First off, I just want to say thank you to everyone who chimed in on the Radius special series Art, Bullying and Culture. We knew it was a big topic going in, and once we were actually in the topic, it turned out to be even bigger than we thought. We can only claim to have scratched the surface, but still … there’s more to do, and more to say, and as we pointed out a couple times along the way, more to listen to. Especially when we’re dealing with kids, taking that time to listen can make all the difference. Taking that time to listen could save a life.
Secondly, thank you to all of our contributors, even those whose work we couldn’t use. I was flabbergasted by your honesty and your courage in discussing both your traumas and complicity. Particular thanks to Dain Michael Down, whose own work on this subject inspired my own interest, and whose assistance was invaluable. Lastly, a big thank you to musician Amanda Palmer and her management team, who gave Radius permission to use as much material from her blog and its comments section as we needed. In the end, we used a drop in the ocean, but the discussion on the subject that sprawls across her blog, referenced in my second essay, is truly staggering in its honesty. As artists, many of us want to evangelize and educate, but sometimes giving others the permission to speak is the most important thing you can do, especially when the circumstances are as dire as these are.
If you need to catch up, here’s an index of the series:
*Strange World: Why ‘Radius’ Will be Examining the Topic of ‘Bullying’ by Victor D. Infante
*On the Turning Away: Introduction to ‘Seeing the Unseen’ by Dain Michael Down
*Bullyface by Billy Tuggle
*Resurrecting Ophelia by Emily George
*Like Me by Hakim Bellamy
*How We Survive: Pop Songs, Poetry and What Falls Through the Cracks by Victor D. Infante
*A Father’s Instructions on Survival By Colin Gilbert
*The Blood I Can Draw By Tony Brown
*Resident Room# 216, Interview, Family Values and Afterwards: at the dinner table by Jacqueline Morrill
*My Part in the Musical by Daniel McGinn
*The Better to Bite You With, My Dear by Tara Brenner
*Bully by Jason Henry Simon-Bierenbaum
Again, thank you to everyone who contributed, who read, and who listened. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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