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POWER IS MY unwavering truth
A poem by Aija Mayrock
Aija is a writer and poet. She started writing her first book "The Survival Guide to Bullying" when she was 16 years old after having been bullied for many years. She wrote us an original poem about her experience, and how her journey has allowed her to step into her power.
Photographed in NYC by Anna Zhang
Growing up with a lisp and a stutter
Each time I uttered
I mean each time I choked
On a word
I got bullied by peers and teachers
I lost my voice in theirs
After years of staying silent
Being compliant
I saw what was happening around the world
Young folks
Taking their lives
When the bullying got too bad
And no one showed up
No one showed up
“Step into it. It’s never too late”

So I put pen to paper
Rearranged the thoughts that poured from my brain
And told my story
Stepped into my power
With nothing to gain
But facing the fact
That I had stayed silent
For so many years
I had stayed silent
For fear of what my words could do
And now I was no longer silent
My power is my unwavering truth
There is no such thing as weak people
Only people
Who have not yet stepped into their power
Step into it
It’s never too late
PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT
Anna Zhang, New York
POWER IS action over silence
There’s something special about capturing human faces, in illuminating facets of an identity through static images. In translating what happens behind the scenes—the shared accounts of vulnerability, humor, and dejection—into a final portrait, I cherish the opportunity for storytelling through each photograph, depictions of identities not quite polished, but stunningly real.

The Keds Hand-Book for Women: the power issue

Power is representation
Alana Mayo, head of production and development at production company Outlier Society, speaks about the importance of using your own power to lift others up.

Power is within us
An exclusive Q&A with Meena Harris, founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, about activism, motherhood, and paying it forward.

Power is fashioning community
By Sara Tatyana Bernstein, PhD & Elise Chatelain, PhD, fashion theorists and co-editors of Dismantle Magazine, give a synopsis on how women have used fashion to form collective identities through the generations.