Community In Leading Events

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January, I thought further about how the Oberlin community talks about topics pertaining to sexual harm. At Oberlin, we have important and necessary conversations about practicing consent, but we don’t talk often enough about what happens after consent is violated. What do you do if you or someone you know experiences sexual harm? Take Back the Night is an event which centers survivors in the conversation of sexual harm. Its goal is to address what members of our community can do if you or someone you know experiences sexual harm.

SOSHA’s third annual Take Back the Night in Peters Hall included a speak-out, where members from the Oberlin community spoke or sang about topics surrounding sexual harm, marched around campus, and celebrated resilience. During the speak-out and celebration, I felt so proud of all the speakers and performers for having the courage to share their stories. All the performers held so much beauty, strength, and resilience. I felt honored to share the stage with them.

I decided to perform at Take Back the Night somewhat spontaneously. I didn’t write my speech until a few days prior to the event. I was nervous to talk about my experience of sexual assault on Oberlin’s campus: I didn’t want my time at Oberlin to be defined by my experience of sexual violence. I didn’t want to deal with the questioning that can come when you tell people that you have experienced sexual assault. Still, I decided to speak at Take Back the Night because I no longer wanted to feel ashamed of what had happened to me. I hoped sharing my story would encourage other survivors to speak out. After my speech I felt an immense sense of power.

An element of planning Take Back the Night that was really important to me was making Take Back the Night as intersectional of an event as possible. As a Black woman, I have found that my experiences of sexual violence have been largely influ- enced by my race. Sometimes when talking about sexual violence, we leave out the history of sexual violence enacted against women of color in America. In order to have truthful discussions about sexual violence, we must acknowledge the variety of survivor experiences influenced by race, gender, sexuality, and class.

The most surprising aspect of the event for me was the outpouring of emotions from performers and audience members. After the speak-out, somebody came up to me in tears saying, “Your speech was amazing, I am so proud of you.” I had messages from people telling me what the speech and the event had meant to them and how it made them want to talk and process their own experiences of sexual violence more. Students talking publicly about experiences of sexual harm destigmatizes the topic of sexual assault. Sexual assault is incredibly isolating and devastating. To know that there are other people who have had similar experiences makes survivors feel less alone. In addition, we hope that people speaking about their experiences of sexual harm will force the Oberlin student body to deal with the per- vasive issue of sexual violence on our campus.

Despite attending Oberlin College for less than a year, I have already heard countless stories of individuals experiencing sexual violence on campus. Outside of the SOSHA spaces, however, I notice that, as a community, we rarely talk about sexual violence. This lack of discussion stems from the discomfort in acknowledging that people in our community are capable of committing sexual harm. But in failing to acknowledge the sexual harm on our campus we are silencing sexual harm survivors. Only when we talking about issues of sexual harm can we support survivors and help end the rape culture that perpetuates sexual violence.

I ended my speech by addressing the allies present at the event: “To the allies here tonight, don’t take your role lightly. You can have an incredible impact with small acts of grace and support.”

I say the same thing to all the readers of this article. I ask that you show support to sexual harm survivors and attend survivor visibility events. We must continue to talk about these issues and raise awareness in order to properly support sexual harm survivors.

Eric McKewin

Over fall break, I traveled to Atlanta to visit the Weelaunee Forest, the frontline of the fight to Stop Cop City. “Cop City” is the name activists have given to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a $90 million police training facility under construction in a critical urban green space. Protestors argue the project will contribute to rampant deforestation, police militarization, and gentrification. In response, activists built a movement to resist the project’s construction. They’ve rallied, marched, hung banners, sprayed graffiti, called legislators, testified at city council meetings, and physically occupied the forest upon which Cop City is set to be built. After spending the week speaking with activists, touring the forest, and witnessing the movement firsthand, I felt inspired to share three lessons I learned in organizing with Oberlin.

First, Stop Cop City is “autonomous.” This means there is no central body directing the movement or handing decisions from the top down. Instead, participants are able to engage however they feel compelled to. I encourage Oberlin students to organize autonomously, too. In my social circles, I often hear criticism of other student’s efforts to organize. It’s a topic of gossip to discuss how a banner drop on campus is ineffective or how a library installation is performative. While criticism can be warranted, I believe it dampens Oberlin’s spirit of activism more than it enriches it. I think Oberlin’s spirit of activism would benefit from building a culture in which students considered their own actions above criticizing the actions of others. This way, without the fear of ridicule, all students would feel empowered to engage in activism on their terms.

Second, Stop Cop City is proactive, not just reactive. In addition to resisting state violence in the present, such as occupying the forest to slow the clear-cut or calling on lawmakers to cancel the project, they also build the world they want to see for the future. Activists host soup kitchens, raves, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, nature walks, art-making workshops, and other community events. While these events do not directly resist Cop City’s construction, they build relationships among community members, which better allows communities to mobilize. Oberlin’s activist culture seems to be very strong when reacting to needs as they arise — the 2020 layoffs of unionized dining and custodial staff, restrictions on abortion access, allegations against Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, or revisions to the institution’s bylaws. However, I believe students should also proactively build networks of care through donating to mutual aid needs, showing up to events hosted by social justice or affinity-based student organizations, and continuously pressuring College administration into better supporting marginalized students. This would allow us to both better support our most vulnerable peers and better mobilize when new needs emerge.

Third, Stop Cop City emphasizes that change can be made from anywhere. Activists in Atlanta call on allies nationwide to send funds, contact Cop City’s subcontractors, and host their own events. In Oberlin, I often hear students express that they want to take on big issues like climate change or anti-Blackness, but feel it’s impossible to effect change from a smalltown, “bubble” environment. I disagree. Oberlin’s “bubble” does not isolate it from issues like anti-Blackness. Stop Cop City demonstrates that there are ways to engage in national movements from Oberlin. In March, Students for Energy Justice hosted a solidarity event in support of Stop Cop City. Around 50 students contacted Cop City’s subcontractors, wrote letters to incarcerated forest defenders, and painted a banner that now hangs on Harkness Hall. I believe Oberlin students can enact big changes from our small town.

Oberlin’s activist culture strengthens when we learn from movements around us. As a contemporary and ongoing struggle, Stop Cop City is an especially inspiring example of communities coming together to make change.