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Army veteran Obbie West shared his poetry and advocacy messages with Fort McCoy community members April 14 during an observance for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
West describes himself as "an unapologetic spoken words artist and entrepreneur." He's an Army veteran and retiree, advocate, and author of the poetry book "Blossom."
His signature poem, "The Perpetrator's Perspective", was recognized by the Department of the Army, MG Keith L. Ware Communications Awards with first place in the category "Long Form Production Video" His website, www.obbiewest.com, features several videos of his poetry and upcoming events.
West shared several of his poems and his personal experiences with Fort McCoy community members with a small in-person audience in building 60 and a wider audience over Microsoft Teams.
"I was raised in South Central (Los Angeles), where the streets were significantly violent," he said. "I also grew up in an abusive household. So there was violence outside the house, and there was abuse inside the house."
West said he grew up watching his mother being beaten but still hearing words of love spoken. He said he grew up with a confused picture of love and had to decide whether he believed that was real love or if he could pursue a different path.
He joined the military at 17, and about 10 years later, he first discovered his love for poetry.
"Instantly, poetry became my voicebox. It became my primary form of communication, my liberation," West said. "I was able to use poetry in order to highlight some of those things I went through when I was younger."
West said his poems are often sensitive or uncomfortable to hear, but it's necessary. The poems are written as a call to action. An emotional impact is required in order to motivate people to take action and make changes.
"In the military, we train by data," West said. "Everything is measurable by score. ... I can take a diagnostic test, figure out my weak points, and work on those weak points, then get better.
"With sexual assault and harassment, there's no rehearsal. The only time you learn your inefficiencies is right before or during or after a victim has been claimed. So you can't train those things the same," West said. "You can't train sexual assault and harassment (prevention) with data. Until you attach some type of emotion to the data, it never becomes a call for action."
West shared four of his poems, following each poem with a talk about what the poem meant and what it's supposed to teach people. For example, one poem was from the perspective of a perpetrator. West said it's one of his most difficult poems to perform, but it's important to consider a perpetrator's perspective in order to learn from it, especially how to intervene if you see similar behavior.
"Perpetrators have a toolbox ... they use to identify potential victims. It's great if we know what that toolbox looks like," West said. He compared it to police officers interviewing killers to learn their methods or an officer investigating someone because of suspicious items in his or her backseat.
One method perpetrators use is identifying what's considered normal behavior in a group or region and use it to their advantage, West said. They notice if casual touch or inappropriate jokes are considered acceptable and press the boundaries. Changing these behaviors can make it more difficult for perpetrators to operate.
Other topics his poetry covered during this session included male victims of sexual assault and how sexual assault can affect the friends and family members of victims.
Clips from West's presentation are available at www.dvidshub.net/unit/FMPAO.
Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month is recognized in April by both civilian and military communities. The Department of Defense observes the month by focusing on creating the appropriate culture to eliminate sexual assault and requiring a personal commitment from all service members.
The event was organized by Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention employees from across the organization. Information about Fort McCoy SHARP programs is available online at https://mccoy.armymwr.com/programs/sharp or by calling 608-388-3505.
| Date Taken: | 04.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.19.2021 18:21 |
| Story ID: | 394222 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 204 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Army veteran shares poetry, advocacy message during Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, by Aimee Malone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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