Fight back with words: a performance

Last night I had the privilege of performing onstage with 12 other strong, courageous and beautiful women. The experience is still reverberating within my psyche and I've been reliving the experience over and over within my mind's eye.

First off..it is a MIRACLE that I was able to get on stage in front of a hundred plus people and tell Khalid's and my story. I have always had a profound phobia of public speaking. My voice would always quake, hands would shiver, sweat poured from my forehead, there was an overwhelming adrenalin rush, and I would be in a cyclone of anxiety for days before I had to perform.

Since attending Hamilton the phobia has become more manageable. Hamilton not only promotes in depth, analytical writing but also expects students to channel those skills into effective public speaking. Without this opportunity, I would never had the ability to master my public speaking fears.

I was truly amazed, proud and awestruck by the diversity, talent and courageousness I witnessed on the stage last night. Some women talked about body image, others found a creative way to tell their stories through poetry or storytelling, another talked about identity issues stemming from having a mixed race background. Additionally, two brave women talked about being raped.

It bothers--no, that's too weak a word: pisses me off that even in this day and age, women-- whether they are black, rich, poor, white, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, young or old, immigrant or native--are still treated as if they are disposable. The act of getting up in front of an audience, sharing our stories--no matter how sad, hurtful, horrific, funny or outrageous is one way to shout to the world "we are not disposable! We are important, strong and necessary.

We need to continue to tell our stories in order to reclaim our rightful place as equals in a world dominated by a patriarchy that wants to silence our voices, deny our experiences and use us for their own agendas. The world; and everything in it that men love, could not exist without women! This is why we fight back with words....

"There's an old Chinese saying that says "women hold up half the sky." What would happen to all the men if we just decided one day--to drop it?