All That Glimmers Is Gold
5 Victories To Not Forget In The Run Up To Inauguration Day
That dreaded anxious feeling is back. And I know it’ll become normalised for the next four years.
Here in the U.K. a lot is contingent on the ‘special relationship’ with the US; we are impacted by that relationship, in whatever form that may be, along with ‘culture wars.’ Once America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold! We know the score already, and how there’s destruction of standardised democratic norms to come. (Side note - let’s all remember that Elon Musk is *still* not elected to any office. He surely should not be setting any agenda, just by proxy of acquired wealth. It’s not democratic by any means.)
The next four years will likely dramatically impact journalism forever; the writing was always on the wall about that. While my profession should be held accountable for harm it may cause, we also need journalists to document and to ask questions about power structures, as a check and balance function. We are not influencers, who rarely if ever challenge the official party line; they are also not legally trained, either. Two things can be true at once. We forget this nuanced value far too often.
These are five victories, at the intersection of fourth wave feminism and disability, that I’ll be holding close for now.
Tiny glimmers glitter in the dark, for oppressive legislation is not without challenge. We have got to be better.
1. “Shame must change aides.”
Oh, Madame Pelicot. You utterly wondrous hero.
A large scale rape trial shocked France, with 50 out of 70 men, and one husband, on trial for rape. Gisele Pelicot had been raped, with her husband inviting men into her bedroom - with the crime captured on video. 50 of the suspected 70 ‘ordinary’ men who took part were brought to trial. The details of this were beyond horrific.
But the idea of here was an opportunity to change how we treat victims of sexual abuse has changed the world forever. Those deemed merely ‘ordinary’ are capable of the most obscene acts, for instance. How we have yet to recognise that is a disservice to us all. Madame Pelicot, in wavering her right to anonymity, stated simply how “shame must change sides.”
Shame dies when the story is told, to break the most insidious of silences. Stories cannot be stopped from being told, being thought. It is the how of how we tell the story that matters.
2. The viral Haka that changed the world.
The youngest MP in the New Zealand’s Parliament caused a brief suspension of the house, by performing a Haka.
A bill would renegade on Māori rights - and half of the house joined her. Despite the suspension of a day, 100,000 turned up at the doors by way of support. That same MP delivered a speech to the crowd - the final question being “who’s coming with me?”
She may be the youngest, but not necessarily the most quiet, of representatives. I adore this woman.
3. Aleppo falls.
As a former blogger, I once interviewed Paul Conroy, the photographer who was with Marie Colvin when she was assassinated in Syria. Similarly, the day two Reuters’ journalists were released from their hostage hold from Myanmar, the excitement was surreal. The editor at large for Reuters and I exchanged feverish emails across the timezones, hundreds of words into the early hours. As a young journalist, a new graduate, this is a core memory of mine - and I hold these times close. Any time a regime falls, I’m agog at the news.
The day Aleppo fell, I was so excited - and the revolution was televised all but a week later. A free Syria at last. This has been a long time coming - and the live footage of prison camps being liberated was joyous to watch. They were under universities for goodness sake - how is that ever humane? Children were born into captivity and had never known any different. Others thought that Saddam Hussien had come to liberate them (!)
Utrecht, Berlin, Sweden, London, Homs - the photographs of celebrations are something I will never forget. It was a year long operation - and the detail revealed by The Guardian is just incredible.
4. The election of Sarah McBride.
5. Stalking victims get the right to know in the U.K.
While a lot of dysfunction remains at the heart of the UK’s justice system, including an over budget spend on a crumbling prison estate, there are tiny changes on the statute books. That stalking victims will get the right to know the identity of their abuser in the U.K. is a key development; we just need it to be passed by Parliament now.
All that glimmers is gold, if we allow it to be. To be hopeful is to be a work in progress, perpetually. As Margaret Atwood tweeted at the time, despair is not an option. And the work begins now.
Some News From Me…
If you’ve seen The Bookseller today, there’s an announcement that The Good Literary Agency will be closing its doors for good. Trading will cease at the end of March; agents and authors are looking to jump to other firms meanwhile, which includes yours truly.
I dream of writing books, including this one, more than anything. A quarter of the UK’s population is disabled; we are expanding more and more, along with a set up meaning our relatives are also impacted where the state fails in its job to care or to provide. Pathologisation is an issue that harms every single one of us.
If you’re an agent, or know of any agent who may be interested in representing me, please comment below or reply to this newsletter. Please share this with your friends, your colleagues, your social media networks.
Advice of a helpful nature - not the “keep your chin up” variety - is also welcome. Writing can be a lonely business sometimes. Thanks!