Oxford Women’s Festival - Greenham film screening
undercurrents | 26.03.2004 17:03 | Gender | Social Struggles | Oxford
The was a screening of the undercurrents film "Greenham the making of a monument" as part of the women’s festival, bring many of the original Greenem women together to remember this powerfull direct action movement from the 1980's. If there are a women’s group who would like to organise another oxford screening the is a copy of the film available for use.
Thalia Campbell the co-ordinater of the sculpture project
On Sunday July 20th 2003 in City Hall, Cardiff the life size Greenham march statue and plaque were unveiled By Jill Evans MEP and original Greenham Women. She was draped in delicate mauve muslin, with suffragette coloured ribbons, of purple, white and green on her wrists and the baby’ s wrist. There were wild flowers around her feet. On the plaque a poem in Welsh and English and the Maltese Sculptors name Anton Agius Knight of Malta NDD.
The statue of the mother and baby tells the story of Greenham. She will keep alive the memory of this womens action for peace which started from Cardiff in 1981 and went around the world.
A Swansea womens acapella group sang songs, Poems were read, and two apologies read from the many received. Among the speakers there were two Women from the USA , one a US soldiers wife Karen Andrews who was inside the Greenham base for two years who is now studying Peace and Justice at Wellesley College. The other a single mother with her two sons, an ex wife of a man who makes Nuclear Weapons in South Carolina. Ellen Diederich, from The International Peace Archive. Fasia Jansen. Oberhausen. Germany with banners in German. Derek Gregory retired Unison officer reminded us of the support of the unions for the project. Carol Naughton from CND also spoke.
The City Hall was full of Banners, an exhibition of original Greenham material and there were large cardboard doves perched everywhere, on the curtains, the paintings, the staircase and in the potted plants.
We shared an enormous sea blue cake with a map of Malta and Wales with a rainbow between them carrying a dove. Valletta, Rabat Cardiff and Narberth were named on the maps, important places in the story. A video of the making of the statue and greenham women telling the story of the march was shown.
There was a civic dinner held on the floor above so many others saw the statue and the unveiling including a diner in the full costume of a knight of Malta.
www.wfloe.fsnet.co.uk (needs up dating)
greenhamsculpture@hotmail.com
H
ttp://undelete.org/woa/woa09-25.html sculptures of women in the USA. Sad but inspiring story.
Video the Greenham March and the making of Statue available £10. Plus £2.00 post and packing.
Booklet including a picture of the statue. Available free from Mark Munnery, PR and Tourism, Room 101 Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park Cardiff.Wales UK
The statue of the mother and baby tells the story of Greenham. She will keep alive the memory of this womens action for peace which started from Cardiff in 1981 and went around the world.
A Swansea womens acapella group sang songs, Poems were read, and two apologies read from the many received. Among the speakers there were two Women from the USA , one a US soldiers wife Karen Andrews who was inside the Greenham base for two years who is now studying Peace and Justice at Wellesley College. The other a single mother with her two sons, an ex wife of a man who makes Nuclear Weapons in South Carolina. Ellen Diederich, from The International Peace Archive. Fasia Jansen. Oberhausen. Germany with banners in German. Derek Gregory retired Unison officer reminded us of the support of the unions for the project. Carol Naughton from CND also spoke.
The City Hall was full of Banners, an exhibition of original Greenham material and there were large cardboard doves perched everywhere, on the curtains, the paintings, the staircase and in the potted plants.
We shared an enormous sea blue cake with a map of Malta and Wales with a rainbow between them carrying a dove. Valletta, Rabat Cardiff and Narberth were named on the maps, important places in the story. A video of the making of the statue and greenham women telling the story of the march was shown.
There was a civic dinner held on the floor above so many others saw the statue and the unveiling including a diner in the full costume of a knight of Malta.
www.wfloe.fsnet.co.uk (needs up dating)
greenhamsculpture@hotmail.com H
ttp://undelete.org/woa/woa09-25.html sculptures of women in the USA. Sad but inspiring story.
Video the Greenham March and the making of Statue available £10. Plus £2.00 post and packing.
Booklet including a picture of the statue. Available free from Mark Munnery, PR and Tourism, Room 101 Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park Cardiff.Wales UK
undercurrents
e-mail:
hamish@riseup.net
Homepage:
http://www.wfloe.fsnet.co.uk
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
Other supporters ?
26.03.2004 18:05
Not the activist movement's finest hour by a long way
Richard
How true
26.03.2004 18:18
The revelations about the Polish Major came out some time ago but I was surprised to read recently how Bruce Kent said he knew CND were at that time being funded by the Soviet bloc and how he wished for a Soviet Britain. I think the Stasi spied were discovered after they had been there for about a year but I'm not sure if they were asked to leave.
Of course as it turned out the weapons were never there at all but were fakes ( the real ones were at Aldermaston just down the road)
On balance the Greenahm women probably did more harm to direct action than they did to help it. A real shame and I understand why the original four women all walked away after the first year.
Jackie Mills
Sorry, but the last two comments are tosh
27.03.2004 14:54
So, the rather marvellous Campaign Against the Arms Trade should have hung their heads and shut down after stories that it was infiltrated, should they? Of course dodgy governments are going to try and get into any movement. Why on earth does that compromise the movement?
One person's aunt being "appalled" does not negate the incredible effect that Greenham had on women worldwide. It was a spontaneous, life-affirming, righteous protest - like any protest it had problems, stemming from the fact that some of the people involved had problems - as people invariably will.
And, for the record, the "original four women" (there were 36 original marchers, some of them men) did not walk away. They recognised that although they might have "started" Greenham, they in no way controlled it. They contributed as much as anyone with families and children could. At least one of them does, certainly, regret not having stood up to the few factional, embittered negativists, but that's with hindsight.
In fact, I suggest you watch the film (see original post) - it gives an inspirational, extraordinary picture of Greenham from all points of view and has the grace to leave you to make up your own mind.
watcher
PS
27.03.2004 15:08
You have the world's largest totally peaceful protest. You have women dancing on silos, women throwing themselves onto missile transporters, women blockading entrances, roads, access points. You have THIRTY THOUSAND WOMEN holding hands around the base. You have the support of miners, trade unionists, fathers, husbands, sons and the Hell's Angels. "Not the activist movement's finest hour" ?????? Please do tell me, Richard, what was.
watcher
disinformation
29.03.2004 11:24
all campaigners are middle class / old-left / boring
all ideas are rubbish
don't even try
stay home
obey
common sense
Greenham Common songbook
11.11.2005 11:43
I'm writing an article on the history of the Women's Peace Camp at Greenham Common in England for the Danish Peace Academy.
This includes my reconstruction of one of the rare songbooks the women made in 1987[?]
An early draft is at,
With kind regards,
Holger Terp
Editor of the Danish Peace Academy
The Danish Peace Academy is an independent, non-profit, low budget organization and educational site under development; produced by unpaid, voluntary learned specialists. The purpose of the peace academy is to communicate important information on peace, peace culture and war to its many users from all over the world and to create a Danish peace education.
Holger Terp
e-mail:
holgerterp@pc.dk