A Letter To All Of Us From W.E.L.L. Founder Brittany Whittenberg:
Dear Women,
I am creating a group for women to be. I want you to join me.
So many things separate us as women: divisions in class, race, gender,
religion, nationality, as so on. We're told that if we unite as women,
we'd be betraying our obligations to our families, our races, or
national histories. We're raised in a society that grooms us to beat
on each other verbally, calling each other sluts and worse. Ripping
apart other women we haven't even taken the time to know, rather than
trying to find the hurt in their lives, and help it heal. Instead of
looking for the bit of ourselves in them. We all have a list ingrained
of who we are committed to, like our immediate family, our fellow
Christians, our fellow workers, our fellow Mexican-Americans, whatever
it is, it is rarely our fellow women. That can change.
Revolution is a loaded word, but it is the word that best fits the
attempted movement here. A revolution is a drastic action or change.
It is in that spirit that I call this movement a revolution. This is a
call to all women to unite, find ourselves and each other, and do
something about the situation we are in, as a group. We can do
something about the wrongs done to women, like rape and poor medical
care. We can also take on the "little things" too, like making ends
meet each month, finding futures for our kids, staying in safe and
healthy relationships and leaving people that don't help us better
ourselves. When one of us is struggling, we can help each other. When
one of us needs support, we can be there. Not just emotionally, but
practically too-things like medical care, birth control, food and
rent, child care, and on. We can find answers. All we need is each
other, and willingness to try.
There are no limits here. This could span into a group that is
worldwide for all I know. But it needs to start somewhere, probably
starting small. It needs to start with the individual. We need to
start with ourselves. Then branch out to each other locally, then to
each other within Louisiana, and then on and on. W.E.L.L. is about
starting small and then growing outward. It's about starting with you,
and your own process and journey.
I can't do this alone, and I know there are others out there like me,
who want things to change. Even if it's just an attitude they want to
change, or a void they want to fill within their own life, or a friend
they want to find-whatever it is, you aren't alone. We've been there,
and we'll be there. Let's unite-let's get together and make a
difference. Please join me and help spread the word. We can do things.
We're stronger than we know.
~Brittany Whittenberg
I am creating a group for women to be. I want you to join me.
So many things separate us as women: divisions in class, race, gender,
religion, nationality, as so on. We're told that if we unite as women,
we'd be betraying our obligations to our families, our races, or
national histories. We're raised in a society that grooms us to beat
on each other verbally, calling each other sluts and worse. Ripping
apart other women we haven't even taken the time to know, rather than
trying to find the hurt in their lives, and help it heal. Instead of
looking for the bit of ourselves in them. We all have a list ingrained
of who we are committed to, like our immediate family, our fellow
Christians, our fellow workers, our fellow Mexican-Americans, whatever
it is, it is rarely our fellow women. That can change.
Revolution is a loaded word, but it is the word that best fits the
attempted movement here. A revolution is a drastic action or change.
It is in that spirit that I call this movement a revolution. This is a
call to all women to unite, find ourselves and each other, and do
something about the situation we are in, as a group. We can do
something about the wrongs done to women, like rape and poor medical
care. We can also take on the "little things" too, like making ends
meet each month, finding futures for our kids, staying in safe and
healthy relationships and leaving people that don't help us better
ourselves. When one of us is struggling, we can help each other. When
one of us needs support, we can be there. Not just emotionally, but
practically too-things like medical care, birth control, food and
rent, child care, and on. We can find answers. All we need is each
other, and willingness to try.
There are no limits here. This could span into a group that is
worldwide for all I know. But it needs to start somewhere, probably
starting small. It needs to start with the individual. We need to
start with ourselves. Then branch out to each other locally, then to
each other within Louisiana, and then on and on. W.E.L.L. is about
starting small and then growing outward. It's about starting with you,
and your own process and journey.
I can't do this alone, and I know there are others out there like me,
who want things to change. Even if it's just an attitude they want to
change, or a void they want to fill within their own life, or a friend
they want to find-whatever it is, you aren't alone. We've been there,
and we'll be there. Let's unite-let's get together and make a
difference. Please join me and help spread the word. We can do things.
We're stronger than we know.
~Brittany Whittenberg