A Moral Obligation to Speak

I had a Facebook conversation with a friend the other day about the obligation we have to share our stories with the world- stories that would help and heal. She reminded me that it is our duty to speak out. And now I'm teaching Elie Wiesel to my tenth graders. And today I'm reminded of this fact:

I believe that anyone who lived through an experience is duty-bound to bear witness to it- the duty to remember. We are those who survived. We are those, who like Jeremiah, can say, "I have been there. I have seen it." Elie Wiesel

I am probably the biggest proponent I know of giving a voice to the voiceless. I'm a vocal supporter of those who are oppressed and those who are on the fringes of our societies. Yet, I deny myself that same voice.

And I've been sitting on multiple drafts of a 100 page memoir manuscript for three years now. At some point I'm going to have to own it.