Only in the past few years and with the rise of fascism have I begun to understand advocacy and why it’s important. Our world moves by influence. When you’re given a spotlight–however small or large–that comes with a responsibility to understand that your voice echoes, and that what you say, or don’t say, has consequence. When I was approached to write this piece on an event that I had considered well and truly behind me, I realized that it would never be behind me. I realized that the shadow of that event has shaped so much of my darkness and light, so much of my art, that to pretend that a few years of therapy and a blog post confession would forever put to bed the issue was a child’s fantasy. I write. I speak. I am an advocate simply because I have been given a voice and an audience. I am a voice for the voiceless, for those who do not have the means or reach for others to understand their pain. Here is what I said for them.
Click this link to be taken to The Advocate–content is NSFW
I’ve embedded the link above, which you can click to see the story, since I would never want to force this kind of discussion on someone. You may read at your own will. Regardless, I want to thank the many people who reached out for both solidarity and comfort after the piece went live. I want to thank them for their stories and for their courage in surviving violence.
All my love,
–C
It’s a beautiful piece, Christian. Which seems odd, considering the topic. But you are beautiful and your light does shine. So very brightly.
Thanks, Julie 🙂 For such a short piece, it was one of the hardest things I’ve had to write, and I spent weeks procrastinating and avoiding the task until it was down to the wire for the deadline. I’m glad that I spoke, though, and will continue to speak when asked.
Your lines are filled with strength. What a wonderful thing to read – how you used your creativity to overcome something so horrible. Thank you for sharing this.
When I was writing this, it dawned on me just how much of my work, and characters, had been influenced by this event. I know we all draw from personal experience, but some of the events in the series cut really close to real life. Re: silence or speaking. I think there comes a point at which you can’t not speak about it. (Did I do that right? The double negatives are so confusing!) Thank you for reading and supporting.