Reunion Online

It was middle school. I was playing a game in my head, scrambling letters of words to make other words. I thought of “grape” and all the words I could make using it: ape, pea, are, rap, peg. “What about rape?” I thought to myself. "Is that a word?" I asked my friend’s mom, my ride home that day, and her face immediately turned red. She said to never use it again. It was a “bad word.”

This Valentine’s Day, we ask you to start this conversation about domestic violence and healthy relationships in whatever way you can.

As 2013 comes to a close, we are so grateful for all that we have accomplished because of your generosity. And as we look to the new year, we know that we can only make the most of these moments with your support. Thank you for being a part of our joyful community.

This is the moment. The moment to unite and declare NO MORE. NO MORE fear or ignorance of the issues. NO MORE blaming survivors. NO MORE standing by and doing nothing. NO MORE silence. NO MORE violence. NO MORE excuses.

Two weeks ago, eight men whose portraits and biographies appear on the Bristlecone website lent their portraits and statements to the gallery of survivors on the web site of the NO MORE campaign. These men, and their brothers at Bristlecone, have chosen to sit in front of a camera and to look directly into the camera’s lens.

1,400 views in 3 days. I don’t think that, that number—despite the embarrassing number of times I have refreshed my Vimeo page—has sunk in yet.

Today, with great excitement, gratitude and pride, we reveal an unprecedented PSA campaign for NO MORE. Directed by Joyful Heart's Founder & President, Mariska Hargitay, our cast includes more than 40 celebrities and public figures who have joined the campaign—added their voices—to say NO MORE to domestic violence and sexual assault.

We at Joyful Heart are thrilled to be a part of NO MORE Day, happening tomorrow, March 13. This day marks the public launch of NO MORE, the nation’s first unifying awareness symbol to end domestic violence and sexual assault. In communities across the country, advocates will join forces to address the need to end domestic violence and sexual assault by launching NO MORE, the first overarching symbol that is bringing together all people in our society to end domestic violence and sexual assault. We invite you to join us—from wherever you are in the country—to help launch NO MORE and participate in one of the most concerted and collaborative efforts to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Today, we have a guest post from country singer Buffy Lawson. Buffy arrived in Nashville, the Music City, by way of Lexington, Kentucky, where she grew up singing from an early age. Somewhere along the way, she met “Steve.” Today, on the eve of NO MORE Day, she shares her story about awakening, surviving, healing and sharing her journey through her art. It's her hope that through her story and song will give wings to those who have felt emotionally and/or physically caged—that every man and woman in the world will feel the freedom to fly and shine. To find our more about Buffy Lawson, we invite you to visit www.wrinkledrecords.com or www.buffylawson.com.