A Tale of Two Corners

They are the "Women in Black."  They're a relatively small number of women and male supporters who've chosen to stand on street corners once a week.  During their hour-long silent vigil they dress in black while holding signs with simple messages such as "Declare Peace" and "We Mourn All Victims of Violence" and "Only With Peace Can Peace Be Made":

Yet one does not have to be a pacifist to join the Women in Black.  What seems to bind them is a commitment to seeking nonviolent solutions, which they think often are neglected.  "I don't believe violence solves the problems," Edythe Briggs stresses, "Violence just intensifies them."

The Women in Black adopt these goals as well as their name from a world wide movement that began in Israel during the 1980s.  "It was really unusual to have women standing up," Judy Temko stresses, and "there was a hit list published against eight of the women."  "But gradually," she adds, "the longer they stayed there, the more accepted they were, Palestinian women joined them, and they became a large presence."

While there are Women in Black standing in multiple cities throughout the north bay, their local presence took root in Sebastopol, where they can be seen each Friday on Main Street and Bodega Avenue. 

Surrounding these women is an often larger and always louder group of North Bay Patriots and their supporters.  Inspired by the national 9/12 Project, the group defines itself as U.S. constitutionalists who "firmly believe the Constitution, as written, is the guiding document to which all peoples must adhere," and are committed to "actively support officials who share these principles, and actively work to replace those that don't regardless of party affiliations."  Yet, when asked why they stand at Sebastopol's Main Street and Bodega Avenue each Friday, they repeatedly stress one reason: to "Support the troops." 

Just as one doesn't have to be a pacifist to be a Woman in Black, one does not have to support the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to stand with the North Bay Patriots.  What they seem to have in common is a belief that the troops are not adequately supported by the public and mainstream media.  "We don't want war," Megan Cromwell stresses, "but we realize it's part of the modern world we live in.  We'd rather it weren't.  Until then, though, we think supporting the military members is crucial."

It would be easy to emphasize the strife between these two groups.  One thinks military means are overemphasized, the other thinks the military is under-supported, and (some members of) each group thinks the other inadequately supports their own cause.  Just as importantly, one seeks its goals through silent vigil, while the other pursues its goals through vocal demonstration.  In the end, it would be easy to compare them to two radio programs targeting different audiences at the same time. 

Only, the details complicate this predictable portrait of them as two groups at odds, a local manifestation of the much dramatized divide between "Blue States" and "Red States." 

First, there are political bonds between these groups.  While acknowleding important differences, North Bay Patriot, Jeff Olsen, notes, "They're here for the same reason we are, they just have a different idea how to get to the same side." 

In fact, there's a touching and inspiring bond of friendship tying them together and providing hope for the future. 

Just as importantly, these groups are part of a noble minority, the few who not only publicly stand up for their political beliefs, challenging the rest of us to think about social and political issues, but do it non-violently.  In fact, "we can have different views, and be very committed to them, and hold firm to them," Edythe Briggs stresses, "and yet respect each other."

In this sense, each day these groups meet in Sebastopol they continue a long and proud democratic tradition, acting as local reminders of an activist heritage which includes 1798's Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the Cherokee Nation's proud stand against 1830's Indian Removal Act, William Lloyd Garrison's creation of The Liberator, the 1845 autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 1848's Seneca Fall's Convention and the resulting Declaration of Sentiments, Henry David Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience, Susan B. Anthony's public disapproval of the 15th Amendment for not recognizing women's right to vote, as well as her successfully voting in the 1872 presidential election, the creation of the National Labor Union, which was the first national labor union federation, the 1903 creation of the Women's Trade Union League, 1905's Niagra Movement, Abel Meeropol's and Billie Holiday's 1930's anti-lynching masterpiece, "Strange Fruit," 1937's Flint Sit-Down Strike, Oliver Brown's decision to fight segregation in 1954's Brown v. Board of Education, Edward R Murrow's 1960 show "Harvest of Shame," Martin Luther King's 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and so many others.

Michael Aparicio teaches philosophy at Santa Rosa Junior College.  He's a regular contributor to Empire Report.  "Rojo Reports" is our collection of his news articles.  "The Gadfly" is our collection of his news commentaries.  Taken together, they are Michael's attempt to provide a balance of newsworthy reporting and thought-provoking questioning. 

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Here is my interview with Edyth Briggs of the Sebastopol Women in Black: 

Coming Soon: I plan to add an interview with Jeff and Betty Olsen.