Monday, February 18, 2013

was it really 30 years ago?



Recent posts and comments on the 1 Billion Rising movement have reminded me of how absolutely awe inspired I was the day I first saw this photo:



[I didn't pay to use this but it came from here http://photofusionpictures.photoshelter.com/image/I0000JDMgmsjK3NY]


Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was established September 1981 to protest the siting of nuclear weapons [cruise missiles]

The more authorities arrested and moved protesters, the bigger the camp grew.



In December 1982, 30,000 women joined hands around the base, to Embrace it.



In April 1983, about 70,000 protesters formed a 14 miles (23 km) human chain from Greenham to an ordnance factory at Aldermaston.

Peace camps popped up in more than a dozen sites in Britain and Europe.

The last missiles left the camp in 1991 when weapons treaties and policies changed - not as a result of the protests of course.

The camps and protests hardly brought about world peace but they helped change my world a little.










10 comments:

  1. It's funny how little our elected leaders take note of 'people power' movements. I wonder will that change with the immediacy and reach of multimedia in the last 30 years??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is voting a people power movement? Doesn't have quite the same impact as a moratorium march, for some reason.
      The impact of changes in communication have already been phenomenal, and have made the world a much smaller place. Many of us are a lot better informed [with less effort required]... now all I need is to see something motivational ... in a format I can make sense of.

      Delete
  2. It is nice to see people have a "cause" and it is interesting to go back and see how long the causes have organized!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I guess causes reach back for thousands of years if we'd really like to follow the chain.

      Delete
  3. There have been protests that seemed to have little effect at the time, but brought about much wider ranging changes to society. The protesting women of Greenham Common must be included in the list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I look back with a more reasonable sense of perspective, the list is huge. Horrible what people go through at the beginning, but single incident can spark a fire. I guess we just shouldn't cave in too easily if something really matters to us.

      Delete
  4. Bravo to all those women.
    and I also recall the nuclear disarmament marchers of 1963 ... and now even North Korea has nukes with the money they save by not looking after their people.
    sigh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, at least we only sell our uranium to responsible countries. That makes it okay, doesn't it?

      Delete
  5. Love to see women showing strength and commitment even if it didn't change the mind of the rulers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The strength and commitment are really something. I guess change is a long term thing sometimes, but it happens.

      Delete