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This past weekend, Mallika attended Mount Holyoke College’s 176th annual commencement where Kavita N. Ramdas addressed 600 bright young graduates. In her beautiful commencement speech, Kavita highlighted why we need the work of compassionate and passionate uncommon women to lead a world free of violence.
Here’s an excerpt from her inspiring address:
“As we walked in memory of a 23-year-old who died with an iron rod rammed hard inside her body, I turned in quiet despair to the young man walking beside me and asked, “Tell me, why are you here? Why are all these men here? You are the ones who do this to women and to other men everywhere. Why the bloodthirsty calls for the death penalty? Why, why, why?”
He turned to me, his face somber and serious. “Ma’am, I know you may not believe me, but I was totally shaken by this experience. Nirbhaya was not alone in being abused—her male friend was beaten brutally, stripped, and thrown out of the bus along with her. He was a victim, too, and he survived to tell us what happened. For years men have thought that rape is a “woman’s issue” and that it has nothing to do with us. This incident has made us wake up and pay attention, and we are asking what is our role as men in addressing this ugly side of ourselves and of the society we dominate.” I looked around me—there were so many young men walking with their sisters, with their girlfriends, with their moms. It was different than in ’83. “We need the help of women, ma’am,” he went on. “This is a confusing time for us, and we need to think what does it mean to be a man and what is it we expect of ourselves. Maybe if we work on this together, we can make it right.
His words echoed in my ears a few months later, when I celebrated International Women’s Day with MHC grad and good friend, Mallika Dutt, as Breakthrough launched the One Million Men—One Million Promises: Bell Bajao campaign in New York. There, Captain Jean Luc Picard, aka Patrick Stewart [described being] a survivor and silent witness to domestic violence. On the verge of tears, he said, “No child should have to grow up as I did—knowing the exact moment at which to fling themselves across the room to come between their father’s fist and their mother’s body.” Who helped Patrick Stewart find the courage to come out in front of a global audience on the issue of domestic violence? One of our own—a 1983 MOHO! Yes, I will assert—it matters. An MHC education—a women’s college education—a liberal arts education matters. It may matter more today than it ever has in the history of our world.”
Full text of Mount Holyoke College’s 176th annual commencement address.
- Nadia
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Over the Line
Why are U.S. Border Patrol agents shooting into Mexico and killing innocent civilians?
By John Carlos Frey
Until moments before U.S. Border Patrol agents shot him dead on the night of October 10, 2012, Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez had passed a pleasant evening in his hometown of Nogales, Mexico. He had visited his girlfriend, Luz, and watched television with her family; at around eleven o’clock, he asked Luz if she wanted to join him in his nightly routine of grabbing a hot dog at the convenience store where his brother worked. When she declined, he set out alone on the five-minute walk down International Avenue.
At about the same time, right across the border, a Nogales, Arizona, police officer named Quinardo Garcia responded to a call about “suspicious subjects” running south toward the fourteen-foot wall that divides the two towns. At 11:19 p.m., Border Patrol agents, including K-9 Officer John Zuniga, arrived as backup.
“I passed Officer Garcia’s patrol vehicle and I saw two male subjects climbing the international fence and were trying to get over to the country of Mexico,” Zuniga wrote in his report. “I gave them numerous commands to climb down.… I then decided to deploy my assigned canine, Tesko, and hold him on a leash and secure the area in case the male subjects climbed down. Moments later, additional Border Patrol Agents arrived on the scene.”
The two Mexican men were carrying large backpacks, according to the police report. Garcia and Zuniga stated that they presumed the packs contained illegal narcotics and that the two men were trying to evade capture. “I then heard several rocks start hitting the ground and I looked up and I could see the rocks flying through the air,” Zuniga’s account continues. “As I tried to get cover between a brick wall and small dirt hill, I heard an agent say, ‘Hey your canine’s been hit! Your canine’s been hit!’ ”
Border Patrol agents responded by opening fire across the border into the dark streets of Nogales, Mexico. No agents or officers claimed they’d been struck by rocks—the dog was the only one hit. By the time the agents were done firing, Jose Antonio had received two bullets to the back of the head; at least six more bullets entered the back of his body after he fell to the ground.
He landed facedown on the sidewalk, and died there, outside a small clinic whose sign read “Emergencias Medicas.” He was unarmed, according to the Nogales, Mexico, police report. Border Patrol officials, as of this writing, have declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation by the FBI, which has also declined to comment.
Read More at the Washington Monthly
Photo: Ernestina Santillan stands on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, where her son, Juan Pablo, was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents last July. Credit: John Carlos Frey.
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Genius pro-immigration bill campaign by the LPAC. I’m really hoping that the Deport the Statue campaign will have a significant impact in legislation.
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This is a special series in support of the global #RingTheBell campaign to end violence against women. This guest post is written by ...
This is a special series in support of the global #RingTheBell campaign to end violence against women. This guest post has been re-published from the ...
