Monday 25 January 2016

You've got to do it, to be it, to see it

I keep thinking about the day I learned of Grace’s diagnosis.

I’m not really sure how I have time to do this, given the blur of busyness in which I currently exist. But amid the noise and movement and ideas and emails and meetings and phone calls and the thump thump of feet running and heart beating – there will suddenly be a moment of mental stillness and I’ll be back in that other room, on the phone, hearing the doctor’s words.

It’s odd that I managed until now to compartmentalise this moment. Frankly, it’s amazing that I could ever put it away. Because when it comes back to me as it has been doing, it is still – years on – powerful. I see it and feel it and am undone by it all over again. I am again the woman on the tube blinking away sudden tears while everyone pretends not to notice.

It’s just like the old days.

Only it’s not.

The reason I am remembering is a positive one. It is because of where I am now and where I am now is a moment that is on the edge of being extraordinary.

Finding out that my daughter had autism was not the end of the world. It was not a great tragedy. Finding out that no-one really understood what that meant, or understood how she felt, or appreciated or welcomed her as a person who lived differently – that, that was the thing that broke my heart.

Grace put my heart back together for me, of course. She just kept going and so, so did I, because she showed me how. Together we’ve created a space for her that allows her to be herself and to enjoy being herself. It’s a space we have continually to fight for, a space we have to keep pressing open when it threatens to squeeze shut. Some days we feel like Princess Leia and Han Solo in the rubbish compactor.  But other days I watch her and she looks like wonderful Rey, forging ahead bravely to her own destiny.

Learning how to see and understand my daughter has been the most important lesson of my life. It has taught me about diversity, and also how little I still understand about diversity. It has taught me to ask uncomfortable questions. It has taught me that making other people feel uncomfortable will frequently prompt reactions that in turn make me ill at ease.

But it has also taught me that if you want to see diversity, you have to get out there and be it. If you want a system that appreciates and embraces diversity, you have to get out there and build it. If you don’t make the changes you want to see, you can’t expect things to change. But – and oh, this is a wonderful ‘but’ - if you do make those changes, then wonderful things can happen.

After Grace’s diagnosis I campaigned to change attitudes with a quiet understanding that at most I was only likely to achieve small changes, mostly in the immediate space around me. For a while that was ok.

But now I want to make bigger changes.

The last few months of leading the Women’s Equality Party has shown me that bigger changes are possible, if you’re brave enough to reach for them.

I was one of the first founding members of the Women’s Equality Party because I feel passionately that diversity must be at the very core of everything we do and I want to create a space – and a movement – for everyone who feels the same way.

Now I want to change more than the most immediate space around me.

I want to change London.

And I want to do it by standing for Mayor of London, as the Women’s Equality Party’s nominated candidate.

Diversity is the motor that makes any city flourish. Let’s make London a city where people like Grace, and millions of others who are totally unlike her and unlike each other, can come together and walk side by side in common understanding and endeavour.

Let’s be the change we want to see. Come with me.

Because equality is better for everyone.



20 comments:

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  4. SPECIAL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS FOR THE AUTISM CURED HE
    RENDER TO MY SON.
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    though I went through different website I saw a testimonies about this
    Dr Williams, I was like: 'Dr Williams have the autism cure why are
    people still suffering from it?' I thought of it, then I contact Dr Williams, I didn't believe him that much, I just wanted to give him a try, he replied my mail and Needed some Information about my son, then I sent them to him, he prepared the (CURE) and sent it to me through Courier Service he gave my details to the Courier Office, they told me that 1-3 days I will receive the package and my son took the medicine as prescribed by Dr Williams and i took my son for check-up 1 week after finishing the medicine, then the autism was not there anymore, if you are suffering from autism you can also contact him on his via email address: drwilliams098675@gmail.com for his help.

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  5. ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS FOR THE GREAT DEED HE HAVE DONE FOR MY DAUGHTER?
    My daughter suffered from autism for more than 2 years which we started experiencing in her when she turned 1 year and 5 months we all thought it will end but got even worse as days went by. We tried all several treatments and therapy prescribed by various doctors we met but to no avail, she lost total concentration and always complain of sensitivity to sound . She usually tells me she haves poor eyes contact. This were steady disorder that disrupted her entire life, even at night she slept less because of this.It was during a casual conversation with a friend that i learned about Dr Williams herbal medicine I was able to contact him on his email address. and give him all the necessary information that he needed,few day later he sent me the herbal portion and his medicine was able to restore her back to normal and she is very okay now without any side effects whatsoever. If you have autism, do not hesitate to contact him on drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product. I hope this also helps someone out there

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  6. SPECIAL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS FOR THE AUTISM CURE HE
    RENDER TO MY SON.
    I'm giving a testimony about Dr. WILLIAMS for the great deed he have done for my family, he has
    the natural cure to autism, he cured my 7 years old son from autism ,
    I went through different website where I saw a testimonies about this great Dr Williams, I was like: 'Dr Williams have the autism cure why are
    people still suffering from it?' I thought of it, then I contact Dr Williams, I didn't believe him that much, I just wanted to give him a try, he replied my mail and Needed some Information about my son, then I sent them to him, he prepared the (CURE) and sent it to me through Courier Service and he also give me details to the Courier Office, that i will receive the medicine between 1-3 working days,after getting the medicine from the delivering company my son started using the medicine as prescribed by Dr Williams and i took my son for check-up 1 month after finishing the medicine, then the doctor confirmed that my son is now autism free, if you are suffering from autism you can also contact him on his email address: drwilliams098675@gmail.com for his help.

