Introduction
We are living in the age
of #MeToo. This viral social media movement has millions of participants
worldwide voicing their stories to demonstrate both the prevalence of sexual
violence (including assault and harassment) and the prevalence of those who empathize
with, advocate for, and support survivors. It is a historical moment—one we
believe will not slip quietly into the annals of history, reserved for mere
mention as a line in a paragraph dedicated to “special” topics of culture,
gender, and social power. Rather, we believe this movement is a testament both
to the hope that things will get better, and to the commitment to make things
better.
It is within this global
context of social change that Washburn University’s commitment to consent and to
the prevention of sexual violence has been developing and is being implemented.
For example, the University’s Department of English and the Sexual Assault
Education and Prevention Project collaborate in a poetry workshop and reading—a
Speak Out Against Sexual Assault event—in April of every year to acknowledge
Sexual Assault Awareness Month and to promote a healthy campus of consent.
Through coordinated efforts of many individuals and offices on campus, as well
as in conjunction with community partners such as the YWCA Center for Safety
and Empowerment, numerous other events and programs have been instituted on
campus as well. Examples range from ongoing sexual consent education and active
bystander training for faculty, staff, and students, to the recent creation of
a permanent staff position for a campus victims’ advocate. It is from this
milieu that Ichabods Speak Out is offered. Based on Dennis Etzel Jr.’s
research, this is the first for a university to publish a literary magazine of
poems specifically against sexual assault and for consent. With this project,
Washburn University establishes another use of media to show we, too, are a
campus of consent.
Still, we acknowledge
that some of the poems in this book do tell stories of sexual trauma; in
others, you will instead read of the hope of which we speak; and some of the
poems tell of transformations from horror to hope. However these stories are
told, it is their very telling that holds and offers power: these poems speak
to the reality that wherever there is oppression, there is resistance to it and
opportunities for empowerment. As such, this book is a document of the times, a
physical representation of the Washburn University campus and Topeka community
collective to speak out against sexual assault and to speak for consent.
We are immensely grateful
to Shelley V. Bearman who ignited the spark for this project, to all who
contributed poems to this work; to the Washburn University Alumni Association
and Foundation—especially Sarah Towle and Jeremy Wangler—whose adoption of this
project through the IMPACT initiative provided the mechanism to obtain
crowdfunded support to print copies of this book for free distribution on
campus and in the Topeka community; and especially to the generous individuals
who provided that crowdfunding, listed on page 15.
Jericho Hockett, Ph.D.
and Dennis Etzel, Jr.
February 22, 2018
[
[
Contents
Introduction 11
Donors 15
Shelley V. Bearman
I Stand Up 19
Elise Barnett
Self-Esteem 20
How to Break Rules 22
How to Keep a Secret 23
SB
“Someone is told to keep quiet” 24
Tara Rhiannon Bartley
To Trust 25
Contemporary Myths 27
Anonymous
Was it Rape? A Question for Myself at Twenty 29
Katy Chase
Conceptualization 31
TC
“Because of you, I am frightened of the dark” 32
Kay Duganator
NO 35
I am “Fine” 37
#MeToo 39
Anonymous
I’m Supposed to Write a Poem About Rape 41
TD
“COPE” 43
Julie Eisele
Kissing Sounds 46
Natalie Engler
Everything is (NOT) Fine 48
F*** Him 50
Months 51
Dennis Etzel Jr
Hollywood, Too 53
Sydney Haugh
Me Too 54
Jericho Hockett
Rising 55
A Lovely Piece of Art 57
Maggie Hutchinson
Two Young Women 58
Maureen Kennedy
[Consent] 60
[Womanhood] 61
[Definition] 62
Anonymous
Just Because 63
Diamond Mclaughlin
Sins 64
Pain 65
Dreams 66
Anonymous
“All I wanted to do” 67
Dave Proverse
Live and Let Live 68
What She’s All About 70
Lakpa Sherpa
My Body is a Story 72
Anonymous, from one human
to another
“strength taken away” 74
“as a flower grows” 75
Molly Steffes-Herman
For You My Love 76
Linda Thorton
Some Say Love 77
Vestri Cupidita 78
Julie Velez
The Wave (Alternately: Don’t Panic) 79
Prompt: Shadow self: the dark part of yourself
that
only you know and only light can expose 80
Wonder 81
Barbara Waterman-Peters
“Your hand slid inside my jacket” 82
Sharon Sullivan
“I am a secret keeper” 83
A Tribute to Shelley V.
Bearman 87
Contributors 91
[
This printed book is made
possible by a Washburn Impact Fund whose contributors are:
Erin Chamberlain- $20
Barbara Waterman-Peters
-$100
Vicki Pepperdine -$25
Kelly Erby -Undisclosed
Amount
Sarah Fizell - $60
Anonymous - $25
Alan & Shelley
Bearman - $50
Amy McCaskey - $25
Sharon Sullivan - $10
Christopher Jones - $15
Linsey Moddelmog - $25
Mary Ralston -
Undisclosed Amount
Anonymous - $5
Julie Velez - $25
Elaine Becker - $25
Anonymous - $25
Julie Hendrickson - $15
Tara Bartley - $25
Jericho Hockett - $25
Jennifer Pacioianu - $25
Denise Low - $25
Anne Hawkins -
Undisclosed Amount
Karalyn Kendall-Morwick -
$10
Dennis Etzel Jr - $15
Shelley Bearman - $25
Thank you so much!
No comments:
Post a Comment