WE MOVE TOWARD A FATHERHOOD WITHOUT VIOLENCE
Translated by Stacey Schlau, a CSN volunteer translator
FROM CALI COLOMBIA WITH PROFESSOR MONCAYO, WE MOVE TOWARD A FATHERHOOD WITHOUT VIOLENCE
Many things have inspired Prof. Moncayo, that unarmed traveler, who without hatred or arrogance has demonstrated the absurdity and outrageousness of the powers that govern us and of those who oppose them with the same logic and means in name of freedom, revolution, and the people. Moncayo, based in his sensitivity and pain as a father, has awakened new sensitivities regarding old wounds. He has renewed the discourse, esthetic, and ethics of protest in our country. But his contribution, for us, goes much further.
In this continent, more than thirty years ago being a mother stopped being synonymous with resignation, and became a symbol of unfalteringstruggle against impunity, and for remembrance, for not letting ourselves forget, for being the small duck-bird who drives the raptor bird crazy with its persistence.
Today, women—mothers around the world form a force impossible to ignore, with a strength born of love and of not cooperating with forgetting or wickedness.
Meanwhile, fathers are absent figures and they are most visible as cases of violence and abuse against their sons and daughters. So much so, that Colombian men and women tired of waiting for a paternal figure different from the usual one, distant and vague, have preferred to elect twice a figure of the authoritarian and violent father, whip and trickster, punishing, threatening, symbol of the Antiochan patriarch.
The legacy of Prof. Moncayo is therefore even more important. With his words and attitudes, he offers us a wonderful, hope-filled path for Colombia: for the first time a man affirms his role as a father politically and publicly, demonstrating another kind of nonviolent strength--not that of a distant and authoritarian father, but a loving, sensitive father fully committed to living his paternity. Demanding without circumlocution his right to live by his son’s side, to fulfill his life commitment as a FATHER.
So, convinced of the importance of the historical moment in which we live, and certain that we will not lose, we propose to initiate a collective action of fathers as political subjects in Colombia, fathers on the side of life, loving fathers against the war, fathers against violence, fathers for humanitarian agreement, fathers committed to history.
Already some men and women, inspired by Moncayo, are initiating a campaign that consists, first of all, of a movement of conscience: declaring ourselves “walkers” for a fatherhood without violence. We will call upon all those men who decide that nothing can separate us from living and enjoying fatherhood: not war, nor poverty, nor multiple forms of violence.
At each event, in each meeting, in each public act where there are men and women who heed this call, we will call out the slogans of loving, nonviolent fatherhood. Each person will use t-shirts, buttons, bracelets, and other things that show support for this change. In many cases, on each wall, in each poster, we will make public our intention and each loving father will know that he is not alone in his effort, that his steps, like those of Moncayo, leave a footprint in the history of Colombia, changing a millenial culture.
We will begin our call with announcements on walls, in newspapers and the mass media, and then, like in a telethon, we will set a number as a goal . . . a thousand? Ten thousand? A million fathers who are conscientious objectors, fathers who are teachers, fathers who do not raise warriors. Each house, each neighborhood, each organization, and each business can create its own campaign. In order to keep track of the steps of many people, we have a telephone and a blog to which you can write, recounting your experience and connecting us with others, in order to coordinate efforts with greater impact.
Then, a public ritual act will take place simultaneously in several cities so that the country feels these new fathers.
The history and culture of this country will be grateful. And one day, when the new generations ask us what we did during these bitter times, we will be able to answer: we were on the side of life, we refused to raise children for war, hatred, and horror, fathering and mothering life, rocking the fragility of the future with lukewarmness.
Hopefully we will be able to move many people to breathe together for this beautiful cause. If so, we will meet in the Petronio Alvarez, in Skating World, in the Art Festival, in the Book Fair, in cyberspace.
