Part of: Suzette Cullen oral history (2 objects)
Suzette Cullen oral history - Suzette Cullen oral history
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- I think there was a lot historically, literature has been written about the conflicts that happened
- between women and the men with the anti war, you know stuff so so they
- it was something you know there's a pot that needed it got stirred and then they went.
- Garrett Oh,
- can you tell me why you decided to travel in Europe?
- Cullen
- Let's see, I'd worked a year at the state hospital and I traveled all around the
- United States north I went everywhere north and west, and then I worked another year.
- And that's when I went to Europe, why did I go there? I guess I just thought it was
- a neat thing to do, and again it was cheap, I can remember you know. $500 I was gone for six months,
- three months to four months. When September came back late in the fall.
- But it was the first time I'd ever traveled east of Austin. Yeah well I was interested I you know,
- like and I wanted you know, after all this fighting I really wanted to explore the world,
- I was you know I did it. It was, Europe was a lot of fun back in the hostels and you know that it
- was a lot of I was there are you familiar with the Israeli massacre in 1972. (unintelligible) Yes?
- Garrett No.
- Cullen No well.
- It was a part of the ongoing fifty years later struggles, with the Palestinians and Israelis.
- All the Israeli athletes were murdered. It was shocking and I showed up there the day
- that it happened, and so I looked at it in the newspapers. And I thought my dad,
- my dad always told me you're going to go to Europe you're going to have to read all this journalism.
- And it's just all going to be yellow journalism you don't have to believe a word you're saying
- so, at first, I thought he was right oh wow look at this must be yellow journalism and then
- sure enough, I worked my way around to Munich. And I worked at the train station where they
- were getting rid of all—. That was a big place to work from all over Europe it’s the biggest train
- station in Europe because it's the only one. A lot of people from Yugoslavia, Southern Italy,
- and the Middle East, and they were putting them on trains. It really reminded me of
- when Trump got elected what he did it was just like being right in the middle of this pot.
- So yeah I just think I was, I could afford it, and I wanted to see Europe and I went by myself.
- Garrett You said traveling
- in Europe helped you to realize how terrible the Vietnam War was?
- Cullen People would talk to me
- they say yeah you're American you're American you do the war and I'm like well yeah yeah,
- and so it was just it was fascinating to listen to these people who had some insight, rather than
- just lousy right wing opinions you know. Like they educated me about how the colonization had
- gone on in Vietnam and the whole history of it and how you know it was basically another another you
- know at that time it was always the d—heard I'm sure you’ve heard of the domino theory.
- Garret Yes.
- Farmer Yeah.
- Cullen One country falls to communism.
- So that was the rationale for being there but really it was about the oil— you know it's
- always with the state it's always about getting other people's resources. It's oil and power
- and and that's what it was about them under the guise of
- saving South Vietnam from communism. And people just you know, like I hadn't really understood
- colonization before, imperialism like it you know it wasn't really taught in my high school.
- Garrett
- Uh huh, why did you move to Canada in 1978 I believe you said?
- Cullen Like I said I'd been up here a couple
- least twice with friends drove across the States. I don't know it just I just didn't I wanted to be
- I didn't want to live around my family. And it was just it was a happening place to be.
- The war at that point was over, but you know in Canada for the longest the only people I knew
- were ex-Americans who had come up here so they didn't have to go to the Vietnam war and a
- lot of the men and women, they came up here and then the women will you become lesbians
- and so you know that those lines would cross and I mean they had group houses all over the city,
- there was a women's magazine, there was a women's newspaper, there is a women's
- press and I actually worked at the printing press in Vancouver. It was called Press Gang.
- I drove school busses. You know, like, I was able to just I just fit in.
- In the in the end it was also an interesting experience in the sense, though, that I—people
- did not like Texas for very good reasons and my accent has never really softened and
- people can't you know people would go where are you from? Where are you from? Where are you from?
- like it wasn't it wasn't like oh wow Where are you from? It was like Where are you from?
- so then kind of taught me it gave me some empathy about with other immigrants,
- actually, and it was (unintelligible) one of the things I noticed most when I came back.
- After being back in Texas for almost ten years I came back.
- And I had very—no one asked me where was I from because the immigration had been so
- permeating all to all levels there's been so much immigration that I just sounded
- like another another immigrant. I wouldn't necessarily people would like always try
- to guess Where are you from? are you from Texas?, are you from Florida?, you know and
- but that path that wasn't happening that didn't happen after that yeah.
- Garrett Were you
- able to continue your activism in Vancouver?
- Cullen Yep yeah well for one day we—.
- One of the first jobs, I had was a school bus and we organized that union,
- and that was really my claim to fame. I was you know, like that was the one thing that I was—.
- I knew about what like from my experience in Austin and I also had friends that were in
- union in Vancouver at that time Vancouver had a women's union of service office
- retail workers. Me and another bus driver, we did from A to Z and we had to go on
- strike, and everything and yeah so that was available. And then Press Gang where I went
- to I worked there first when I first got legal I worked at Press Gang for about a year or so.
