Dear Sister: Letters From Survivors of Sexual Violence

Dear Sister: Letters From Survivors of Sexual Violence

$25.60

Regular price $25.60 Sale

Dear SisterIt wasn't your fault; it was never your fault. You did nothing wrong. Hold this tight to your heart: it wasn't your fault.At night when you lay there and your mind fills with images and you wonder if only if you had . . . if you hadn't . . . . Remember: it wasn't your fault.In Oakland California on March 24 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.Dear Sister shares the lessons memories and vision of over fifty artists activists mothers writers and students who share their stories of survival or what it means to be an advocate and ally to survivors. Written in an epistolary format this multi-generational multi-ethnic collection of letters and essays is a moving journey into the hearts and minds of the survivors of rape incest and other forms of sexual violence written directly to and for other survivors.Dear Sister goes far beyond traditional books about healing which often use experts to explain the experience of survivors for the rest of the world. Where other books about rape weave the voices of feminists and activists together and imagine what a world without violence might look like Dear Sister describes the reality of what the world looks like through the eyes of a survivor. From a professor in the Midwest to a poet in Belgium an escapee from a child prostitution ring a survivor advocate in the Congo and a sex worker in San Francisco Dear Sister touches on issues of feminism love disability gender justice identity and spirituality.Praise for Dear Sister:This chilling heartbreaking and necessary collection consists of letters from 40 artists activists writers and students who are survivors of sexual assault and here offer counsel to 'sister' survivors. Every story is shadowed by the teller’s sense of shame brokenness depression and pain but at the same time in anticipation of the addressees’ experience of sexual assault the letters also offer comfort solidarity reassurance the possibility of healing and testimony of survival.—Publishers WeeklyThere is nothing on earth more changeful than telling our stories honestly and listening to the stories of others with an open heart. That's especially true for survivors of sexualized violence who've been silenced by shame. These 50 brave Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence will open floodgates of memory expose body-invasion as the most traumatic of crimes and show victimizers the roots and damage of their acts. I'm very grateful to Lisa Factora-Borchers for editing this book to Aishah Shahida Simmons whose foreword sets a high bar of honesty and to all the voices in it. I think you will be too.—Gloria SteinemLisa Factora-Borchers is a Filipina writer and editor whose work has been published in make/shift Bitch Left Turn and Critical Moment.Contributors: Aaminah Shakur Adrienne Maree Brown Alexis Pauline Gumbs Allison McCarthy Amita Y. Swadhin Amy Ernst Ana Heaton Andrea Harris Angel Propps anna Saini Anne Averyt annu Saini Ashley Burczak brownfemipower Brooke Benoit Denise Santomauro Desire Vincent Dorla Harris Harriet J. Indira Allegra Isabella Gitana-Woolf Joan Chen Judith Stevenson Juliet November Kathleen Ahern Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Marianne Kirby Maroula Blades Mary Zelinka Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore Melissa Dey Hasbrook Melissa G. Mia Mingus Michelle Ovalle Premala Matthen Rebecca Echeverria Renee Martin River Willow Fagan Sara Durnan Sarah M. Cash Shala Bennett Shanna Katz Sofia Rose Smith Sumayyah Talibah Sydette Harry Birdy Viannah E. Duncan and Zöe Flowers.

Paperback: 178 pages

Publisher: AK Press (February 25 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9781849351720

ISBN-13: 978-1849351720

ASIN: 1849351724

Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 0.7 x 7.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces

Have A Problem With Your Product?

We stand by our high-quality products and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.

Secure Checkout

We use encrypted SSL security to ensure that your credit card information is 100% protected.