Still I rise...

This was not going to be a statement, but as I worked, more and more, this image became so much more than just a blog post. I will credit the creators, of course. But this is, for me, my statement of Womankind. I am not a shrinking violet. I will not apologize for who I am. The symbols in this image speak to a truth of hatred and violence towards women that has been propagated for millennia. We are were once Goddesses, then fell from grace because we dared to ask questions, we dared to ask for more.. because we DARED.  Fear drove the witch trials. Fear of losing power drives governments to force women to cover up, to prevent them from driving, to keep them uneducated, to take away their inherent rights to make a choice in their reproductive lives, to keep them from accessing healthcare.

The cycle continues still. Across the world, the fear and hate continues. And yet, we rise. We are your caregivers, your Mothers, your sisters, your lovers. We are your daughters. We are your friends. Your neighbors. Your teachers. Every day, we face insurmountable odds across many nations. We fight injustice on a daily basis. Often we fight alone. Often, we fight our own brothers, who would rather see us dead than "dishonored".  You call us demons, you call us "sluts" and "whores". Well I say how DARE you. How dare you, the men, and yes, even women themselves, who become whores for their own religion, who whore out their brains so they don't have to think for themselves. You hide behind a book and claim it to be "The Truth". There is but one Truth. That is the truth of the human spirit, the truth of Love, who rises still. WE RISE. 

I will not now, not ever, apologize for who I am. I am Woman. I bear life. I protect life. I DARE the real men out there who love their sisters, their daughters, to stand for that Truth. That Love. Rise for them. Rise with them. Be their biggest protector. Call on your warrior spirit and fight the injustice. For when one succeeds, so do we all.  I leave you with the amazing words of Maya Angelou...

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise

 _______________  

dress: Trinite, Heaven

mesh fitted for Slink, Maitreya, Belleza with texture changing HUD

pose: oOo Poses

head: Catwa, Alice mesh head

tattoo: PinUp, Hectate

horns: LePunk