Represent

There are not enough women or minorities in office, and there should be. Yes, I am saying this because I am a South Asian woman living in the US.

But that's not the only reason. Women make up the majority of the US population, yet hold an alarmingly small percentage of public office positions. Quick, name another period of history where the majority in a population was ruled by a minority in power....

Time's up!  South Africa during apartheid.

 

Not a fun comparison, but this is a sorry situation. During Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner's speech at the Amazing Women's Conference in Berkeley, CA,  she pointed out that of the over 1,000 members to have served in the California State Assembly, she was only the 200th something woman to ever serve  in the state assembly.  I'm guesstimating that it's around 20 percent. More accurate figures point to even lower percentages, around 18%. Well that's history, right? Let's look at present figures, In 2011 women held 16.6 % of seats in Congress and hold 17% of the 100 seats in Senate.  The kicker of course is that women make up 50.7 percent of the US population, according to the 2010 US Census Bureau. To top this off, for the first time in 30 years, 2011 has seen a decline of women serving in Congress. I've heard that at this rate it will take 600+ years before women have equal representation.

If all things were equal (which they are not as I've outlined in other posts), women should hold slightly over 50% of these seats, but they don't. Women are a majority whose rights and interests are not represented fairly or evenly.

What about minorities in legislature? The U.S. population includes 12 percent African Americans, 9 percent Hispanics, and 3 percent Asian/Pacific Islanders and other groups.  White people make up 72% of the current US population, and I remember reading that the percentage of white males in the US make up around 32% of the total population (don't quote me on this). In Congress, however, 90 percent of the lawmakers are male, and 87 percent are white. (source: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4732).

When it comes to race and gender, major systemic changes that reflect the interests of the population as a whole are not being properly represented. I am stating the obvious and most likely preaching to the choir (since most of you reading this blog are my friends and/or other  activists). So it's great that we may know all of this, but how many of us are running for office? 

I spent a few hours last month at the headquarters opening of the David Chiu for Mayor Campaign. David Chiu is running for Mayor of San Francisco in 2011 and if he wins he will be the first elected Asian American Mayor of the city of San Francisco. 

David Chiu speaking at his campaign HQ opening

Chiu's district includes Chinatown, which is the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Obviously Chiu is not running on just an Asian American base, to be an effective public servant and to win office, you need to collect votes  and appeal to voters from all sectors. It reminded me of when Jean Quan won the mayoral race in Oakland and became the first Asian American woman to hold the position of Mayor of a major city. My friend Jennifer Pae also ran around the same time as Quan. Jennifer ran for Councilwoman of District 2 in Oakland, CA and I volunteered non-stop for her campaign. One big reason for my enthusiastic involvement in Jenn's campaign was due to my previous work with the Ready to Run Rising Stars program at the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers University. My work with Rising Stars was focused on getting young Asian women to join CAWP's  'Ready to Run' program for women who want to run for office, seek higher office, work on a campaign, get appointed to office, or learn more about the political system. This was one major reason I supported Jennifer. Though she did not win the election, I was inspired and proud to see a young Asian woman putting it all out there and just going for it. That is how roads are paved and examples set.

Outside of the Jennifer Pae Campaign HQ

I hope that last paragraph was inspiring, but there's a long way to go. Really long. We need more people like the those that I mentioned above. Where are my South Asians at? Bobby Jindal? Nikki Haley? Please, we need South Asians that run on a platform that actually address issues impacting the South Asian Community.

Kamala Harris, my political girl-crush

There are some great examples of South Asian politicians currently holding office. Recently, Kamala Harris was elected as the Attorney General of the state of California, becoming the first female, African American, and Asian American attorney general of CA and the first Indian American Attorney General in the US (wow all that in one person, you go girl!)  Ravi Bhalla is an Indian Sikh American who ran in the primary for Assemblyman in my former state, New Jersey.  There's Upendra Chivikula -- an extremely active South Asian Assemblyman--also in NJ who I had the pleasure of meeting on various occasions. There is also my old friend Dr. Nuran Nabi, who is Bangladeshi and is a committeeperson for the city of Plainsboro, NJ.

