We are not Alone: Love is stronger than hate
Novel Publicity wants you to know: We are not Alone.
As a response to negative mainstream news, Novel Publicity and its affiliates reached out to authors all over the world to come up with a positive response to all the turmoil we are exposed to in the world. There may be days you feel alone, like you, are not part of your wider culture, days that you are discriminated against, or even worse, the target of hate crimes.
Below, you'll see a personal message from the author, followed by a short story or poetry, resources, and information on The Trevor Project.
We'd love to hear your comments, and even better, we'd love you to participate in this series and see how long we can keep up the momentum. If you're interested in providing a personal letter and short work of fiction on this theme, please submit to our blog.
Enjoy & help us spread good karma by sharing this post!
By Elizabeth S. Wolf: For some, 2016 was a year of service. For some, 2016 suspended disbelief (and not in a good way).
It was the year Bob Dylan won the Noble Prize for Literature. It’s a hard rain’s gonna fall. I learned I was the only one of any generation not to have a special memory of Prince. We lost our beloved Princess Leia. Overall, 2016 kicked butt (and not in a good way).
But here we are! And we must go on. Last night I was privileged to sleep in my own bed. For the two previous nights, I was on a bus, heading to march with so many of my sisters and supporters. As Gloria Steinem said: “Because this, this, is the other side of the downside. This is an outpouring of energy and true democracy like I have never seen in my very long life. It is wide in age. It is deep in diversity.”
We the people are waking up, standing up, and coming together. If they come for you, I will be there. Let me learn from your experience. Let me share my story with you. This IS what democracy looks like.
Welcome to the future. As our dearly departed David Bowie would say: “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
[tabgroup] [tab title=”3 Poems”]Love is stronger than hate.
Emily Doe: November 2, 2016
The Stanford rape survivor
was named Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year
although we don’t know what she looks like.
We don’t need to know.
Emily Doe was wearing pajamas
at home on the couch when she received
a letter from the Vice President of the United States.
He wrote that her spine was made of steel.
She reached around herself, testing,
to see if this was true.
Emily Doe speaks for all of us,
too many of us, those who are seeking a beacon.
We don’t know what she looks like, and yet
we see her in the mirror every day.
I am from a turbulent world (2015)
I am from Paris.
I am drinking café,
watching football, screaming
along with the band.
I am from Jerusalem, being
stabbed for who I am
and who I love.
I am from Beirut, being
bombed for what I am not.
I am from Abu Ghraib
and some callow American youth
has me down on all fours, wearing
a leash for a dog.
I am an American back from Iraq
being gunned down in Colorado.
I am from Bangladesh, being
hacked by an axe for blogging a story.
I am a young man from New Hampshire
beheaded for trying to understand
the story to tell.
I am from San Bernardino and I go to
a special school where we were
having a holiday party when
the bad men burst in.
I am from Sandy Hook Elementary School.
I am from first grade, learning
the belly of a ‘b’ goes this way
and the belly of a ‘d’ goes that way
and bullets go everywhere.
I am from Syria but I am
running for my life and if I
do not die along the way,
I don’t know where I will arrive.
I am the truth, fractured into
thousands of brilliant faceted carats.
I am the glare so bright that one
sliver of truth is blind to
all of the others.
Today
I am from Paris. I am
the unnamed young man towing
a piano, by bicycle, so that I can play
John Lennon’s “Imagine”
in front of the Bataclan Theater.
I am the hope that someday you will join us
and the world will live as one.
Because
Because I survived
I must speak out;
Because I survived
I must blend to pass.
Because I have endured
months in your wards and
hours crawling the floors of welfare offices,
stared through plate glass windows of restaurants
hungering in the streets,
I have seen the naked bones
of society's fortress.
Because I have emerged, risen from ashes
earned degrees by day, working
flat on my back through long groping nights,
have learned to walk and talk and
dress like you, to carry credit cards
and expense receipts,
I must blind myself to my past.
Because I have been scarred
I must be a revolutionary.
Because I have tasted your brand of success
I have learned to fear passion and loss.
[tab title=”Resources” icon=”file”]
Resources
2012 LGBT Homeless Youth Provider Survey
- Ryan, C., Russell, S.T., Huebner, D, Diaz, R. Sanchez, J. (2009). Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults. Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 123, 346-352.
- Durso, L.E., & Gates, G.J. (2012). Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Service Providers Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth who are Homeless or At Risk of Becoming Homeless. Los Angeles: The Williams Institute with True Colors Fund and The Palette Fund.
