Black is the color that we wear;
Black, the color that speaks our anger.
Silence is the language that we speak;
Silence, a language that voices our anguish.
The Domestic Violence Prevention Network encourages you to wear black every Thursday and on other appropriate occasions as your statement against violence. Wearing black symbolizes saying NO to all kinds of violence.Tell others about the symbolism and invite them to participate.
A History The idea for the Thursdays in Black project emerged from the Women in Black movement, a spontaneous, worldwide, grassroots movement, where both women and men gather to protest violence. Their goals are to build a greater awareness of world violence, to support peace efforts, to provide support for those who are suffering, and to encourage actions that help to implement these goals. They say "no" to all forms of violence, e.g., domestic violence, sexual assault, societal violence, torture and war.
The Women in Black movement has inspired groups of women all over the world to stand in their own towns and cities, on street corners, in market places or squares, and other public places, dressed in black, silently protesting the many forms of violence that are becoming increasingly intrinsic to the everyday realities that characterize our different cultures and societies.
Originally, this movement grew out of the vigils held by Los Madres, the Argentinean and Central American mothers who stood mourning their "disappeared ones". It then spread to Bosnia, where war, rape and violence led to weekly vigils in the central squares. These women named their protest movement Women in Black. Since that time, such vigils have spread worldwide, accelerated by the 1995 UN Women's Conference in Beijing, where thousands of women participated in a Women in Black vigil.
Everywhere women are breaking the silence. In Tel Aviv, in Haifa, and in Jerusalem, Palestinian and Israeli women, together, protest the politics of hatred that prevails in the region. And women in India, Brazil, the Philippines, Germany and the Netherlands are speaking up for women and children of all nationalities who are victims of rape, torture and war. They are standing, protesting and remembering, in silence, the innocent victims, refusing to let the politics of hatred and intolerance destroy the humanity that binds and lives within all people.
Thursdays in Black is based on these principles, with a special emphasis on domestic violence. Men are always welcome and are encouraged to participate. For no one, absolutely no one, deserves to be a victim of violence!