Women in Black

Women in Black (WIB) in San Luis Obispo county saw their beginning in April of 2002 with the first vigil in downtown San Luis Obispo. Since then, a number of local cities have organized their own WIB vigils. After San Luis Obispo came Lompoc, then Cambria and Atascadero.

WIB is an international movement of women which began in 1988 as a collaborative effort between Israeli Arab and Jewish women who were opposed to violence and occupation with silent vigils taking place weekly in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel. Since then, the movement has spread around the world and expanded to include other wars.

The core belief of the movement centers around the idea that deliberate violence should never be a strategy in conflict resolution, neither at home or community, nor among groups and nations. Nations that encourage or tolerate violence in the home seem to exhibit that tendency in society at large and in international relations.

Around one hundred women, men and children stood in Atascadero on the 20th of January 2007 in silent protest of the war in Iraq and in silent vigil to remember the over 3000 U.S. soldiers killed in the war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Individuals of all ages came to express their grief and abhorrence of the violence that is the hallmark of this occupation in the Middle East. Prayer flags with the names of every single soldier killed were held in memoriam to remind those of us left behind of the wastefulness of war and the disregard it generates towards human beings.

Women in Black is a movement of women, by women, for everyone, which is gaining momentum across the globe.

We are our children's caretakers. We should never be their killers and executioners.

Marilyn