 

Again, these stories are great but we need MORE. I should run for office, maybe one day I will.  Maybe I can just run so that I can say I did, then I can bug everyone else to run. I am not saying that people should be voted into office exclusively because of their ethnic background or that I will vote for someone just because they are a minority or a woman. I need to agree with a candidates politics and the policy stances they take. But there is a chance that people who look like me may understand the needs and issues I care about more than people who don't, just maybe.  Without women and people of color in these positions, crucial voices and issues may not be brought to the table. Our absence unfortunately often signals our silence. Take the example of when I attended a panel in Sacramento hosted by the California Commission on the Status of Women about the troubling misrepresentation of women in media. The panel was made up of mostly white women save for one Latina woman, Elmy Bermejo, the Interim Executive Director of the Latino Issues Forum. Many issues were discussed, but the issues relating to minority women were absent until Elmy spoke up.  The point is if she were not there that day her voice and the voice of minority women would have been absent from that discussion.

Abel Guillen speaking to supporters and friends

I relayed this point to Abel Guillen, a member of the Peralta School Board in Oakland, CA who is considering a run for California State Assembly. I expressed the point that him running for and perhaps winning an elected office would bring voices to the table that would otherwise be silent if he was not there.

Run, please run. At least think about it, or consider doing it one day. Encourage our young leaders. Mentor. VOTE. Encourage others in your ethnic communities to vote, since many of them don't do or may not have the resources to even do that much. It's great that there are plenty South Asian or Asian engineers and doctors, but in order for there to be real progressive change there needs to be strides taken within the public sphere. I'm not an engineer or a doctor, but I hope to be part of this movement, this change towards more diversity in the decision making bodies that represent all of us. Women need to run, lots of them need to run and they need to run now. Yes women's rights have improved greatly since women's suffrage and the women's rights movement of

the 60's, but we haven't reached equality, not by a long shot. Run sisters run, run brothers run, it can happen. The people mentioned above are helping to pave that path, and it is up to me and you to make sure that kind of action continues, with our generation and the ones that will come after.

Women and the V-Word

Photo by Sean Kirkpatrick

I've recently had some powerful womanly experiences. No, not birth or anything having to do with my reproductive cycle (well sort of), but I have been attending some pretty interesting woman centered events lately. One such event was a performance of the Vagina Monologues by Filipina Women in San Francisco. Those of you that know me know that I performed in Yoni Ki Baat, the South Asian Vagina Monologues a few months ago. You can read the post about it here. I attended the Filipina women's performance because my friend Nwe was being awarded by the organizers for her activism work and I also attended to experience another Vagina Monologues; this time as a member of the audience.

It was interesting.  The show that I was involved with though inspired by Eve Ensler's piece, was sort of its own thing. The participants in Yoni Ki Baat either wrote their own pieces or read the pieces that others had submitted. The show I recently attended however  presented pieces from Ensler's original performance of the Vagina Monologues, read and performed by various women on stage. It was sort of cool to see and experience the different versions of the Vagina Monologues. I never saw performances of Ensler's original play and for some reason I was surprised that a lot of it was literally about VAGINAS and what vaginas did, or wanted to do. I was a bit shocked. As liberal as I'd like to think I am, I grew up in a conservative Bangladeshi Muslim household. Sex was forbidden, boys were forbidden, and for a good chunk of my life, I believed that even thinking about boys was forbidden. So yes, the vestiges of this upbringing can still hold strong. There was a session of faking orgasms onstage, talking about what your vagina would wear, monologues against shaving and tampons and so on. My poor friend who was being awarded was a little taken aback. She also comes from a conservative background, being Burmese and raised in Bangladesh.  She had invited various members from her conservative Burmese community to attend the show. To say it was a shock to her and community members in attendance is an understatement, as she stood on stage a bit dazed with a huge plaque that read "Vagina Warrior". 

