Women in Black, Baltimore

Part of an International Network for Peace. Women in Black, Baltimore joins with other women’s organizations worldwide to advocate for peace, justice, and an end to violence worldwide.

We Are Surrounded by Images of War and Violence.
We Present an Image of Peace.

 

Long Day In Lawrence, Kansas

Lauretta Hendricks Backus is a staunch Dean supporter and a member of
the Women In Black anti-war organization.

I am involved with a group in Lawrence, Kansas called "Women in Black."
Weekly, we have stood silently as a group wearing black clothing and
veils, holding signs with the current death toll of both Iraqis and
American service people in the Iraq war. Last Saturday we wanted to put
our message out to a larger group of people. We decided that tailgate
parties before football games would provide the best bang for the buck.
Held in the parking lot before games, they can attract thousands of
people. Wearing our black garb and carrying our "Bush lies, 1000's Die"
and "1157 US dead, 15,000+ Iraqi Dead" signs, we slowly and silently
walked through the crowd. It was the most frightening experience of my
life. Screaming angry people yelled obscenities at us and called us
traitors.

For 40 minutes we walked through the most hostile environment I have
ever been in. I actually feared for my life at times. I thought to
myself, "if just one person throws a stone at us, a riot would ensue
and we would be killed." Was this what it was like for the children trying
to go to school in Little Rock, Arkansas in the late 50's? I had to
wonder if those silent watchers had doubts about the crowd they were
with... seeing these big bulky men yelling at these eight small women
walking silently through a jeering crowd, whose side did they really
want to be on?

Out of thousands of people, only three offered encouragement. One women
walked beside me and said, "you're so brave, thanks for doing this." I
didn't feel brave. An African-American man took his hat off as we
walked past, and said, "thank you ladies for doing this." Then another many
screamed obscenities at us. The kind black man held him back and said
something like, "I'm a Veteran. You don't know about war, man. These
people are trying to help us." He continued to talk the guy down as we
walked on. He was my hero.

We got through it, though it took several hours to get my heart to stop
racing.

One of the most shocking things about this incident was the hostility
shown toward us as women - countless sexual threats, and vulgar
references to our anatomy. There were even some women out there yelling
out at us, although most just watched. One elderly blue haired lady
gave me the finger. Looking back, I can't help but think that if this is
George Bush's America, he can have it. I'm going to keep working on my
own America.

Lauretta Hendricks Backus Women In Black

Read about WIB Ann Arbor (Michigan) and their silent procession through
town* by Liz Cobbs of the Ann Arbor News
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-

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For more information email mailto:wibbaltimore@hotmail.com