Moving From One Year to the Next: Our wishes for 2021
As we settle into the new year, we asked friends, colleagues and fellow advocates how they are transitioning into 2021.
Despite the events of the past 12 months and ensuing exhaustion of our bodies and minds, the weeks and months continuing to pass, we find ourselves at the start of another year.
Moving from one year to the next doesn’t erase the events of 2020 or what we’ve seen and learned. We leave the year behind us but the loss, upset and uncertainty are carried forward and remain for many. What we do get is a new beginning. The notion of “new beginning” has symbolic and material value, as an idea and invitation to envisage equally new possibilities, of prosperity and growth, and ways to make them a reality.
2021 follows great international unrest, the world having been quite sombre for some time, but also impactful and innovative change with, for example, the unprecedented global efforts to produce a COVID-19 vaccine and, of course, the hard fought victories in the repro rights movement.
We’ve been kept afloat by our connections to one another, our friends, allies and colleagues. Today, we turned to them and asked about their wishes for 2021 and our movement.
This is what they had to say:
“My wish for 2021 is that the feminist movement takes women with disabilities and members of the LGBTQI+ community into account. To make it happen, we need to keep advocating and take up us much space as we can. My wish is that we can keep advancing our rights, and that nothing and no one gets in our way. My wish is that both institutions and States listen to us and work with us to ensure our inclusion and accessibility. My wish is that those who provide support to people with disabilities have dignified working conditions and do not have to face barriers to find a job.” — Celeste
“My wish is that my fellow advocates with disabilities can work doing what they love.” — Bri
“My wish is that States address violations to the rights of persons with disabilities and act in accordance with the CRPD.” — Irene
“Throughout 2020 I was terrified that if I had a mental health episode that I wasn’t going to be able to go to the hospital due to COVID exposure. And if I did decide to go, it was possible that psych units would’ve been too full. In 2021, I will continue to focus on being able to breathe in public again.” — Rachel
“I’m worried that we are worried — we’ve been destructive and violent during a moment when we all need empathy, and we’re not listening to each other or ourselves. I’m hopeful, however, that we’re smarter than our fear, and that with marginalized voices amplified at central points in our [US] democratic republic (including Harris, Haaland and Pelosi) we can rebuild and recreate our sense of community, with no community left behind.” — Sia
“My wish is that everyone can get their jobs and their freedom back.” — Anonymous
“My wish is that people at the intersection of gender and disability can choose, without facing stigma and discrimination, when and with whom they want to be in a couple, get married and have children. I hope they can choose what work they want to do and that all fields are open to them, and I hope that they are present in all spaces where decisions are being made.” — Leonie
At Rewriting the Narrative, we’re hopeful that all your wishes will come true and that our wonderful community and movement continues to grow and flourish.
We believe deeply in the power of mutual aid and community spirit and want to thank all of you who’ve supported this initiative. We welcome you to our little digital home, a safe space to continue Rewriting the Narrative together, in 2021.
