WOMEN IN BLACK

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Nearly 40 women dressed in black stood in freezing temperatures for 90 minutes near the ferry dock in Clinton Friday.

Another group silently stood in Coupeville at the same time.

They lined the sidewalk leading up from the ferry into Clinton. Some of them held signs with the simple message, “We are women in black standing for peace.” The rest stood quietly.

The women stood for peace – peace in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. They mourned the losses and injustices created by a violent approach to conflict between governments.

Ann Linnea, one of the protesters, was moved by the experience. She went home after the vigil and sent her two-year-old grandson a note.

“I have been a part of numerous peace and environmental demonstrations in my life. It has always been important to me to speak up for things I believe strongly in. But this is the first demonstration that I have attended since you were born nearly two years ago,” she wrote.

“And all during the time I was standing there mourning the lives lost on both sides of the needless war in Iraq, I was thinking of your sweet face,” the note said.

“Participating in Women in Black gave me something tangible to do for my grandson’s future,” Linnea explained.

And there is plenty to be concerned about. The U.S. death toll in Iraq is approaching 3,000, with 2,888 confirmed deaths and 16 pending Department of Defense confirmation, according to the department’s Website.

November has been dubbed one of the deadliest months for Iraqis since the beginning of the war nearly four years ago. And many major media outlets are now labeling the violence in Iraq a “civil war.”

Violence, war and political unrest continue all over the world — including regions considered part of the Western world.

Linda Morris of Langley said the wars in Iraq and Palestine are among the most frequent concerns of protesters. But many are simply appalled by the violence in daily life.

Drawing attention to continued violence across the globe is the goal of Women in Black, an international peace network.

The network started vigils in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The movement has since spread to the United States, England, Italy, Spain, Azerbaijan and in the states of former Yugoslavia, where women in Belgrade have stood in weekly vigils since 1991.

“I believe in the power of intention. People have been cured from cancer through the practice of clear intention,” said Gloria Chou of Clinton.

“In the simple act of standing in silence with Women in Black all over the world, I hope that our intention for peace could heal humanity of the cancer of war,” she said.

Morris said the idea of Women in Black seems to have caught on here on Whidbey Island.

It is a popular form for women to express themselves and show their commitment to the feminine, non-violent perspective of things, supporters said.

“I believe much of the appeal is the silent vigil, which cuts through all of the words in our lives. The all-black dress creates a dramatic visual ––to reinforce the passion and grief women feel about the violence in our lives, and their yearning for a more peaceful existence where the feminine helps shape the affairs of the world,” Morris said.

There are also Women in Black groups in Coupeville, Port Townsend and Everett. Some women are drawn because of the group’s method of non-flashy impact.

“I like the idea of a silent witness rather than waving signs and shouting. Standing for something rather than against something,” said Cynthia Trowbridge of Freeland.

It fits her personality, she added.

“The most intriguing part of the vigils is watching people’s reaction,” Trowbridge said.

It takes bypassers a while to digest the visual impact of the many women dressed in black, spaced out a yard between each other, lining a public street.

“It’s most interesting to see the space of time it takes people to wrap their minds around this. You can see it in their eyes as they figure it out,” Trowbridge said. “I love this leg time. It means people are thinking.”

Some drivers will honk their horns in support, or bypassers will offer encouraging words.

At one of the silent vigils, a mother with children came by and picked up one of the flyers that described the mission of the Women in Black.

“She went off to the side and read it to her children and explained it,” Trowbridge said.

Only a few people — about one percent of people who pass by, Women in Black say — are negative.

Trowbridge recalled one woman who rolled down her window and said, “Shame on you.”

“Shame for what?” Trowbridge asked.

It’s tough to communicate the balance between opposing violence and being supportive of the troops fighting in the name of the American people, she said.

“I feel like I am totally supportive of the troops in terms of wanting to bring them home alive and well,” Morris said.

Morris added that thousands of troops will come home with mental and physical disabilities, and she said there is no justification for this suffering.

“The war in Iraq is not about democracy,” she said.

“It’s about money and strategically placing our country in the Middle East. It’s not about being patriotic,” Morris added.

Despite the cold temperatures and early winter nights, an impressive group came together Friday. In previous months the women drew more than 70 people.

The South Whidbey Women in Black will be back next month. They hold their protest before dark during the first Friday of each month at the Clinton ferry dock.

To learn more about the group, visit www.womeninblack.org. People wanting to be added to the South Whidbey mailing list can call Linda Morris at 221-7155.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.