WAC-A-GO-GO (“THE ART OF EMERGENCE”)
WAC, an acronym for Women’s Action Coalition, is a highly charged political organization that started in New York shortly after the Anita Hill travesty. “Action” is the operative word here. WAC stages “intentionally visceral and confrontational” actions to combat homophobia, racism, religious prejudice, and violence against women. When their first Chicago meeting was held in September, more than 200 women attended. WAC-a-Go-Go (their first benefit) drew over 250 fired-up supporters, including two serious-looking suits sitting in the middle of the audience. It was quite an evening.
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This anger is justifiable, but it’s also dangerous. As the saying goes, people can be blinded by anger. The most refreshing monologue was delivered at the end, by Jenny Magnus. In this evening of powerful voices her message was strong and comforting. Standing in the middle of the stage, balancing a bowl in one hand held above her shoulder, Magnus told a gentle story about her sister, who doesn’t speak. “Her words are in this bowl. She asked me to hold them up for her.” Magnus then tells how her sister’s dreams drove her to silence. In her silence she began to develop beautifully tender hands, so tender that they became a distraction to anyone in the same room. So she went to live alone.
