Today is day 24 of the national month-long writing campaign for men on the issue of domestic violence and in support of Marissa Alexander, the Florida mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot to scare off her abusive husband. Launched by the Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Domestic Violence , Emotional Justice Unplugged, and the Free Marisa Now Mobilization Campaign, EBONY.com is the official media partner of this critical act of 'emotional justice' in action.
*NOTE: Today at 3pm, campaign media partners AlterNet.com and GlobalGrind.com will together host a cross generational and multi racial conversation on men & domestic violence that pulls in their two disparate audiences – mainstream white liberal progressive for AlterNet.com and multi racial hip hop 18-34 for GlobalGrind.com.. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #31forMARISSA.
Check out our mission statement here and visit EBONY.com daily through the month of October to read powerful words from men who are committed to seeing justice for Marissa Alexander.
This campaign has become multi-generational and multi-racial. It invites a nation of men – black, white, brown, yellow, red – to write letters. Today's letter is from a son who is the second child of Hindu Indian immigrants who lived in a mostly-White suburb and now lives in Chicago, Illinois. His letter breaks his own silence about the domestic violence he witnessed in his own home, he reminds Marissa he is on her side and talks about his own work to no longer be frozen in silence when witnessing violence.
Dear Marissa, from "Feminist Bhai" (Bhai means brother in Hindu, the language of the letter writer's ancestors),
"I’m writing to let you know that I’m on your side. I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. Nothing that happened to you was your fault. I believe you."
"I used to cry myself to sleep while they screamed right outside of my bedroom. I was always alone. Frozen and silent with my fear and my pain."
"I try hard to recall where my dad was during all this. I have memories from when I was very young…At some point, he disappears from those memories….. I think he got overwhelmed and never had a space to show his own struggles."
"I don’t want to be frozen silent when I witness violence. That’s not how I want to live."
"In spite of my own struggles, I’m writing to let you know that I stand with you. I might not be able to show it fully, and it might be hard for you to tell sometimes. But I stand with you with all the strength I continue to muster, as I work on letting go of my fear and my pain. I stand with you, Marissa, hand-in-hand with other men in my life who haven’t found their voices yet, either."
Read this brother's complete letter here.
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