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Vigil for 11 Murdered Women in Cleveland
There were about 50 of us, huddled under a tent on the corner of Imperial and East 123rd Street in
Cleveland, Ohio. We held candles that kept being blown out by the cold Lake Erie wind.
Folks spoke at that corner (and later at a nearby church where one of the slains' sisters shared her
memories).. City Leaders, Human rights, peace activists spoke. A poet shared her story of being
abducted at 15. Thanks were given to the efficiency with which the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office
identified the remains, thanks were given to the science of DNA. (All but one are now identified.)
I'm too full to speak to write in greater detail, but I will say, someone asked who is to blame?.
Indeed. It's all ours to own and share.
11 women who meant nothing to society, not even where they walked the streets, lost in drugs or alcohol.
Lost like we are, but in different ways, perhaps.
I'm sick of the poster child syndrome. I'm sick of creating meaning from all this senselessness.
Yet, let their deaths be cause célèbre for police to no longer mark files 'NOT CREDIBLE", let neighbors
remember that we're all brothers and sisters. Let colour and privilege no longer be a deciding factor
in determining a human's worth. Let women no longer be the object of men's violent eyes, hands and
hearts.
Amen.
~Anna Ruiz
Cleveland, Ohio. We held candles that kept being blown out by the cold Lake Erie wind.
Folks spoke at that corner (and later at a nearby church where one of the slains' sisters shared her
memories).. City Leaders, Human rights, peace activists spoke. A poet shared her story of being
abducted at 15. Thanks were given to the efficiency with which the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office
identified the remains, thanks were given to the science of DNA. (All but one are now identified.)
I'm too full to speak to write in greater detail, but I will say, someone asked who is to blame?.
Indeed. It's all ours to own and share.
11 women who meant nothing to society, not even where they walked the streets, lost in drugs or alcohol.
Lost like we are, but in different ways, perhaps.
I'm sick of the poster child syndrome. I'm sick of creating meaning from all this senselessness.
Yet, let their deaths be cause célèbre for police to no longer mark files 'NOT CREDIBLE", let neighbors
remember that we're all brothers and sisters. Let colour and privilege no longer be a deciding factor
in determining a human's worth. Let women no longer be the object of men's violent eyes, hands and
hearts.
Amen.
~Anna Ruiz