- And then, with the bus company needed the organizing for that and, like I said that
- was that was a big deal, you don't just organize out of nothing nothing right you talk to you—for
- one thing we had to find a union would take us, because we weren't a big group,
- you know but, and then I and I work—. Yeah and then I went up north and
- and lived on a homestead so I had that kind of back to earth experience back to the land, rather,
- so no I you know, like, I will always—. One of the things that I always you know because I was
- a bus driver I had a class two driver's license so often, I was the driver of the parade you know, in
- the parade the trucks, you know so yeah there was always something that you could get involved in.
- Yeah, so I would, I would say that Vancouver is a hotbed of activism compared to Austin
- and I was free to do whatever I wanted. I didn't have to worry about somebody finding out if I was
- in jail or anything like that, and actually I never did end up in jail in Vancouver but
- yeah it was much more free to be involved in in things more as fully as I wanted to be.
- Garrett Can you tell me
- why you decided to work at the Austin Rape Crisis Center in particular?
- Cullen
- Well, it just seemed like I had the—since I had the first hand experience of what it was like
- I thought I had something to offer, and I was glad to to do that.
- This was the rape was in Europe, it wasn't in Texas, so it was um yeah
- I mean it's you know, to think think that you know it's like I said I'm very involved in Vancouver
- still with the one where I worked. It's a big issue you know.
- Big issue violence against individual whether it's women,
- men, (unintelligible) doesn't matter you know when when a group
- is not taken seriously and they haven't it does it does affect the way they live their lives.
- Garrett Were there any
- particular moments that stuck out to you during your work at the Austin Rape Crisis Center?
- Cullen Well,
- I did go to court with one woman went all the way to court, and you know that's a big
- process so that means you meet the woman at the hospital exam, go through the whole
- you know talking to the prosecutor, you know it's and then it's not a simple thing it's not
- just like oh here, let me hold your hand while you charge this fella. She knew the person,
- you know, like so yeah that stands stood out quite a lot that experience going through
- all that all that all that and I forget so this was a person of color, a woman of color in high
- school she was from a religious family. It was one of these cut and dried rape cases there wasn't any
- there wasn't any Oh, do we have a date drug or Oh, did I say yes or no, she was it was a solid case
- and I don't know if he had got probation or something, I don't remember the result,
- but he mother and me, and then the young woman, she was was high school, I mean, I think we were
- we were all glad that we went through the process and I don't think we were pleased by the verdict,
- so to speak. As long time ago, for me, remember those kind of details and I know I mean most
- nights I worked, I wrote poetry back then, and I would work eleven to seven, type poetry, and you
- know occasionally have one or two phone calls during the night, and you talk to somebody and
- listen right, I mean that's really when you when you work in those kind of situations you just
- you're a good listener, first and foremost, you hear the story. I mean yeah I can't uh.
- Garrett
- Did many women who come who came to the Austin Rape Crisis Center go to court?
- Cullen No, they wouldn't take them. The court
- doesn't take them. The prosecutors don't take them they say we don't have enough evidence or
- I know that after I worked I must have worked there four or five years
- and that was the only case that actually went to the process, I mean we had many that.
- You know I'd be at the hospital with them and the police would come and interview them.
- That would be it. And that's true today. You know like it’s still not taken as
- it's just not it's not taken as something you know, like well, I mean
- what's what what is happening today is the same then as—yeah
- I think young men are just not taught that that's not appropriate. In fact
- what I understand that the now the porn and the violence that goes on on the internet it's just
- absolutely shocking and you didn’t even have any of that fifty years ago so it's not something
- that has just been like you know I think there's tremendous if there's been any pushback, blowback
- for the women's movement, it is their stance on rape and rape is not acceptable you know.
- Garrett
- Do you have further questions Ciera?
- Farmer Um I think I'm all right,
- you did a great job of explaining things. It was really good um yeah I mean. You have any—
- Cullen Is that okay,
- did you get what you thought you were going to get?
- Farmer Yeah no that was fantastic. Oh sorry—
- Garrett Is there anything you'd like to discuss Suzette?
- Cullen No, I but I think it's very interesting I'm sorry
- I don't have more you know, like really specific details, but I just wasn't there for you know,
- like I was kind of young in the sixties and I left in the seventies and I know a lot of people
- looking at your transcripts and people who've been been there for years and years and are still in
- Austin. But uh no Austin was definitely you know, it was a it was a hotbed of activism, and it was a
- you know and it's interesting reading the list, you know that people have been
- interviewing so far, I know that it makes me see that people you know people are sticking to their
- social activism roots throughout their life. It's not just a given that you
- get to be middle aged and just worry about your income and retirement.
- Farmer Well um if
- no one wants to add anything else or ask any other questions
- um then I'll go ahead and end the recording if that sounds good to y’all yeah?
- Cullen
- Oh it's fine it's fine, thank you very much I enjoyed it.
- Farmer Yeah thank you so much.
- Cullen I hope you get a good grade or whatever.
- (Laughter)
- Farmer I'm sure it’s going to be very useful
- in the archives. It was really interesting to talk to you and hear everything yeah.