This made me really think about what community is. There is the community of family. This is more diffcult when there has been familial violence and abuse. It can cause invisible divides in famillies. Yet still gifts messages and impromptu visits all feature in my matriarchal role in the family. Yet then there is the sense of local and national community. In England this is a community of men and women and children with family heritage throghout the world. This community requires a strong sense of self identity and aside from language barriers, a keen interest in making connections with people who have a huge variety of differing family backgrounds.
Then there is what I do for the community of my own race as such, female. I do not heitate to call out actions that do not honour other women, encourage equity and set positive examples. This may sound perhaps as though I am being harsher towards my own gender community. Yet it is clear that real change and development in equality and equity can only happen when women see great role models. Can identify risks from negative patriarchal behaviours by males or females. Yet something more. I have written extensively about my personal history of gender based violence and abuse. How normalised and accepted it was, at times leaving me unsure whether in fact it may be my fault.
My involvement in the community is to share my experience, history. Not to make the sexual violence gratutious and perhaps sadly voyeuristc. But to try and identify why violation is, how to make postive decisions, what consent looks like. Most importantly to shine a very bright light into the dark corners of familial violence and sexual violence. So that the secrets can be shared and practices of abuse in family becomes as socailly unacceptable as drink driving, not wearing seatbelt and other dangerous negligent actions that place others at risk.
This has meant some suffering on my part. Some targeting. Yet commnity is about developmen , growth and change. As i transpose my proofwirtten first book ready for publishing, i realise that it is also about being part of a community. Albeit perhaps the outspoken challenging part of that community !!