knitting, old sheets, peace

This red/yellow/blue square patch is a bit worn.  Knit in 2002, it has been pinned to the back of a blue denim jacket and was my one and only attempt to do letters. It is based on the original, blue & white NO War patch that two of us came up with in 1991, a few months before the “first Gulf War.” I lived in Baltimore and knew Sally Mericle (where is she now?).

We wanted to make a very strong anti-war statement. Driving around town, we saw what we wanted: a sheet hanging from a row house window with NO WAR scrawled in large letters.  Sally designed and hand-carved the first stamp. We  tore our discarded white cotton sheets into 2 x 2-inch squares until we had to go to Goodwill for more.  Wanting people to be able to use these patches immediately, we attached small gold-colored pins.

Weekends we’d drive to Washington, D.C. demonstrations and hand them out. Marchers were pleased to get them--and surprised they were free.  After the U.S. declared war, Irina’s Café, a local Ukranian restaurant, offered us space to hold “Stamp-ins.”  Posting notices around town—this was before Yahoo groups and Craigslist—we invited Baltimoreans to bring an old sheet and use our now-enlarged supply of rubber stamps—in two sizes--to make their own.

Tearing up sheets, vigorously stamping them with blue NO WAR messages was a great way to get out a bit of our collective anger and join with other peace-loving people  to spread this powerful message.  In New York City where I now live the peace vigil I am drawn to occurs every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Rockefeller Center.  Grandmothers Against the War, is another anti-war effort that grew from one woman’s decision to “do something.”  More on that soon.

Comments

[Ronni Bennett]

Welcome to the blogging world, Naomi. Terrific start you've made with this...