A silent parade

Peace activists dressed in black will walk quietly through downtown St. Petersburg tonight as part of an antiviolence vigil that will take place in 100 cities around the world.

By JEANNE MALMGREN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 28, 2001

They call themselves Women in Black.

Tonight they will dress in mourning and walk silently along the sidewalks of downtown St. Petersburg, carrying a coffin.

Their mission: to express their grief about all the violence in the world.

Quite a contrast to the pre-New Year's partiers at Baywalk.

"Sometimes silence speaks louder than words," said Julia Aires of Sarasota, who helped organize the event she calls a March of Mourning. It is one of more than 100 such vigils being held today in cities around the world.

The main March of Mourning will be in Jerusalem, where Women in Black originated in 1988 as a protest against the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 13 years, the movement has quietly spread to many countries, with grass roots peace activists putting together local Women in Black groups. Silent vigils and marches have been held in Bosnia and Kosovo, and weekly protests take place in Israel. The group was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The current focus, naturally, is the terrorism of Sept. 11 and the war in Afghanistan.

"But it's not simply an antiwar thing," said Aires. "We're opposed to any kind of violence, domestic, national, international."

Aires worked with Diane Kamleiter of St. Petersburg, a fellow activist and Green Party member, to organize the St. Petersburg march, the only one in Florida.

Despite the Women in Black name, the march is not only for women. Aires and Kamleiter hope men and children will participate, too.

"We're trying to send the strongest possible message we can, without being angry or shouting at people," Aires said.

And the coffin? According to Kamleiter, it symbolizes the countless lives lost to violence. Participants can write sentiments on sympathy cards and put them in the coffin. Then, at the end of the procession, the cards will be collected for a future "wall of grief."

Kamleiter hopes the process is cathartic.

"It will give people a chance to voice their feelings about violence."

If you go

The March of Mourning will start at 5:30 p.m. today in Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg. After speeches, the group will march several blocks east to Straub Park on Beach Drive, stopping along the way to stand in silence for one-minute periods. Women, men and children are invited to participate; please dress in black. For information call (727) 822-1543 or (941) 366-5008 or visit www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org.

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