Feminism of Escaping Fed

Imagine for a moment that you have gone through a horrible crime, yet no one will listen. No police sirens herald the arrival of heroes. In fact, these people empowered to help you instead turn their backs on you time and time again.

Imagine you must endure daily threat from someone who – realistically – could shoot you and get away with it. In fact, if properly “spun,” they could and would be called a hero-victim for that crime.

Imagine you live under constant promise of being arrested and charged with offenses you did not commit. Even more, imagine the person promising you this has the power to apply the handcuffs, write the report and fashion a case.

Imagine yourself alone in all of this. No one listens to you or even believes you. Because of the empowerment of the person you stand up against, you are presumed guilty even by those closest to you.

Imagine after more than a year of daily torture and threat, you decide to fight. You fight, knowing additional torture, your death or imprisonment await. You fight, knowing it means your own financial, occupational, emotional, psychological and physical demise.

Then imagine that fight and all of the crimes leading up to it are at the hands of your country. But your country is not third world or “red.” It is the United States of America.

Your head spins in the chaos, madness, darkness and abuse. You endure being judged before gaining access to any form of “justice.” You are ridiculed for being human, female, blonde, blue eyed and a mere citizen. The people designed to protect you attempt to hurt you, break you, coerce falsehoods from you. Then they silence you and ignore your rights to freedom, happiness and justice. They let your hunter keep hunting. They let your offender keep offending.

What do you do?

As a strong woman in America today, you use your talents and capabilities to pull the curtain back from the would-be wizards. You do not let lack of money, celebrity or even – at times – a voice, stand in your way. You ignore the fact that you were born without a penis and cannot yield one as so many others in your struggle yield against you – and you make a film. You do not even consider yourself a “feminist,” yet you make a film.

This is the feminism behind the making of Escaping Fed. Zero budget, zero connections and living in constant, justifiable fear of her own murder did not keep C.Kimberly Toms quiet. She came out of hiding for eight hours and relayed the nuances of these events she continued to endure, even as the cameras recorded.

Escaping Fed is more than a true crime story. It is a tale of tenacity, faith and where true progress begins in America. It begins with individuals being willing to say, “This is not right.” It begins with free speech and where diplomacy, justice and democracy actually begin, with the people…even the female people.