November 25th. For many Americans it marks, this year, the day before Thanksgiving. While supermarkets were displaying well in advance window-front advertisements of turkeys sweating in pans, while offices are preparing for the four-day weekend, while flights are being booked, this date, November 25th, holds a history, sadly shrouded by the holiday hubbub and marketing strategies geared toward holiday shopping.
It marks the day, in 1960, that the three Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, were assassinated for their outspoken resistance to the dictatorship of the Dominican Republic.
Remembered as the "Inolvidables Mariposas", the "Unforgettable Butterflies," the sisters serve as a symbol against victimization of women. Honored since their 1960 deaths through poetry, song, and literature, the Mirabal sisters' struggle for freedom has inaugurated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, recognized in 1999 by the United Nations.
Here, in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom officially declared November 25th as Elimination of Violence Toward Women and Girls Day, signing a proclamation in 2008.
To honor all victims of violence, the ARTivist Coaliton will hold a noon press conference at San Francisco City Hall, on November 25th, launching 16 days of public events. Following the press conference a healing ceremony is scheduled, while in the esplanade across the way, a free multi arts performance, “They Are All Our Daughters,” will take place to honor survivors.
Arranged by songwriter Mamacoatl, the performances by local arts and human rights groups include poet, Judy Grahn, choreographer Anne Bluethenthal, musician Diana Gameros, and Aztec Dancers Mixcoatl, among other community artists.
Bay Area resident Mamacoatl, musician, healer, “Artivist,” former journalist, with an M.F.A. in Spirituality among her credentials, first initiated this observance in the U.S. five years ago. But it is immediately evident that this is not a woman to flout her degrees, nor to flaunt her passion for causes in your face. She bears a modesty that travels through the waves connecting our calls. In her deep laugh and sultry rich vocalist tones, there is a good energy. It is not something you could capture and contain in a bottle, it is not something you can see or smell. But it is there, palpable and thrumming.
She remains clear about the integrity of the art. All artists volunteer their time. By relying on the passion that is the driving force, and not on the commercial benefits, Mamacoatl is “confident that something positive can happen.” There is no space here for the “plastic art” which can potentially taint work dependant on grants. Instead, what arises is “a harnessing of creativity,” a gift, through art, to the community. To incite, to inspire, to provoke awareness.
Although November 25th has been internationally recognized by the UN, since 1999, as the remembrance day for the elimination of violence towards women and girls, Mamacoatl felt the urge to do something more. Inspired by a trip she took with her daughter about five years ago, “a spiritual journey” that took them first from Mexico (her native country) onto Peru, Mamacoatl was particularly struck by her time in Mexico: witnessing pictures in the paper of cases of bodies thrown along the Mexico Cuernavaca highway. What she read was no less alarming than the reaction of the locals.
“People were walking by as if nothing had happened,” she recalls.
Returning to San Francisco, she gathered with some friends outside a Mission BART station to begin what marked the first commemoration: simple prayers and song. That gathering helped to alleviate her pressing need to spread awareness. “Every time a woman is abused, the value of all women goes down.”
The small crowd of friends singing outside a BART Station grew progressively each year, to the broad coalition of arts, healing, and human rights today. Following the first year, the event attracted a wider audience and required two venues. The year after that, the event moved to the steps of City Hall, garnering a signed proclamation, and a press conference.
This year's event, “a work in progress,” includes a press conference featuring Nanette Bradley Deetz, offering a Cherokee opening benediction, and Chief Luisah Teish and the Women’s Spirituality Program of the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology leading a ritual healing. Speakers include, among others, Mayor Newsom, Emily M. Murase, PhD, of the San Francisco Department of the Status of Women, and Alameda poet laureate Mary Rudge, with human rights activist and radio host, Nina Serrano, to host.
Additional events already scheduled include performances at Dance Mission Theater, and a film night at Revolution Cafe showing the adaptation of the Julia Alvarez novel “In the Time of the Butterflies,” (a fictionalized account of the Mirabal sisters) and the documentary, “El Camino que se Abre." Plus, an intriguing experiment in audience participation: a group EFT exercise. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, harmonizes the emotional and the physical to manipulate the balance of energy in the body. This is a new item on the agenda. One of many examples showcasing the ARTivism possibilities of educating and illuminating the public.
But reaching out means embracing all genders, all artists, and all non-artists, from all countries. All people. Mamacoatl urges the public to initiate activities, to help raise awareness throughout the days of activism culminating on December 10th, “Human Rights Day.”
She urges all healers and therapists to take this opportunity to speak about this issue. She asks men and women to participate in events. “There is no hiding behind color, or social privilege.”
Asked once why she does what she does, Mamacoatl has this to say. “It is my job as a woman. To claim the earth.” Perhaps still influenced by her earlier journalistic days, Mamacoatl continually searches for the truth in her work. It is that quest for truth that drives her as an artist and the ARTivism coordinator today.
“American women are too comfortable,” she says. “They live in a bubble, which causes them to become disconnected.” The press conference and the following events are an attempt at “mobilizing” the community. “Piercing the bubble.”
A sing-a-long summoned outside a BART Station has flourished into a city-wide coalition. Let's be thankful for those who are taking action to raise awareness. Let's join, in whatever capacity, not only in the 16-day commemoration, to lead responsible, compassionate, empowered lives. But always.
16 Days of ARTivism
November 25 – December 10
Sponsoring organizations:
SF Bay Area Artivist Coalition on Gender Violence
ABD Productions
Survivors International
The SF Bay Area Chapter of the US National Committee of UNIFEM
The Women’s Spirituality Program at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology (ITP)
“They Are All Our Daughters! /!Todas Son Nuestras Hijas!”
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Towards Women & Girls
Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2-3p.m.
San Francisco City Hall
Free to the public
For a full schedule of events please check the website
Contact Mamacoatl: mamacoatl@yahoo.com.mx
Events are still needed for various dates, including the final day, December 10th
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