First major training of 2021 is in the books. I’ll be headed to Boise soon for the training Joe brings Rory in for. It’s s fun and can’t wait to catch up with the group that goes to that one. At this point, every training is like a family reunion. Plus, it is going to be super extra special for me. But back to the most recent training. 500 Rising. 500 Rising is working to tip the statistics on violence against women. Violence comes in many flavors and its is a tool. It is used because it works. The violence against women is particularly compelling. Ask any female if she’s been in situation that turned uncomfortable to the point where she felt in danger. More than likely she’ll say yes. Ask her how about if she has feared doing anything about such things because the possibility of retaliation kept her from saying or doing anything. Again, she will probably say yep.
Part of attaining the goal of tipping the scale is to train enough people in principle-based skills and data driven information to teach material to women so that they become more capable and confident in recognizing situations before it goes physical. With that, also providing the prowess to handle it. Imagine if we deeply grasped the subtle skills that are our first line of defense. Not only understand them but could deploy the strategies and tactics to implement a plan of action in order to avert a lot of occurrences. It would be hard to pick a good target with so many of us trained. Being a part of the 500 Rising moment is pretty special for us. To me, it’s kinda like being at the tea party that July 1848, when a small group of women formulated a plan for specific, large-scale action for the first women’s rights convention. Changing the norm will have a ton of push back, especially when it goes against the grain. And when that grain challenges the status quo, push back can be brutal, and yeah, even retaliatory. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and we are gaining momentum. Moving from strength to strength, becoming more resilient and fierce and making others stronger, more resilient and fierce along with us.
