“ . . . Because it’s no longer enough to be a decent person.” – JW

This week’s, “Why We Are Here” marks the anniversary of the post which changed my life.  On May 20, 2007, Joss Whedon wrote his impassioned poignant plea on Whedonesque entitled “Let’s Watch a Girl Get Beaten to Death.”

“ . . . I look and I see the earth in flames. Her face was nothing but red.” – JW

For 30 minutes, Du’a Khalil Aswad was stoned to death by more than 20 men (while 2,000 or more looked on) some of them family and friends.  Her own family lured her back, promising all was forgiven, all was well.  Some participants threw rocks with one hand and captured it all on their cell phones with the other. … Read more…

Freda Adler, a US author, educator and theorist states: “Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.”  Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow of Kismayo, Somalia learned this lesson the hard way – a way that ended in her death.

Imagine you’ve been raped by three men on the way to visit your grandmother, and that you are brave enough to report it.   It is hard to put yourself in Aisha’s place isn’t it?  Because rape is a disgusting, uncivilized sickness – one, we don’t like to talk about.  The courage it takes to come forward is almost inconceivable.  Even if the rapist is caught and brought to justice, his victims who survive suffer for the rest of their lives.

Aisha and her family came forward seeking help and healing. … Read more…

Mother’s Day – we celebrate it on different days around the globe, but it means the same thing.  It is a day when children of all ages say thank you; a day we can tell our moms how special they are and how much we love them.

Yet in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, many mothers will only receive meaningless silence and painful tears, instead of flowers and family hugs.  They will not be celebrating with their daughters this year.

And indeed for some, ever again.

Just across the border from El Paso, Texas, Death struts about performing his horrible magic tricks.  Countless women disappear.  Some have never returned.  Those that do are only recovered as mutilated pieces.  It is as if Death owns the town – and maybe he does. … Read more…

The answer to this question varies. Many of us participate in CSTS events and other Browncoat related activities for a number of reasons. We join together to make a difference in the world because we’ve been rallied by Joss’s words to do something, anything. We meet up so that we can share our love of the Serenity/Firefly/Whedonverse, and because we are like-minded folk who want to share other aspects of our lives with our fellow Fireflyians. These are just a few of the reasons we come together in this fellowship

And they are all, very good reasons.

The main focus of Can’t Stop the Serenity has always been to help Equality Now keep the signal going. EN seeks to let the voices of abused women the world over, cry out and be heard.… Read more…