Photo by Sean Kirkpatrick

But the show is supposed to be shocking and empowering, right? Honestly, this is where I think my dual background comes out. I am Bangladeshi American after all. The American, westernized part of me understands the rhetoric behind this play: the pushing of buttons, the reclaiming of "Vagina". But the Bangladeshi, Barisal/Sylheti village part of me is secretly uncomfortable and well, a little lost about what all of this means, even though I am a feminist who strongly supports and hopefully embodies woman power and equality. I saw the gorgeous woman on stage in all of their diverse glory and loved it, while the other part of me didn't get it, thinking "can we talk about women's stories and issues without bringing up sex organs?".

Seriously though, you go girl
(photo by Sean Kirkpatrick)

Maybe that's controversial, I might get slack for thinking this way, but I'm being honest about my thoughts and the duality of my perspective. What Eve Ensler is accomplishing with her V-Day project is truly amazing and I am so inspired by the work she does. I do wonder though how women in other countries, especially more conservatives countries, react to the idea of talking about vaginas in an open way. When I told my mother that I was performing in something called the Vagina Monologues. She said "tsssk, in this country, they talk about things so openly."

However being "closed" does not equal oppression, not always, just like being open does not always  imply freedom. For my mother and her cultural upbringing, keeping intimate things, well intimate, held it's own power, something that didn't need to be out there for everyone to know.


Which brings up a bigger debate, where some may look at scantily clad women and the constant portrayal of women in media as sexual objects and think that they are being oppressed, while others may look at women who cover up as being oppressed for not being able or being comfortable to show off their faces or bodies.

For me, I think that the vital element in all of this is CHOICE. If I choose to wear a short skirt because I love it, then let me be. If I want to wear a hijab because I want to, then that is my choice as well. The complication may come about when we think of what affects our choices. Society? Men? Media? Culture? Patriarchal hierarchies? All of the above? What does choice even mean....arrgghh my head hurts and this post is going on for much too long.


I have no conclusion, I want to do what makes me happy, what makes me feel good inside. Maybe for me, it's not talking about my vagina, but also respecting the idea that others may do this and that feels great for them...and that it may not feel so great for other women and that's also okay.

CHOICE, a simple idea, but it can be a complicated concept in the real world. I  hope that women can at least have a choice, and be happy with the paths they choose. Maybe that is what the Vagina Monologues is really about, because unfortunately women today around the world, and in this country are being denied choices: Wisconsin, Tennessee Try To Pull Planned Parenthood Funding

and are being denied choices
Woman's 'Honor' Killing Sparks Outrage In West Bank

and are being denied choices
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/over_b_861159.html

Yes We Can?

Tonight was a pretty big night for me. I got to see Obama live and in person...well not too personal, it was in a huge room with hundreds of other people. Still it was my first time seeing a president speak. I mean I've seen Bill Clinton a few times, but that was post-presidency. And if I ever saw George W. Bush, I probably would have lobbed a shoe at him and been tackled pronto.

Oh Bush, I still rage at you with my loafer

But back to Obama. I had mixed feelings about seeing him. When he first came into office, I remember watching his victory on TV in San Bernardino, CA with my father. I kept jumping up and down shrieking like a pre-teen boy band fan in excitement as his win became imminent. When Obama stood with his family and waved to the crowd after he won the election, my father, a 5o+ something Bangladeshi immigrant, started waving back at the TV. It still strikes me deep in my heart when I think of this moment, and what it meant to us.

Fast forward to tonight. Honestly part of me didn't feel so enthusiastic about attending. Although I was happy with many of the major reforms he was able to put forth, I was sorely disappointed about his stances (or lack thereof) on immigration issues, on the cuts to planned parenthood as the rights of women are in danger of being rolled back (particularly the rights of low income women) and how economic issues are being handled. Regardless, I still support him in a mopey way, so off to the Masonic Temple in San Francisco I went, along with my good friend Nwe Oo and my new friend Deborah Matthews.


