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Magazine
Women of action
KALPANA SHARMA
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In an atmosphere dominated by images of war and killings, new voices are illustrating another reality — that there are ordinary people who fight and speak out for peace and for an alternative way to settle the world's disputes.
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I MET a remarkable woman recently. She is 83 years old. But you would not believe that if you stopped to speak to her even for a few minutes. Frances Crowe from Northampton, Massachusetts, is lively, articulate and committed. She is one of those determined women you come across in the United States who will never give up, the heroines of our times who often go unrecognised.
Frances has been fighting for a peaceful world ever since she heard of the devastation caused by her Government's decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. And she has not stopped protesting her Government's actions to this day.
What is extraordinary about women like her is the way in which they have made the linkages between a variety of government policies and decisions, and their impact on the lives of ordinary Americans. They have also made personal lifestyle choices as a way of making a statement. For instance, Frances argues that Americans must cut down their dependence on oil and oil-based products if they want their country to follow a policy that is not dictated by the oil industry. So she fights for better public transport, and even at her age walks to the supermarket rather than take a car.
Frances has also decided that she will not pay tax because she objects to her tax money being used by the Government for schemes like the missile defence plan, which will use billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. She claims that it will take the tax authorities five or six years to realise that she has not paid her taxes. After that they will contact her and take a lien on her house. "They cannot throw me out of the house as long as I am alive," she says. "When I die, they will sell the house and recover their taxes. But at least I would not have paid them while I am alive."
On May 12, Frances and her sisters across the U.S. have decided to use the now highly commercialised occasion of "Mother's Day" to argue for peace. In a moving article written to galvanise women for a rally planned for that day, a colleague of Frances, Claudia Lefko writes: "I can barely express my sense of urgency, barely articulate the desperate need I feel to take action as I watch the troubled waters of international conflicts — watch them rising and pushing against the crumbling dam of whatever peaceful coexistence still exists in this world. The waters have broken down the dams ... in Afghanistan, in Palestine and Israel, in Iraq and Colombia, to name a few. People in these countries are already drowning in the misery and death that is upon them."
Claudia goes on to urge women to make "Mother's Day" a day for action. "A day for women to leave home to pursue peace in the same way men leave home for war. It is a day to raise our voices and say no to an endless war, to demand that governments of men dedicate themselves to developing policies, and funding programmes to meet human needs: food, shelter, education, and healthcare."
In the U.S. today, in an atmosphere dominated by images of war, of the killings in Palestine, of the fears that the September 11 attacks have generated, these voices are relevant and refreshing. They suggest that what we hear in our countries — the uniform chorus of the men and women in power in this country seeking to wage a "war against terrorism" which is increasingly translating itself into attacks on defenceless peoples — is not wholly representative of what ordinary Americans feel. They illustrate another reality, that despite the attempt to drum up a war hysteria, a siege mentality and fake patriotism of the flag-waving kind, there are many ordinary people in this country who continue to fight and speak out for peace and for an alternative way to settle the world's disputes.
For example, in a country where a man like Saddam Hussein has been demonised beyond all measure, Frances and her friends are distributing pamphlets that argue passionately for lifting the sanctions against Iraq. They have spelled out the negative impact of these sanctions on ordinary people. They have demonstrated against the bombing of Afghanistan. They have banged cooking vessels outside their state courthouse protesting against the American Government's plan to launch a national missile defence system. And on May12, they plan to get women out on the streets to mark "Mother's Day" by demonstrating for peace.
All this is taking place in small towns, in places away from the big city lights and the mainstream media. These are towns where people live comfortably in their homes. They have churches, State-funded colleges and schools, public libraries, health facilities, clean roads, running water and electricity. In other words, the rest of the world with its war and strife is a very long way from these surroundings.
Yet, the passionate involvement of women like Frances emphasises the extent to which the world has become interconnected. It also shows that there are people who care for a world beyond their backyard even in the most comfortable of surroundings. And this is what is both remarkable and encouraging. It is also a pointer to those of us in India who believe that what happens in some parts of our country will not touch us so we need not care. Yet the women here are saying that regardless of where we live, we have to care, we have to speak out for our beliefs. For if we do not, then all that we fear will come true, war will be on our doorstep and hate will permeate the air that we breathe. No woman is an island.
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