My First Protest/March
"VIOLENCE MUST CEASE! INCREASE THE PEACE!"
This evening I attended the Take Back the Night march to take action against violence against women.
The night started at 6pm with a rally in a neighborhood field house gym which involved a lot of groups speaking and performing (lots of awesome drumming women, a reverend speaking, Columbia College students speaking about their experiences making shirts, the CPD, mayor's office and attorney general representatives, the Chi-Town Cheerleaders [my oh my those kids are talented!], Hands Without Guns, and men who have overcome problems, ending with a powerful and talented keynote speaker/singer from Kenwood High School--a 9th grader!). Everyone received tshirts, and a book of poems with additional community resource contact information (housing, legal advice, domestic violence shelters, mental health, etc).
We got all pumped up to march through the neighborhood and grabbed protest signs that kids had made. Led by the police and the "Drum Divas", walking two by two we formed a line and marched a 3-mile route through the surrounding neighborhood. I'm really bad at estimating, but I'd guess that there were about 200 people?--we were at least a block in length! As we walked and held our signs we chanted:
"Violence must cease! Increase the Peace!"
"Women Unite, Take Back the Night"
"2-4-6-8, NO more violence, no more rape"
"Hey hey ho ho violence against women has got to go"
We also handed out little flyers to onlookers (and we got many people's attention!) which announced our protest and provided information on the back about how to get help if you are a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. We stopped at four points along the route and over the loudspeaker we were read poems written by women about domestic violence.
All in all it was a great experience!
A BRIEF EXPLANATION:
"Take Back the Night is a march held in communities across the country to raise awareness about violence against women and children. Because women are not safe on the stree, tonight we take back the streets as a safe place for women by giving them and children to be after dark. We are empowering women by giving them a voice to protest injustice. We also gather strenght from one another tonight through the sharing of our collective stories about surviving violence."
Also, an article from the Portland Tribune: It's Time to Shatter Pattern of Abuse
"VIOLENCE MUST CEASE! INCREASE THE PEACE!"
This evening I attended the Take Back the Night march to take action against violence against women.
The night started at 6pm with a rally in a neighborhood field house gym which involved a lot of groups speaking and performing (lots of awesome drumming women, a reverend speaking, Columbia College students speaking about their experiences making shirts, the CPD, mayor's office and attorney general representatives, the Chi-Town Cheerleaders [my oh my those kids are talented!], Hands Without Guns, and men who have overcome problems, ending with a powerful and talented keynote speaker/singer from Kenwood High School--a 9th grader!). Everyone received tshirts, and a book of poems with additional community resource contact information (housing, legal advice, domestic violence shelters, mental health, etc).
We got all pumped up to march through the neighborhood and grabbed protest signs that kids had made. Led by the police and the "Drum Divas", walking two by two we formed a line and marched a 3-mile route through the surrounding neighborhood. I'm really bad at estimating, but I'd guess that there were about 200 people?--we were at least a block in length! As we walked and held our signs we chanted:
"Violence must cease! Increase the Peace!"
"Women Unite, Take Back the Night"
"2-4-6-8, NO more violence, no more rape"
"Hey hey ho ho violence against women has got to go"
We also handed out little flyers to onlookers (and we got many people's attention!) which announced our protest and provided information on the back about how to get help if you are a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. We stopped at four points along the route and over the loudspeaker we were read poems written by women about domestic violence.
All in all it was a great experience!
A BRIEF EXPLANATION:
"Take Back the Night is a march held in communities across the country to raise awareness about violence against women and children. Because women are not safe on the stree, tonight we take back the streets as a safe place for women by giving them and children to be after dark. We are empowering women by giving them a voice to protest injustice. We also gather strenght from one another tonight through the sharing of our collective stories about surviving violence."
Also, an article from the Portland Tribune: It's Time to Shatter Pattern of Abuse
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home