Breaking the Silence

"The Transformation of Silence Into Langugae and Action" was very interesting to read. I enjoyed the way Audre Lorde included her breast cancer story. When someone is told that they have some kind of cancer that could potentially kill you it opens up your eyes to the way you are living your life. I definitely get the point that Audre did open her eyes and try to realize what she was doing with her life. She says "becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life."

This shows the awareness brought to you when something drastic happens. This work makes me think of this girl that I learned about while living in Chicago. Her name is Erin Merryn. She wasn't told about having cancer or anything like that but she was sexually abused when she was younger. She was raped at the age of 3 by an uncle of a friend but then molested from ages 11-13 by an older cousin. This took away her innocence as a child. Soon after she learned that he was doing the same thing to her sister. This made Erin realize she needed to speak up. In 1996, she started speaking out in schools and other organizations to gain awareness for this epidemic. She gained from this terrible tragedy a voice. Her voice is very important for our society. She used her voice to write books and even go to lawmakers.

There are so many examples of silence that need to be broken but when something drastic happens we need to break the silence just like Audre is saying here and how Erin did. This is a very important message that we all need to accept. We need to spread the message to break the silence regarding any issue in society. Voice is the most important thing that we have and can share.