FROM CALI COLOMBIA WITH PROFESSOR MONCAYO, WE MOVE TOWARD A FATHERHOOD WITHOUT VIOLENCE
Many things have inspired Prof. Moncayo, that unarmed traveler, who without hatred or arrogance has demonstrated the absurdity and outrageousness of the powers that govern us and of those who oppose them with the same logic and means in name of freedom, revolution, and the people. Moncayo, based in his sensitivity and pain as a father, has awakened new sensitivities regarding old wounds. He has renewed the discourse, esthetic, and ethics of protest in our country. But his contribution, for us, goes much further.
In this continent, more than thirty years ago being a mother stopped being synonymous with resignation, and became a symbol of unfalteringstruggle against impunity, and for remembrance, for not letting ourselves forget, for being the small duck-bird who drives the raptor bird crazy with its persistence.
Today, women—mothers around the world form a force impossible to ignore, with a strength born of love and of not cooperating with forgetting or wickedness.
Meanwhile, fathers are absent figures and they are most visible as cases of violence and abuse against their sons and daughters. So much so, that Colombian men and women tired of waiting for a paternal figure different from the usual one, distant and vague, have preferred to elect twice a figure of the authoritarian and violent father, whip and trickster, punishing, threatening, symbol of the Antiochan patriarch.
The legacy of Prof. Moncayo is therefore even more important. With his words and attitudes, he offers us a wonderful, hope-filled path for Colombia: for the first time a man affirms his role as a father politically and publicly, demonstrating another kind of nonviolent strength--not that of a distant and authoritarian father, but a loving, sensitive father fully committed to living his paternity. Demanding without circumlocution his right to live by his son’s side, to fulfill his life commitment as a FATHER.
So, convinced of the importance of the historical moment in which we live, and certain that we will not lose, we propose to initiate a collective action of fathers as political subjects in Colombia, fathers on the side of life, loving fathers against the war, fathers against violence, fathers for humanitarian agreement, fathers committed to history.
Already some men and women, inspired by Moncayo, are initiating a campaign that consists, first of all, of a movement of conscience: declaring ourselves “walkers” for a fatherhood without violence. We will call upon all those men who decide that nothing can separate us from living and enjoying fatherhood: not war, nor poverty, nor multiple forms of violence.
At each event, in each meeting, in each public act where there are men and women who heed this call, we will call out the slogans of loving, nonviolent fatherhood. Each person will use t-shirts, buttons, bracelets, and other things that show support for this change. In many cases, on each wall, in each poster, we will make public our intention and each loving father will know that he is not alone in his effort, that his steps, like those of Moncayo, leave a footprint in the history of Colombia, changing a millenial culture.
We will begin our call with announcements on walls, in newspapers and the mass media, and then, like in a telethon, we will set a number as a goal . . . a thousand? Ten thousand? A million fathers who are conscientious objectors, fathers who are teachers, fathers who do not raise warriors. Each house, each neighborhood, each organization, and each business can create its own campaign. In order to keep track of the steps of many people, we have a telephone and a blog to which you can write, recounting your experience and connecting us with others, in order to coordinate efforts with greater impact.
Then, a public ritual act will take place simultaneously in several cities so that the country feels these new fathers.
The history and culture of this country will be grateful. And one day, when the new generations ask us what we did during these bitter times, we will be able to answer: we were on the side of life, we refused to raise children for war, hatred, and horror, fathering and mothering life, rocking the fragility of the future with lukewarmness.
Hopefully we will be able to move many people to breathe together for this beautiful cause. If so, we will meet in the Petronio Alvarez, in Skating World, in the Art Festival, in the Book Fair, in cyberspace.
Women and Men Moving Toward Nonviolent Fatherhood
Our phone number in Cali: 5.56.84.28
WWW.paternidad <http://www.paternidad/> sinviolenciablogspot.com <http://sinviolenciablogspot.com/>
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
phone: (608) 257-8753
fax: (608) 255-6621
e-mail: csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net
posted by CSN at 7:49 PM
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