Resisting Silence by Ethan Vesely-Flad

Winter 2008

Editorial

Resisting Silence

by Ethan Vesely-Flad
editor @ forusa.org

The impulse to create begins -- often terribly and fearfully -- in a tunnel of silence. Every real poem is the breaking of an existing silence, and the first question we might ask any poem is, What kind of voice is breaking silence, and what kind of silence is being broken?

And yet I need to say here that silence is not always or necessarily oppressive, it is not always or necessarily a denial or extinguishing of some reality. It can be fertilizing, it can bathe the imagination...

But the silence I abhor is dead silence, like a dead spot in an auditorium, a dead telephone, silence where language needed to be and was prevented. I am talking about the silence of a Lexan-sealed isolation cell in a maximum security prison, of evidence destroyed, of a language forbidden to be spoken, a vocabulary declared defunct, questions forbidden to be asked. (Adrienne Rich, from Arts of the Possible)

As 2008 begins, we are once again thrust into a vortex of nonstop presidential campaign coverage, with millions of words blanketing our sound waves from candidates, pundits, bloggers, and anyone with a political bone to pick and a medium to pick it. Silence seems an inviting alternative.

But too often in our modern world, silence is dictated, not chosen. In Burma, Buddhist monks who spend most of their lives in meditative stillness have been forcefully silenced, following their marches for humane economic policies and other rights. In Iraq, those who are alleged to have spoken with the U.S. occupiers are brutally killed. In Israel/Palestine, peace advocates have found their web sites hacked and leaders arrested.

Here in the United States -- in the "freest nation on earth" that proudly exalts freedom of speech and a free press as cornerstone values on which our country was founded -- we face an increasing series of silencing mechanisms. Nonprofit organizations are monitored and tracked by so-called intelligence agencies, as in the days of COINTELPRO. Mainstream media ignore progressive rallies -- what's 100,000 or so peace marchers, between you and me, after all? -- and "unlikely" political candidates. And some communities not only grapple against the oppression of dominant cultural forces, but also muting efforts within their own populations: witness the "Stop Snitching" debate in poor neighboorhoods, for instance.

This issue of Fellowship explores different aspects of silencing: primarily looking at the resistance to its negative implications, yet offering a nuanced perspective. White America's refusal to address the ongoing effect of racism in this country -- as in the Jena, Louisiana case -- and the avoidance of many Jews to the plight of Palestinians, in both Israel and the United States, are the subject of writers based within those communities. Isolated Myanmar (Burma) is considered both from the perspective of a nonviolence trainer who visited the country mere days before the military crackdown and by a Burmese nun living in exile who is crushed by the unwillingness of her fellow Buddhists in the diaspora to speak out. A deeply painful and sensitive look at sexual violence in Indigenous communities is reviewed.

But we do provide hope in the midst of these challenges as well. We are reminded that the Muslim community, targeted both at home and abroad, has many positive stories to tell. We recognize that a seemingly-broken ecology can also provide us with an "awe-filled silence." This is the silence that causes Adrienne Rich to pause. This is the centering silence found in Thich Nhat Hanh's retreats -- a mindfulness process that heals the individual and provides strength to counter the oppressive forces of today.

Indeed, given this historical moment, we take inspiration from those who rise from silence to speak out. We are fed by the witness of activists who work from an inner peace. We draw strength from the embodied courage of those who challenge systemic violence.

Pictured on this page (below) is the captivating image of Vinie Burrows, a member of the Granny Peace Brigade, elders who claim the mantra of "We Will Not Be Silent" in opposition to militaristic U.S. foreign policy. Their voices break the silence that controls, demeans, and oppresses. Such nonviolent resistance shows we can overcome the fear of institutional silencing, and work to build a new world together. Please join us in raising your own voice through our blog: www.forpeace.net.

Ethan Vesely-Flad is editor of Fellowship (editor@forusa.org).