Goapele, the neo-soul songstress from Oakland, performed before his speech and she was absolutely riveting. She sang Sam Cooke's " A Change is Gonna come" and it just sent chills down my back. The music in the auditorium before Goapele and after was funky. I was surprised to hear House of Pain and Montell Jordan, but hey, what other politician besides Obama can get away with playing that stuff?

Goapele being her usual breathtaking self

Oh and I got to shake Lietenant Governor and Former SF Mayor Gavin Newsom's hand, and I told him that I expected him to run for governor in four years. He laughed. The man looks like a ken doll and he's like 7 feet tall (at least to me he was).

Obama's speech was nice, I mean the guy speaks eloquently. What impacted me more than the speech was the way he admitted to the problems that were out there, and how more work needs to be done. He even jokingly called out the audience saying that he knew the "armchair political consultants" were out there. He pointed out the successes on health care reform, repealing "don't ask don't tell", and working to pull the economy out of recession. He did also admit to work that needs to be done to stop tax cuts to the wealthy (he included himself within this classificaton) and women's rights issues, among others.

We did...now what?

More than Obama himself, my attention was drawn to the crowd. It was very diverse, with faces of all colors, ages, fashion styles and yes, even economic backgrounds. I saw kids from YMCA programs attending and just a sea of colors around me. Yes it's San Francisco, but the variety of people that came out for a political event really made an impression on me. As I watched Obama speak, I looked at Nwe sitting beside me, who came to the US 5 years ago as a refugee. She was so excited to see him speak that you could just see the happiness radiating from her face when she listened to his words. The reaction, smiles and laughter of the crowd in support of our president was really what impressed me, and I hope that Mr. Obama saw the same spirit in the crowd that I did.

I'll end this entry with a quote of his from the night that I thought really rang true
"Everybody likes change in its abstract form, but change in the concrete is difficult"

It is hard Mr. President, but here's to hoping that there's more of it as your administration goes onto and hopefully beyond 2012.

Brown people STAND UP - Part 1

Last week I attended the SAALT Summit in Washington DC. SAALT is the acronym for South Asian Americans Leading Together, a group I affectionately describe as "the NAACP for Brown people". They do work from a social justice and civil rights framework and every two years they bring together South Asian activists, advocates and community members from all over the country for the summit.
I went to my first summit two years ago, when I worked as an advocate at Manavi, an NJ based organization that works to end violence against women in the South Asian community. This year however, I was representing myself and my blog Us Ordinary People, which I would be discussing at a panel session . This was my first time being a panelist at a conference so I was super excited.
The main theme at this years Summit was the 10 year anniversary of September 11 and what has changed in these 10 years. The issues that plagued the South Asian community when 9/11 hit are sadly the same issues today. Islamaphobia is rampant, and the recent shooting and deaths of two elderly Sikh men in Sacramento was one incident that highlighted this. Though the mood of the conference was friendly and unified, I sensed a somber air during the weekend. Issues regarding the rising number of deportations and the cutting down of labor rights added the sense of overwhelming odds for the movement as a whole. During my panel on community documenting, the need to document the stories of individuals and communities facing these issues was apparent. Alongside me in my panel were Dinu Ahmed and Moumita Zaman from Khadija's Caravan, an organization that provides photography workshop series for young Muslim youth in NYC, and Luna Ranjit from Aadikar, a Nepali human rights organization. All three of us were providing documentation in different ways, but the need was clear. If we did not provide the opportunity to tell these stories, then perhaps nobody would. I went to a few other workshops, but I must say that the highlight of my day was just lounging around with other activists. I made new friends, reconnected with people I knew before and I took a TON of pictures (as usual). I met the other co founder of NYTWA, Javaid Tariq, and we shared our love of photography and human rights. Seriously, with my hectic East coast trip, it was nice to just relax for a bit and actually connect with people, which I don't think always happens at conferences. I also loved listening to people tell me about their work, the passion behind what they do is apparent and it really pushes me to work towards my passions to help others as well.