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  7. WOW ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS I HAVE NEVER BELIEVE IN HERBAL REMEDIES.
    my son have been a patient of autism . I had tried a lot of anti viral med prescribed to me by doctors over how many years now but I could not see any improvements in my son symptoms. One day when going through the internet , i got to know about this great Herbal Dr who uses his herbal remedies in curing people from autism,quickly i contacted him and he prepared a herbal medication for my son which i received and he used it as instructed by dr williams. After few weeks the improvement were very visible. the speech delay and the poor eye contact stopped, I would recommend this to all my friends,families,around the globe suffering from autism.you can contact him through his email on drwilliams098675@gmail.com.for advice and for his product THANKS TO YOU ONCE AGAIN ADMIN FOR SUCH AN INFORMATIVE BLOG.

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  9. I am Sophie from Canada, I once suffered from a terrible and Chronic autism ,since i was bone , the doctor told me there was no permanent cure i was given medications to slow down its progress, i constantly felt my health was deteriorating as i constantly go out of breath,and this illness was really terrible especially when am going out with my friends, i have this constant disorder for about 31 years, this was really a terrible ailment ,on thin one day that i was going through the internet,and i came across a post of Mrs Kate on how his son was been cured from autism through the help of Dr Williams herbal product, I contacted this herbal doctor via his email and explain everything to him and make purchase of his product,few days later he sent me the herbal medicine through courier service, when i received the herbal medicine, i used it 1 months and two weeks as prescribed by Dr Williams and i was totally cured within those week of usage,on thin now i have not experience any sign or characteristics again . for more information you can email him on drwilliams098675@gmail.com for help.

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  10. I am bold enough among many others to state that there is now a potent cure to this sickness but many are unaware of it. I discovered that I was infected with the virus 3 months ago, after a medical check-up. My doctor told me and I was shocked, confused and felt like my world has crumbled. I was dying slowly due to the announcement of my medical practitioner but he assured me that I could leave a normal life if I took my medications (as there was no medically known cure to Herpes). I went from churches to churches but soon found that my case needed urgent attention as I was growing lean due to fear of dying anytime soon. In a bid to look for a lasting solution to my predicament, I sought for solutions from the herbal world. I went online and searched for every powerful trado-medical practitioner that I could severe, cos I heard that the African Herbs had a cure to the Herpes syndrome. It was after a little time searching the web that I came across one Dr Itua(A powerful African Herbal Doctor), who offered to help me at a monetary fee. I had to comply as this was my final bus-stop to receiving a perfect healing. My last resolve was to take my life by myself, should this plan fail. At last it worked out well. He gave me some steps to follow and I meticulously carried out all his instructions. Last month, to be precise, I went back to the hospital to conduct another test and to my amazement, the results showed that negative,Dr Itua Can As Well Cure The Following Desease…Cancer,Hiv,Herpes,Shingles, Hepatitis B,Liver Inflammatory,Diabetis,Fribroid,Parkinson's,Alzheimer’s disease,Bechet’s disease,Crohn’s disease
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  11. DR WILLIAMS HERBAL CURE TO AUTISM.
    I was always praying to have a testimony when ever i saw people sharing their own testimonies which really took me years but today i am the happiest father on earth.My son suffered autism for 5 years, after taken different kind of western medication without been cured.All these years my son have been abnormal but today he is been cured.and you do not know how i feel having my son back to normal because it was not really easy for me having just two son and one been abnormal.I took time to search the internet which i found a lot of people thanking Dr. Williams concerning the same problem and i discussed it with my wife and she agreed will should give a try so we order his product which my son took for 28 days and he is very much okay now.I will advise you to stop wasting time on all these western medicine because they only work for some times and the problem bounce back again.Contact Dr.at drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product and be the next to give your testimony.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am Sophie from Canada, I once suffered from a terrible and Chronic autism ,since i was bone , the doctor told me there was no permanent cure i was given medications to slow down its progress, i constantly felt my health was deteriorating as i constantly go out of breath,and this illness was really terrible especially when am going out with my friends, i have this constant disorder for about 31 years, this was really a terrible ailment ,on thin one day that i was going through the internet,and i came across a post of Mrs Kate on how his son was been cured from autism through the help of Dr Williams herbal product, I contacted this herbal doctor via his email and explain everything to him and make purchase of his product,few days later he sent me the herbal medicine through courier service, when i received the herbal medicine, i used it 1 months and two weeks as prescribed by Dr Williams and i was totally cured within those week of usage,on thin now i have not experience any sign or characteristics again . for more information you can email him on drwilliams098675@gmail.com for help.

    ReplyDelete
  13. As a sign of gratitude on how my son was saved from autism, i decided to reach out to those still suffering from this.
    My son suffered autism in the year 2013 and it was really tough and heartbreaking for me because he was my all and the symptoms were terrible, he always have difficulty with communication,and he always complain of poor eye contact  . we tried various therapies prescribed by our neurologist but none could cure him. I searched for a cure and i saw a testimony by someone who was cured and so many other with similar body problem, and they left the contact of this doctor who have the cure to autism . I never imagined autism  has a natural cure not until i contacted him and he assured me my son will be fine. I got the herbal medication he recommended and my son used it and in one months time he was fully okay even up till this moment he is so full of life.autism  has a cure and is a herbal cure,you can contact the doctor for more info on drwilliams098675@gmail.com on how to get this medication, Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I had been rejected by my husband after five(5) years of marriage just because another woman had cast a spell on him and he left me with 2 kids to suffer. One day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how he help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a chance he told me that my husband is under spell, he said that he will help me and after 7 days that i will have my husband back. i believed he and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster has the power to bring lovers back now my husband is back with after 7 days . he also gave me a financial magic ring to boost my business and removed bad luck. i am now happy with my husband. Thanks you Dr. love please contact him at (lovespelldoctor0@gmail. com)

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