Suquamish art-ivist uses the power of poetry, song in social justice movement

‘It’s an honor to be a part and to celebrate and to speak truth’

BREMERTON — Activist Calina Lawrence was one of many powerful voices to speak (and sing) at the Cloverleaf Sports Bar and Grill on Jan. 31 as part of MeToo, the movement to support sexual assault survivors and end sexual violence.

Robin Haber Carson helped present the event at the Cloverleaf, saying it was a way for people to support, listen and — if survivors so chose to tell their story — speak.

Poet/singer Lawrence, a member of the Suquamish Tribe, was one of the first to tell hers Jan. 31. The self-styled art-ivist has traveled the country advocating for Native treaty rights. She protested in Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and protested against a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the Puyallup Tribe’s ancestral lands.

It was in Standing Rock that she met actress Shailene Woodley, who invited her to join her at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7. Interviewed on TV before the awards ceremony, Lawrence introduced herself in the Suquamish language and said, “As an indigenous woman from Washington state, and on behalf of missing and murdered indigenous women and those who commit their lifetime and effort to finding justice for us, we stand in solidarity with the Time’s Up movement and this initiative to create healing and empowerment across the world. It’s an honor to be a part and to celebrate and to speak truth.”

On Jan. 31, she continued the message. “I expose myself to a lot of danger when I tell my story,” she said. “I get to be that generation where I see women speaking truth and I see men listening, really internalizing that. So, as a survivor, thank you for taking time to see me, to receive my story, to not question the validity of what I’m telling you, but to just be here with me as I say it out loud.”

Speaking about her time at the Golden Globes and what it meant for her to be there, Lawrence said she — as a survivor who has been looking for healing her entire life — has a lot to bring to women in the entertainment industry.

“It was really important for me to accept this invitation and recognize your attempt to include the local women who, a lot of times, Kitsap County fails to recognize and think about,” she said at the Cloverleaf. “Once we obtain liberation, then liberation will spread.”

The entire point of the MeToo movement is to encourage women to share their personal stories, the concept being that those stories will encourage other women to share theirs as well, spurring change.

According to the MeToo movement’s website, metoomvmt.org, 17.7 million women have reported a sexual assault since 1998.

“Too much of the recent press attention has been focused on perpetrators and does not adequately address the systematic nature of violence including the importance of race, ethnicity and economic status in sexual violence and other forms of violence against women,” activists invited to the Golden Globes said in a joint announcement.

“Our goal in attending the Golden Globes is to shift the focus back to survivors and on systemic, lasting solutions. Each of us will be highlighting legislative, community-level and interpersonal solutions that contribute to ending violence against women in all our communities. It is our hope that in doing so, we will also help to broaden conversations about the connection to power, privilege and other systemic inequalities.”

Women did not shy away from the opportunity to speak about sexual assault at the Cloverleaf event. Carson had expected to have trouble filling up the three-hour time frame, but found that three hours was almost not enough time. Even some women who did not expect to take the stage braved the platform in front of the full room of people. A waitress who worked at Cloverleaf heard the stories and participated too.

One by one, participants talked about their experience — most with tear-streaked cheeks. Each shared what she went through, how she got through it, what she wants to see changed in society.

The empowering, heavy stories brought the crowd to its feet more than once.

— Jacob Moore is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. Contact him at jmoore@soundpublishing.com

Suquamish singer/poet Calina Lawrence was the featured speaker at the MeToo Movement presentation Jan. 31 at the Cloverleaf in Bremerton. (Jacob Moore/Kitsap News Group)