The next day had some open circle discussions and roundtables with government agencies such as Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. I always love the open sessions at the Summit. It's really a chance to sort of kick back, sit in a circle and just share different perspectives. I attended an open space session on art due to my interest in photography. From radio hosts, filmmakers and playwrights, it was an awesome session where I was able to exchange e-mails and ideas with other artists. Afterward I attended the government roundtables, focusing on the ones relating to Immigration and Civil Rights Issues. I often wish that there was some way to work with the government instead of feeling like I am constantly fighting against government policies and budget cuts. I do feel that SAALT is taking the right steps to build those bridges between government and civic groups, this bridge building could be seen at the roundtables, as well as the next and final day of the summit, where summit attendees were able to advocate on capital hill at the house of representatives.

Article continued on next post...

Brown people STAND UP - Part 2

continued...

The final day of the summit was Advocacy Day, where summit participants and I had the opportunity to go to the offices of our elected officials and represent the interests of our communities. The day started with an troubling incident when some summit attendees and I came across members of the Sikh Coalition who were stopped and questioned by DC police for "suspicious activity". Many of those being questioned were lawyers, and some were wearing turbans. You can read about the incident on the Sikh Coalition blog. Luckily, once this incident was resolved, the rest of the day took a more positive turn.

The opening briefing started with an address by Congresswoman Judy Chu from California, the first Chinese American Woman to be elected to Congress. The briefing also included both community leaders and members who have faced and are facing the repercussions of 9/11. One particularly poignant moment occurred when the mother of a young Muslim man who was killed at ground zero spoke about her son, Mohammad Hamdani. Mohammad was 23 years old when he went to ground zero to help survivors after the planes hit. He was tragically killed when the towers came down. After the incident, officials and some media outlets pegged her son as a potential terrorist based solely on his Muslim background, Weeks later, his remains were confirmed and he was vindicated as a hero instead of being vilified as a terrorist. His mother, Talat Hamdani, started off with quiet tears, as any mother would after facing such a tragedy. Her tears came out again which she spoke highly of Congressman Keith Ellison, who mentioned Mohammads story during the infamous King hearings about the radicalization of Muslims in America. Ms. Hamdani also spoke of how her husband passed away just a few years after her son since he could no longer take the grief. This was a woman who lost almost everything due to 9/11, she was Muslim and American and her story is one that I wish everyone
would know. It was amazing to see her advocating on behalf of the memory of her son and for the families of September 11 victims. During this session, I also met some members of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) a membership led organization that works for the rights of working class South Asians in NYC. One member of DRUM was Shaheena Parvez whose son Shahawar Matin is serving a 30 year sentence for allegedly becoming involved in a terrorism plot in NYC. With a mix of broken English and Urdu ( which I vaguely understand) she told me briefly about her sons story. A Bangladeshi woman, who had also come along with DRUM, helped to translate for Shaheena. Shaheena told me to look up her son's story, she spoke of how agents had harassed her son and through entrapment had him arrested on terrorism charges. She told me "my son do nothing wrong". I took some photos with her along with Talat Hamdani, and it was heartbreaking yet uplifting to see these women, who had both lost sons to the effects of terrorism and the "fight" against terrorism come together and support each other at the Summit. Moments like these were truly the most valuable experiences for me that weekend.
After the briefings, it was off to Capitol Hill to get our advocacy on. I was assigned as the facilitator for my group, which in itself was very exciting, since I've never facilitated any congressional visits prior to this! I was able to go to the Congressional office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California and Rep. Keith Ellison (!) of Minnesota. Congressman Keith Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress and is one of my congressional heroes. During the King hearings, Ellison stood up to the institutionalized Islamaphobia presented at the session and at one point his voice even broke when he was on the Congressional floor as he responded to the hearings. My advocacy group and I met with Congressional staff members of each Representative and expressed our group concerns with profiling, anti bullying legislation and anti immigrant policies that are having a negative impact on our communities.

