It’s now Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and I’m finally getting around to posting the remaining few of our “Why I Am Rising” video series. After some continued technical difficulties and so on, the last videos have finally been uploaded to YouTube and will be released to the public over the next couple of weeks.

And while I’d initially hoped to get them all out before opening night of The Vagina Monologues, including them as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is actually kind of serendipitous. In part, it reminds me that rising to end violence is not a one-time thing that coincided with the designated date of Feb. 14, 2013. Rising continues, and it must continue until something like Sexual Assault Awareness Month is no longer needed.

So I hope you enjoy and are inspired by the amazing words and experiences of our video participants.

In this “Rising” video, author Janna McMahan describes how research for her newest novel, Anonymity, revealed to her the startling connections between youth homelessness and abuse/violence. And that’s one of the reasons she’s rising.

Speak out. Break the silence. End the violence.
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