“ We have seen in America and across the world the most hideous murders of Black men and women by the police , especially trans women who are put at disproportionate risk , and an escalation of white supremacy . Most recently , we have witnessed the horrific murder of Breonna Taylor and the outrageous injustice that followed . I have been doing deep reflection about our V-Day global activist movement to end violence against all women ( cisgender and transgender ), those who hold fluid identities , nonbinary people , girls and the planet – our past and our present and where I believe we need to go in the future . I believe something more is being called for now . I have been doing deep reflection about my life as a white woman playwright and activist . I am fully aware of the depth of my privilege , access to networks and resources that have helped to produce my work . I believe this is the moment we need to uplift and be in deepest solidarity with Black women : cis women , trans women , and non-binary people across the African Continent and African Diaspora . We need to share networks and resources that will bring their voices into the center of our movement ”
— V
One Billion Rising Global Coordinators and activists worldwide staged RISING GARDENS events - online and in real life - that were a defiant creative call for revival , restoration and transformation , making the connection between the destruction and eradication of Mother Earth and the ongoing and escalating gender-based violence . The work centered the needs of communities throughout the Covid pandemic .
At City of Joy in the Democratic Republic of Congo , our 19th class graduated , turning their pain into power that is fueling change across a nation over 1650 graduates strong . In Kabul at the City of Knowledge , women continued to attend classes despite the recent spikes in violence targeting educational institutions and the turmoil with the US pulling out its troops . At the Tasaru V-Day Safe House for the Girls in Narok County , Kenya , girls broke taboos rejecting Female Genital Mutilation and redirecting their lives and those of their communities ’ through education .
The following pages will take you through the past year in our movement , an unprecedented year marked by a global pandemic and by the RISING of activists globally to meet the moment via V-Day and One Billion Rising movements , and on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo , at the City of Joy .
Your support of our movement is the wind at our backs . It truly means the world to us .
V ( formerly Eve Ensler ) Susan Celia Swan