(This was originally published as a Dallas Morning News Community Voices column on November 27, 2008)
In 1991, when my daughters' school district faced a controversy over a textbook shortage, public outcry resulted in the scheduling of community meetings to explain the situation. Parents had the opportunity to voice their concerns. As I sat, intending only to listen, a Hispanic woman approached me. I didn't know her, but recognized her from my youngest daughter's school. The mother, obviously concerned that her limited English might prevent her from expressing herself clearly, pulled at my arm and pleaded, "You talk for us. You have words. Please, you talk."
So I registered to speak and addressed the representatives on her behalf. She hugged me and thanked me. Seventeen years later, I can't recall what I said to that Dallas ISD panel or what they said to the audience. What I do remember is that mother's confidence in my ability to express her concerens. I gave her a voice that she might not otherwise have had.
Not long afterward, a dear friend decided to leave her husband after more than 20 years of marriage. When she called to tell me, she said she wondered if there could ever be a chance of happiness after years of sadness. She said, "He told me so many times that I was worthless, that I was stupid. I stopped believing in myself."
I was heartsick. I had witnessed that emotional abuse and heard those caustic words, yet I had not spoken up to dispute them. I had told myself it was none of my business, that I must be over-sensitive, that surely if the verbal mistreatment bothered her she would stand up for herself.
I had kept silent.
Recently I participated in an event hosted by a domestic violence shelter and advocate agency. Two women who had left abusive relationships shared their stories about the positive changes in their lives made possible by the services the agency provides. They had made the decision to seek help after someone close to them had told them that there was hope for a better life. Someone had cared enough to speak up.
I thought back to those two experiences. I remembered how good it felt to help someone have a voice - and how terrible I felt after that long-ago conversation with my friend. I called her and asked, "If I had spoken up in your defense when I heard your husband ridiculing you, if I had let him know I disagreed, would it have helped?"
"I'm not sure it would have stopped him," she replied, "but it might have helped me find the strength to do something sooner. I felt awfully alone."
A person I barely knew asked me to speak up for her at a public meeting, and I was glad to help. A person I love needed someone to speak up on her behalf, and I was silent. In the first case, I spoke up and barely remember it. In the second case, I said nothing and have never forgotten it.
Isn't life often that way? We hear unkind words and keep silent, or see unkind actions and keep silent. Not because we don't care, but because we're afraid of what the reaction might be to speaking up. Not because we don't care, but because we don't feel that it's our business to interfere. Not because we don't care, but because our lives are so busy we don't make the time to get involved.
But if we don't speak up, perhaps the necessary words remain unsaid. If we don't protest, perhaps the hurtful actions continue. If we don't show that we care, perhaps a person who needs that caring feels awfully alone.
I still regret that I didn't speak up for my friend when I should have. She made me realize that it may be a good thing to speak up when it's easy, but it's often a better thing to speak up when it's difficult.
In the years since, I have tried always to speak up against unkindness, cruelty and injustice. Not stridently, not angrily, but firmly. If I can be a voice for someone who needs an advocate, I will. All I have to do is remember my friend's words, "I felt awfully alone."
Never again. Not if I can help it.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
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