Speaking on the rape and torture of Megan Williams

i just had a really useful conversation with wendi o'neal, ( incite! d.c. supporter and black women activist artist) who lived in west virginia for a number of years and was a part of social justice organizing in appalachia with white, back and native women there. i too have visited rural west virginia (in appalachia, specfically). i volunteered at a domestic violence shelter tucked deep between the hollows of the mountains in west virginia for a week during college. a number of my stereotypes about poor whites in that area were challenged through the experience. in our conversation today, wendi also challenged me and made me think about a lot of things that i wanted to share with you all connected to this conversation..what to say, do, how to respond, and how to support. what now?

incite! plays a critical role in framing and reframing issues and incidents of violence against women in productive and progressive ways that reveal connections, challenge the status quo and what is acceptable, and push us to incite change. This critical analysis is really important to the responses and solutions we develop to stop the violence.

it is critical that in talking about the rape and torture of megan williams that we not allow the media, people of color, white people or others to fall back on stereotypes of poor whites in west virginia as some sort of explanation for what happened and why. it is critical that we remind folks that the violence of white supremacy and patriarchy is pervasive in every place. while this incident is particularly horrendous, did occur in west virginia and by a family with a history of violence, the contexts and environment that we live in is such that it could have occurred in missouri, chicago, or even washington, d.c. just last week, someone hung a noose on the university of maryland's campus and indeed, it was in our own backyard (in maryland and washington d.c.) in public spaces that two black women were set on fire in public.

yes, the torture of megan williams is very different from both of these incidents BUT there are connections that need to be made... when we allow rural poor white culture as a whole to be scapegoated for this brutal violence, we let the white supremacist misogynist patriarchal culture in all of our geographic areas off the hook. we let the culture of the whole country off the hook when we say it's only those hicks in west virginia who could do something like that, those trailer trash people.

in discussing this violence, in counter-organizing, how can we challenge our own stereotypes to push the conversation forward and in talking about megan's torture, also lift up and work against the abuses and violence happening in our own backyards.

how are other chapters out there talking about, speaking out, responding to, etc. the rape and torture of megan williams or discussing it. talking about within the organizing you are already doing? what kinds of conversations are you having? actions? responses, etc.?

Please let us know. Let us link efforts and have connected conversations.

Lastly, Wendi O'Neal suggested reaching out to the social justice organizations in the area where this occurred and asking how can we be of support to you all. She will be posting contact info of some of these orgs on our Incite! D.C. listserv, which we can also post and share here.

johonna mccants, incite! d.c. metro area