V-DAY’S 20 th YEAR WAS HISTORIC
20 years of art and activism via V-Day and One Billion Rising and City of Joy exploded on
the stage and in the streets, coinciding with the emergence of the #MeToo movement in
the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s demise. Like wildfire, stories about sexual harassment
and assault were being disclosed everywhere, in the United States and beyond, and
men of power began to fall like toy soldiers. Was V-Day a catalyst in this unprecedented
movement? Yes. For two decades, our activists and our public campaigns have laid
the foundation for survivors to speak up, for crimes to be named and for truths to be
spoken – be it at the kitchen table or into the face of a rolling camera. In so many ways,
the 2017-2018 season was a reflection of everything we have accomplished and the
power of V-Day’s grassroots network to confront the most troubling issues of our times
– from sexual violence to racism to state-sponsored-violence. Be it Charlottesville or
school shootings, the devastation brought by hurricanes in Puerto Rico or the demand of
Dalit activists in India to be seen as equal citizens, Duterte calling for women activists
to be shot in the vaginas or Trump simply being Trump, V-Day and One Billion Rising
activists showed up for each other, in solidarity, and with a renewed sense of urgency.