3 Years... Hello there!

           

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

At Houston Area Women Center's 2015 Race Against Violence with my friend Chynna 

      A lot has happened in my life since I last posted on here . . . A duh, Jordan, that's obvious because almost 3 years have passed! Today I was thinking about stuff that I want to accomplish and goals I want to set for myself, and I thought Huh.. Remember that time I tried writing a blog!?

     So I just read all of my posts and was thinking Yes... I could get back into this. I regret not writing as I've been doing all of the work, reading, watching, learning, and growing in the anti-violence movement. But hell, no day like the present right? Also, it's kind of neat to look back and see where I was at the time.

     Since then I worked full time as an advocate at a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis shelter and got to work directly with clients who were actively fleeing violence. It was an incredibly valuable experience but also one that lead me to the job I currently have, as a Violence Prevention Educator with the Houston Area Women's Center. Sister agencies, but with HAWC being much larger and having more resources ($$) it allows for there to be a whole prevention team. I loved working directly with victim/survivors... but prevention work was always calling me back (thank you U of I Community Health, hehe) especially after hearing horrific story after story from my clients I always saw the stories connected to one another and to the bigger picture of our culture of violence and silence.

Story after story. Each so different. But also each one very much the same. Prevention work allows us to look at the BIG picture. These violent acts (emotional, physical, sexual, financial, spiritual & more) are not unconnected. Each individual survivor, affected family, or perpetrator is connected by the societal beliefs that create an environment where so many of us experience violence.

I will continue to write on here about all sorts of related topics and share books, movies, articles, but always doing so from a prevention (specifically primary prevention) focus. Below want to share the ups and downs from Allan Creighton and Paul Kivel

                               JOURNEY OF PREVENTION WORK, HOORAY!! 

Pre-training mirror picture? Sure! 

Barriers - Oppression                                        
              - Privilege
              - Guilt/Resentment

               - Internalized oppression                  
              - Backlash
              - Anger of a target group


Rewards - Learning your own strength
               - Stepping out of internalized                                    oppression
               - Collaboration
                - Gaining understanding of reality
                - Witnessing transformation
                - HOPE

So that Douglas Adams quote from above is pretty indicative of my life right now. Non-profit work is always busy, busy. busy but I really do think the work I'm doing will just zip by and I won't remember it (Hell, that's already happened in the last 3 years) and I want to take the time to remember.

And for old times sake... Peace, Love, & Condoms,
Jordan