28 women of Takoma Park, Maryland, gathered in Opal Daniels Park to lay
their bodies down in a plea for peace, to add their quiet scream of
dissent to the already tumultuous din of the worldwide opposition to the
action against Iraq. In less then a week word was spread around Takoma
Park about the upcoming demonstration.
"We had no
idea how many people would show up. The ground was really muddy from the
melted snow, but it was a warm day. At noon, the women started coming,
and there were plenty of bodies to spell out our message," said
co-organizer Jennifer White. After the women formed the word "peace,"
the 10 men who had come to help decided to form an impromptu peace
sign. Said one participant, "It takes some courage to all get naked,
much more courage to choose peace." "It was amazing." commented
co-organizer Cristin Fair, "The response was terrific and the feeling of
optimism and hope was strong".