Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 17:55:22 -0700 (MST) From: thekoba Subject: [azsecularhumanists] wednesday afternoon library vigil To: azsecularhumanists@yahoogroups.com Cc: nebukhadhnasar@yahoo.com, cbpeek@hotmail.com, proton_4@rambler.ru Reply-To: azsecularhumanists@yahoogroups.com
The following article appeared on page B1 of the 2/6/02 edition of The Arizona Republic:
A Silent Message of Protest
Women Gather Weekly In Vigil Against War, Abuse
By Barbara Yost
Rain or shine, the Women in Black gather every Wednesday afternoon outside the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix to hold a silent vigil against war and the abuse of women worldwide.
They stand shoulder to shoulder, numbering anywhere from a couple to more than a dozen, cloaked anonymously in black dresses or slacks with veils covering their faces, handing out fliers from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
They have been there every week since September 19. That amounts to 20 hours of silence.
"What we are standing against is unspeakable," said Beth Swadener of Tempe, breaker her silence only at the stroke of 5:30.
Women in Black is a global network for peace and human rights created by women in Israel in 1988 to protest the conflict in the Middle East. The movement has spread to Italy, Spain, the United States, England, Azerbaijan and Yugoslavia.
The purpose of the vigils is to raise awareness of "who are the victims of war," said participant Carole Edelsky, a professor at Arizona State University. "So often it's the poor, women and, yes, soldiers."
Reaction to the Phoenix protestors has been mixed but mostly positive, the women said.
Sometimes children make fun of them. One library patron pointed a finger at each woman and pretended to shoot her. On a recent blustery day, another sniped, "I hope you all freeze to death."
But the protesters prefer to remember the young woman who scrawled "thank you" on a tiny slip of paper for each woman, or the young man who passed by, read a flier and gave them a "thumbs up".
One sympathizer sat and voiced her support in a one-sided conversation. And a homeless man handed them 13 cents, everything he had.
"I think it's cool," said Christine Tyler, 15, a freshman at St. Mary's High School, as she left the library last wednesday.
Her friend, 18 year old Steve Sullivan, is planning to enlist in the Marine Corps, but he too commended the women for their stance.
"Everybody has their own opinion," he said. "I'm not offended at all. It's great they come out and protest."
Women in Black vigils began in Phoenix with two or three people and grew as news spread. The same women do not gather every week, but someone is always posted to hand out fliers, about 300 a day.
The women have little in common except commitment to their message: solidarity with women around the world. They are educators, homemakers, social workers, lawyers and saleswomen, and they range in age from teens to 80s.
Retired librarian Margery Leach is a longtime activist who marched for civil rights in the 1960s.
"We live such harried lives," Leach said. "There's an hour (each week) when we can thing, we can pray. It's a precious hour."
Women in Black is aligned with the Arizona Alliance for Peace and Justice. The fliers refer to a Web site, www.azpeace.org, and a phone number, (480)894-2024.
The women plan to continue their vigils, said Kyrsten Sinema of Phoenix, "till there's no more war."
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