- James M. Van Leeuwen and others, “Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Homeless Youth: An Eight City Public Health Perspective,” Child Welfare 85 (2)(2005): 151-170.
[/tab] [tab title=”Donate to the Trevor Project” icon=”file”]
More about The Trevor Project
The following information is available on the Trevor Project's website. We summarized here to showcase just a few of their amazing projects and resources!
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.
The Trevor Project offers accredited life-saving, life-affirming programs and services to LGBTQ youth that create safe, accepting and inclusive environments over the phone, online and through text.
Crisis Interventions
Trevor Lifeline – The only national 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ young people (ages 13-24), available at 1-866-488-7386.
TrevorChat – A free, confidential, secure instant messaging service for LGBTQ youth that provides live help from trained volunteer counselors, open daily from 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT.
TrevorText – A free, confidential, secure service in which LGBTQ young people can text a trained Trevor counselor for support and crisis intervention, available Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT at 202-304-1200.
Suicide Prevention Trainings and Resources
Trevor Lifeguard Workshop The Lifeguard Workshop is a free online learning module based on The Trevor Project’s in-person workshop, which is listed in the SPRC/AFSP Best Practice Registry for Suicide Prevention. The Lifeguard Workshop webpage includes a video, a curriculum guide, lesson plans, and additional resources for educators.
Trevor CARE Training – This training for adults provides an introduction to suicide prevention techniques based on Trevor’s CARE model (Connect, Accept, Respond, Empower).
Trevor Ally Training – This training introduces adults to the unique needs of LGBTQ youth.
LGBTQ on Campus – These online, interactive training simulations for students and faculty in higher education are AFSP/SPRC Best Practices for Suicide Prevention and were created in partnership with Kognito Interactive and Campus Pride.
Step-In, Speak-Up – These online, interactive training simulations for faculty and staff working with youth in Grades 6-12 are AFSP/SPRC Best Practices for Suicide Prevention and were created in partnership with Kognito Interactive.
Model School District Policy for Suicide Prevention – A roadmap to help school leaders easily navigate ways to bring suicide prevention policies and resources to their schools, developed in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the American School Counselor Association, and the National Association of School Psychologists.
Coming Out As YOU! – A pocket-sized guide to inspire critical thinking in youth who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Trevor Support Center – A resource where LGBTQ youth and their allies can find answers to frequently asked questions, and explore resources related to sexual orientation, gender identity and more.
PSAs – Our current public service announcements, “Ask for Help,” are available free of charge for TV, radio, website, social media, and print use.
Community Resources
TrevorSpace – A social networking community for LGBTQ youth ages 13 through 24 and their friends and allies.
Trevor Ambassadors – Local volunteer groups in select U.S. cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.)
Trevor NextGen – Groups of young, motivated volunteers in New York and Los Angeles who raise awareness, develop leadership, advocate, and fundraise in support of The Trevor Project’s life-saving, life-affirming work.
Trevor Youth Advisory Council – This group of 20 young advocates, ages 16-24 from around the country, are trained by The Trevor Project to raise awareness about LGBTQ youth, mental health, and suicide prevention in their communities.
Trevor Advocacy Network – A way for Trevor supporters to take action to improve policies and legislation that protect LGBTQ youth.
If you are thinking about suicide, you deserve immediate support. Please call The Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.
To support The Trevor Project's programs and resource development, you can donate here. [/tab] [/tabgroup] [hr style=”1,2,3,4″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”]
More from Elizabeth S. Wolf
Enter into the hidden world of the mind, where the laws of nature don’t apply and nothing is as it seems.
Straight from the minds of 20 UnCommon Authors come tales of tragedy, triumph, and bittersweet gratitude. You'll find augmented realities and mental persuasion that force you to question everything. Stories of military suspense, psychological horror, dream walkers, and psychic mediums await their turn to crawl into your head.
About the Author
Elizabeth S. Wolf writes because telling stories is how we make sense of our world, how we connect with our world, how we heal, and how we celebrate. She writes to find the sliver of truth within the plethora of information. Follow Elizabeth at amazon.com/author/esw.
Elizabeth has published poetry in anthologies (Amherst Storybook Project; Mosaics: A Collection of Independent Women, Volume 1; The Best of Kindness), and journals (New Verse News, Scarlet Leaf Review, Peregrine Journal). Her chapbook “What I Learned: Poems” is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Her story “Lost and Found” recently appeared in UnCommon Minds from Fighting Monkey Press.