevent that fate from happening to others.

If you haven't heard about it, One Billion Rising is a movement to stop violence against women.  One third of all women are beaten or raped in their lifetime.  That means across the world there are an estimated one billion female survivors of violence.  To combat this atrocity women world-wide joined together to stand and dance together for a better future.

If you want to see videos of the event across the globe you can click here.  There are live feeds and clips of the dance from Australia, Brazil, India and 200 other nations.  It is truly unbelievable.  This is the one I was fortunate enough to attend at Daley Plaza.

photo by Elizabeth Harper 

 photo by Courtney Ego

After slowly accumulating, the moment came when we all got to dance!

photo by Elizabeth Harper

Afterwards, everyone congregated around the stage for some moving readings, poems, etc. By some kind of miracle I managed to only tear up once.

photo by Elizabeth Harper

And then we marched!

photo by Courtney Ego

photo by Sarah-Ji Fotografa

The police even blocked off part of Illinois Street on our way over to the Riverside Arts Center.

 photo by Elizabeth Harper

There were endless dance classes, along with yoga, a mural, and a book-makign station.  Not too shabby.

 photo by Elizabeth Harper

 Thank you to Rape Victim Advocates for hosting these events, and for all those who participated.  I am honored to have been a part of it.