March 1st marks not only the first of our Global Advocacy Days, but also the first day of Not For Sale Campaign’s “Advocacy Month. An “advocate”, as defined by the Webster dictionary, is one “who pleads the cause of another”.
As I thought about what it meant to be an advocate, and what it means to plead the cause of another, I remembered a poem by Mary Anne Ramacher. She asks,
" What is a voice if it does not raise against injustice?
What is a voice if it does not sing for change?
What is a voice if it does not speak for the silent?
What is a voice if it merely minics the machinations of culture?
A stilled voice is a dried reed, lost toy, torn page...
A broken feather floating down and emptied canyon.
What is a voice if it remains silent against leagues of tyranny?"
Ms. Ramacher’s poem highlights the need for every one of us to use our voices. We don’t often think about the power of our voice. Just like breathing, it is natural bodily function that we take for granted -until it is taken away from us.
Advocacy month will change that. Your voice will no longer be something that you take for granted. Moving from the subconscious to the conscious, from the shadows into the limelight, we ask that you join Not for Sale in pleading for the cause of the millions of people enslaved in the world today.
Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressors. As abolitionists, as activists, as humans, we can no longer be silent while our brothers and sisters are in bondage.
Raise your voice and tell the story of the young girl forced into sex slavery. Speak the truth: that an egregious injustice is taking place in our very own backyards. There are so many, many ways to use your voice. Communicate. Articulate. Enunciate. Modulate. Pronounce. Pitch. Proclaim. Publicize. Aver. Assert. Air. Aruge. Say. State. Speak. Shout. Sound. Verbalize and Vocalize. Declare. Broadcast. Circulate. Tell.
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