As the day came to a close, I bid a tired farewell to my fellow summit attendees, took off my heels and walked barefoot through the cherry blossom petals in front of the Capital Hill Lawn. It was a warm and beautiful day, with tourists mulling about and cherry blossoms in full bloom. I felt grateful to have made amazing connections during the summit and I felt comforted to know that I am part of a network that can and is making this country a better place. There are so many challenges ahead, but it is nice to know that I will be facing these challenges with my friends and colleagues by my side.

Friends are family you pick

I remember the day I officially moved from New Jersey to California. I barely made my flight, I was so late in fact, that I wasn't even allowed to check in my luggage and had to run onto the plane. As the plane pulled away from Newark airport, and as New Jersey grew exponentially further and further away, I burst out crying. I just couldn't stop. Roberto was sitting next to me and was dumbfounded. I'm sure he was thinking that he was bringing a certifiable nut with him back to the Bay Area (and he was absolutely right). Anyways, I bring up this memory of mine to relay the reasons behind my tears. I of course was lamenting the fact that I was leaving behind my family on the opposite course, but I also shed tears for all of the friends and the amazing life I had on the East Coast. I was excited and happy to follow my dreams of having an adventure in San Francisco, but I was heartbroken as well thinking of all I was leaving behind. Plus I seriously had the most kick-ass goodbye party EVER.

evidence of kick-ass good-bye partaaay

My friends were the reason I had this amazing life, and as I am currently back in the East Coast running around like a crazed hyperactive chicken as I travel to four states due to conferences, job interviews and visiting my family (both biological and adopted), I am still amazed at how well my friends take care of me. It's really something special when a person opens their home to you, hands you an extra key and tells you to come and go as you please. Or when a friend takes me out for wine and gourmet lamb burgers after an 11 hours intense interview process just to help me relax. Or drives me and a carload full of people to another state to enjoy an all night spa. Or let me crash at their place at 4am because I'm obsessed with how comfortable their sisters bed is (don't worry said sister is out of country). And when I get taken to a Korean BBQ buffet and am not allowed to touch the bill. Or when a family lets me crash on their couch for as many nights as I want, just as they did for two years (long story, for a future post one day). I just feel continuously blessed and overwhelmed by the love shown to me, It really makes me feel like extending my arms like Stretch Armstrong to envelope my buddies in a huge super bear hug.

GROUP HUG!

And boy have I been getting FED. Back in California, I'm on the unemployment diet, which usually consists of starvation, Ramen noodles, and coffee (oh and occasionally pasta). But HERE my god, I've been taken out, been given home cooked meals and been able to express my gluttonous self to the fullest. Yes it's great but I think I will be needing to buy spanx soon to fit into my clothes for my conference. But I do I enjoy all of this "soul" food, and getting fattened up on some love.

my "I need Spanx" photo

The point is that I feel super duper lucky. I'm not writing this post to brag, I just want to express my gratitude for having these amazing people in my life. I remember that in high school, the highlight of my life was going grocery shopping with my mother on Saturdays. Yes, that was the extent of my kickin social life back then. I remember taking pictures of people I sorta kinda hung out with in class just so I could look like I had real friends. But now I have REAL friends, as opposed to the imaginary ones, and that's probably why I can't stop taking pictures. (imaginary friends also don't photograph as well). Sometimes I still get shocked that people actually want to hang out with me. Funny how that doesn't get old.

So I just want to say to my buddies that YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME. Just like I wrote in my title "Friends are like family you pick" and I am so glad that I got to pick you dudes and dudettes. I also need to include my sister who happens to be my family and friend. If I were picking out a dodgeball team, she'd be my first choice for sure.

