One billion strong: Flash mob in McKinney part of global Valentine's Day cause

Although she wasn't in New Orleans, Marta Gore was dancing in the streets on Thursday.

Red scarf in hand and strutting her stuff in front of the McKinney Performing Arts Center, Gore was among dozens of other girls and women who converged on the square in historic downtown McKinney for a Valentine's Day flash mob to raise awareness about sexual violence.

"It's something that's swept under the rug. These women are ashamed, they don't want you to know about it," she said. "It's really important to just get the word out so folks can be liberated and share their experiences, even as painful as it is, so they can help the next person."

The flash mob of smiling faces and choreographed dances was just one of many that took place in commemoration of a global campaign targeted to help stop violence against females. This year's 15th annual event consisted of men and women from around the world taking up the cause of ending sexual violence. From Los Angeles to New Delhi, street exhibitions, dance performances and musical rallies were all held under the slogan "One Billion Rising."

The flash mob was also a way to celebrate V-Day, an activist movement geared at ending violence that includes raising funds and awareness through benefit productions of playwright and founder Eve Ensler's award-winning play, "The Vagina Monologues." The MPAC will hold an upcoming production of "The Vagina Monologues" on March 30 to include a women's fair and a celebration dance, with all proceeds benefitting The Turning Point.

Van Alstyne resident Lisa Miller decided to organize the local flash mob after helping close family members who live in McKinney through abuse and learning that sexual assault is prevalent in the community, as in many cities around the world.

Partnering with The Turning Point through the city's chamber of commerce, Miller spread the word about the mob and was elated to be a part of something to benefit the local nonprofit.

"This turned out better than I ever dreamed it would be," she said. "Everybody here has a story and everybody here has a reason and a cause, and we all share that."

The mob was a first in McKinney and attracted much more attention and participation than originally expected, said Gayle Smith, executive development director of The Turning Point in Plano.

In Texas, one in five women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, compared to the global rate of one in three women, Smith said. Through education in schools, counseling and crisis centers like The Turning Point, she said she hopes events like these will help get more people involved to lower those numbers.

"Texas has some work to do," she said. "This has been a wonderful partnership; we were very excited. They had over 200 countries participating with dances like this across the entire globe. It's not just a little McKinney thing. You had the benefit of a lot of other people celebrating the same cause."

For more information about The Turning Point, visit theturningpoint.org.

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