It's Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I have the proclamations to prove it: one from President Obama and one from Governor Pawlenty. April is a pretty busy month awareness-wise. It is also, most notably, Child Abuse Prevention Month, Stress Awareness Month, National Car Care Month, Facial Protection Month. (This bears looking into.) And let's not forget that it's "the cruelest month" as well.

So here's the problem – pretty much only those of us who are already aware of Sexual Assault Awareness Month are going to be made aware of it this month. We are not talking Black History Month, Earth Day, or even Jazz Appreciation Month. We won't have bulletin boards in our classrooms, breakfasts with honorary guests, or television specials. (Although TPT-13 will broadcast a new film produced with the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Stop Sexual Violence – Listen and Lead, this Sunday, April 26, at 1 pm.) As one of those already on the awareness bus, I'd like to see a re-naming or a re-framing of proclamations about sexual violence from our leaders.

Maybe we're not up for spending a month, any month, feeling especially aware of something we work so hard to keep invisible the rest of the year: our common grief, a national shame that can easily make us cringe, the fear that lives in the back of our throat, the queasy confusion about where seduction becomes coercion, the sadness in the eyes of too many children, the weary wariness in our women friends. These are oppressions, and we'd have to be crazy to invite them to breakfast. Before awareness has a chance to do its galvanizing work, we need some hope that this state of war will come to an end.

Imagine a World Without Sexual Violence proclaim the blue signs on buses in the Twin Cities this month. That's more like it. Now we're getting somewhere.

What might we proclaim in April, as the forsythia come into bloom, and we pour out of apartments and houses into the streets, bodies in motion, legs and arms propelling joy? Yes! is a word that comes to mind. Can we proclaim our awareness of the word Yes? How about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness That Does No Harm to Others? The signs have just gone up in my neighborhood to announce our annual Spring Cleanup. Spring Clean Up Your Act has a ring to it. Or, shall we proclaim the liberating beauty of the word No?

I (Heart) Consensual Sex is a Sexual Assault Awareness Month event sponsored by the Rape and Sexual Assault Center on May 14 (though at that point, technically, we've moved into Get Caught Reading Month). Come to the Varsity Theatre in Dinkytown starting at 9 pm for the 21+ event open to the general public. While it's mostly a concert with music by Kelly Jo Mitchell, The Great Upset, and Adam Levy, there will be a few speakers, including the lead singer of The Great Upset. I hope to see you there. I always feel less alone with my awareness when someone's singing, shouting out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us…..

Here are a few other Twin City area events where you might do some proclaiming of your own. There are also runs/walks/marches/vigils/and community viewings of Stop Sexual Violence – Listen and Lead throughout the state. One of my favorites is Carlton County's Sexual and Domestic Abuse program's distribution of "Prom Packs." "Information for all students on date rape, drugs, healthy relationships, and dating safety. Also, a small gift is enclosed."

Monday, April 20, 7 pm – Performance by InterACTS, Coffman Union, University of Minnesota "A student performance group from the University of California, Long Beach will present an interactive presentation based on real life experiences with audience involvement in solutions and intervention." Also a panel discussion on April 29 at 7 PM in Wiley Hall – great people involved….

Friday, April 24, 6 pm - MPIRG's Take Back the Night event, Minnesota State Capitol, food and music (Sleeper and the Sleepless and No Bird Sing), speakers, including State Senator Sandy Pappas, a march to the St. Paul Cathedral, candlelight vigil.

Sunday, April 26, 12 -2 pm– Ramsey County Sexual Offense Services Out of Darkness Into the Light Walk for Survivors, Macalester College. This year's theme "Partnering with our Brothers."