Don't be afraid to dream big...Sometimes the impossible happens

Two things happened recently that most people would had sworn would never, ever, ever happen (Cue, Taylor Swift).

The first was the retraction and honest apology from the Onion about their C-word tweet about Quvenzhane Wallis. During the twitter outrage, a friend who works in journalism and had worked for the Onion, tweeted that the Onion would only eat up the publicity. Our outrage is only fueling them. It made sense. As my bestie, Jennifer Pozner, documents in "Reality Bites Back", feminist outrage is eaten up and sometimes sought after as free publicity. Within an hour, the Onion took down the tweet. Why was the next question, especially since the internet is forever and screen shots were taken around the world. But on Monday an apology was released. There was no hedging, no sorry if you were offended...' Just a simple, we screwed up and we are sorry, apology. I'll take that as a victory and vindication for the outrage that fueled social media and blogs.

The second thing that happened was that the Violence Against Women Act was renewed and it includes more women than before. "VAWA 2013 is a strong reauthorization that includes landmark protections for women on Tribal lands, improves protections for immigrant victims, ensures services for LGBT survivors, and adds important housing protections for victims. The bill also preserves and maintains core funding for life-saving victim services"

During the fight to pass the renewal, some people asked if having no VAWA was worth it to fight for immigrant women, LGBT persons and American Indian women. For me, the answer was always, HELL YES. Through my work in the reproductive justice movement, I know far too well that women without high social status are often jettisoned in an effort to move feminist issues along. The thing is that doing that is not feminist! VAWA 2012, now 2013, offered the feminist community a chance to prove we are learning to never leave a sister behind.

I asked Kim Gandy, President and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, about how this miracle came about:

All of the organizations stood together -- even those that had much to lose if VAWA failed -- because there was no other path to success for all of us. There was a real determination not to leave anyone behind. If there had been a single defection, a crack in the solid wall of support, it would have been the beginning of “compromises” – which is only a bad word if it means some victims don’t get justice.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Social justice work is hard. It can wear us down, even as we are trying to lift up the world. Why not take a moment to celebrate when we have victories? Take a deep breath and on to the next challenge.