I'm sure some of you reading my blog will see this, so you should just know that I love you all to ooey gooey pieces, and to my friends who pretend to read my blog, I love you guys too =D.

Peace from NYC, off to Washington DC to spend some fun times with my dear friend Tom and other eclectic mixes of characters. Can't wait!!

A Creative Process...

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, and in honor of this day, I was planning on writing this awesome, knock-your-socks off post about women and awesomeness and fighting the good fight and...

yea well I'm sick ....I've been sick since Friday and these coughing fits just won't quit.

So you have this post instead. This past weekend was the culmination of an absolutely amazing and inspiring experience for me. It was my first time performing at Yoni Ki Baat, which is the South Asian Vagina Monologues. After practicing for two months, I got on stage, along with a bevy of diverse, creative and wonderful women to express our unique monologues and poems to our audience in the Mission District of San Francisco.

There are so many emotions involved in this for me. For one, I remember coming to San Francisco as a tourist almost two years ago,

(Me being a tourist in San Francisco)

running around the Mission Dolores and the Castro clicking away with my camera since I pretty much figured I wouldn't be coming back to the Bay Area anytime soon, if ever. And now here I was performing IN the Mission. Funny where life takes you, from tourist to local performer, I definitely didn't see THAT coming.

Back to the show though. When I first submitted my poem "Mother May I" to Yoni Ki Baat, I had no idea what to expect. I was stoked to get picked, but I still had no idea what I was getting into. As I came to the first rehearsal, I felt sorta weird. I vaguely knew one person, and I had no idea if I would be totally out of place here. Although I'm loud and extroverted, I'm not a seasoned stage performer by any means, and yea I was very nervous.

From that first nervous day, so many things have changed. The women I met became my friends and my teachers, as they gave me tips on how to improve my performance, use my stage space and SLOW DOWN (which I still can't say has quite happened). There were times when I felt totally lost, thinking "wow I can't do this, many of these woman just GET it". Yet the comfort came came, as the pieces were memorized, and there were times when I saw some of the vulnerabilities and strengths of my fellow performers. I think that helped, and it also made me feel closer to them and to the pieces we were putting out there for the world to see.

The amazing thing is, each and every one of the pieces in the show was special to me. It was exciting to see words on paper transform into an actual performance, with feeling and expression. It was a pretty cool process to see how each woman made their piece their own, whether they had written them or not. Every performance was a journey, and I was glad to have been a witness to that journey.

Most of the YKB women are not professional performers. Roberto mentioned how so many of the performers looked completely at home on stage. I told him it was because of practice, practice, practice. The truth is, these women came from very diverse backgrounds. From a Harvard trained doctor who works at a community health center using her experience working with families to inspire a piece on delivering babies, to a high school teacher, a lawyer, an environmental activist, a recording artist/electronic musician, a scientist and so much more. All of these women came together to become fast friends, performers and yes, sisters to put on Yoni Ki Baat.

This experience has certainly made me follow through with my own creative process. Following through with a performance in front of 200+ crowds was quite an undertaking. I even cried after my performance, when all of us took the stage after the final show. It was all such a rush, and it was overwhelming to just give your all to a performance and have it be over. Roberto held me as I blubbered like a baby, they were tears of joy to be sure, and grateful tears to have have the opportunity to be a part of this.

This blog is also part of my creative process, which is continuing, changing, evolving (I hope). I just started another project, which is sort of my baby right now, it's a new photo essay blog called (Extra)Ordinary People at usordinarypeople.blogspot.com. I have also joined a sort of "women's circle" of writers, to inspire each other and push each other to continue the creative process even when we don't feel like it (writing is truly a discipline that needs to be cultivated and tended to!)

So I am still in this process, Yoni Ki Baat was a fantastic part of it, and I can only hope for more amazing ventures and experiences in my future.

Love you ladies, Yonis forever!