Film and video maker Vincenzo Mistretta documented the Buffalo Women in Black for two years and
  completed a documentary video that cronicles the groups vigils from October 2001 till November 2003.

  To order a copy of the tape please e-mail Vincenzo Mistretta with your request at vmistretta@thericecooker.net
  Individuals: VHS / $10     DVD / $15    Institutions: VHS / $120    DVD / $160

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  The following is a paper Mr. Mistretta presented at the International Oral History Conference in Rome, Italy
  where he screened the video in June of 2004.

  Panel: Reconjuring the Muse: Memory Through the Machine

  Women in Black, Buffalo
  by Vincenzo Mistretta

  I live and work as a film-maker in Buffalo, NY. On September 11th 2001 I had just returned from New York City, where I   had been sight-seeing with a friend from Italy. I witnessed the media event of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the   Pentagon from my living room sofa in Buffalo,NY. As the towers fell I thought myself lucky to be safe at home after being   on top of the Twin Towers two days earlier. Soon after that initial reaction I thought of the dire consequences that would no   doubt follow based on the US Government’s “eye for an eye” policy in the past. People around me and on the mainstream   media were shocked and surprised. The prevalent question was “why” did this happen?

  After September 11, 2001 the US government began implementing its policy against “terrorism” in order to protect the   “Homeland”. Congress passed the Patriot Act and set it in motion. Many people were scared enough to relinquish their civil   liberties in favor of taking action for their “protection”. Others, like myself, started to feel nervous and hesitant to give so   much un-reined power to an administration that had already, before September 11th, undone some of the small   accomplishments attained in such issues as worker's rights, the environment, and international peace (treaties).

  In October 2001 there was a series of bi-weekly meetings at Rust Belt Books, a local used book store in the city of Buffalo.   People met to discuss taking actions of dissent against a policy of war waged by the US Government in an atmosphere of   fear. Many felt vulnerable to possible violent attacks and afraid of their own government’s response. I decided to attend the   meetings in the hope of finding some sense of discourse to oppose the onslaught of patriotic slogans from the mainstream   media. The meetings were an opportunity for like-minded individuals to share their apprehensions.

  The Associate Director of the Gender Institute at the University at Buffalo, Patricia Shelly, attended the meetings and   suggested that we start a branch of a woman-focused group called Women In Black. She told us the history of the group in   Israel and, subsequently, the rest of the world. Men were also encouraged to join, so I did. This was a Thursday evening   and by Saturday, October 14th 2001, the first Women In Black vigil for peace in Buffalo began. We chose to stand on the   corner of Elmwood Avenue at Bidwell Parkway for one hour from noon until one.  That corner is across from a farmer's   market during the spring, summer, and fall, and is also a high traffic area. There is a small park and lots of cafés, restaurants   and shops, so we are visible to pedestrian as well as to automobile traffic.

  Over 30 people showed up that first day, mostly women and a few men. Since then, we've met every Saturday for over two   years.  Our intention is to be a public presence for peace and human rights, and for the right to dissent in a
  so-called-democracy. We have numbered up to 120 people, and we average between 30 to 40 each week.

  History of Women in Black

  Women in Black is an international peace network, not an organization, but a means of mobilization for action. The   International movement of Women in Black started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel’s Occupation of the   West Bank and Gaza, one month after the first Palestinian intifada. They stand in silence once a week dressed in black and   holding signs that read “Stop the Occupation”. By word of mouth this type of protest spread throughout Israel and within a   few months Women in Black vigils were held in 40 towns.

  In the late 1980's a group of Italian women visited Israel and the occupied territories and then returned to start their own   vigil, Donne in Nero, which then spread throughout Italy. Soon vigils spread to different countries in support of Women in   Black in Israel. Women in Black is now a worldwide network of women of all nationalities who hold vigils to oppose not   only war, but violence and human rights abuses in their part of the world.

o In Italy, WiB highlight problems, including Mafia violence.
o In Germany, WiB have protested against neo-Nazism and nuclear arms.
o In former Yugoslavia, WiB set a rare example of inter-ethnic cooperation.
o In Australia, WiB have held vigils drawing attention to domestic violence.
o In the US, WiB are calling for 'justice not vengeance' after September 11, 2001.

  Women in Black is not the first group of women to hold a silent vigil as protest. Movements such as the Black Sash
  anti-apartheid protesters in South Africa, and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, who sought answers about those who   disappeared during the dictatorship of the 1970's and 1980's in Argentina, were predecessors to this form of protest. There   have also been other groups of women resisting injustice and war, such as The Women’s International League for Peace   and Freedom formed in 1918, and the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp which opposed nuclear missiles in the   1980's.

  Each Women in Black group is autonomous. What we share is a commitment to non-violence and the particular means of   protest: silent vigils, dressed in black. There is no central organization or funding.

  Women in Black in Israel was awarded the Aachen Peace Prize (1991) and the Jewish Peace Fellowship's "Peacemaker   Award" (2001). In 2001, the international movement of Women in Black was honored with the Millennium Peace Prize for   Women, awarded by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Moreover, Women in Black was   nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 .

  Documenting Women in Black

  By talking to many of the people who come to the vigils I find that there are some common reasons for participating in WiB.   Reasons which I also share. The non-hierarchal structure of WiB is an inviting element. It is a spontaneous gathering of   people who feel the need to make a statement in their community in order to ensure a continuous physical presence, and to   show that dissent is still possible in the United States. As a woman-centered group there are many aspects of its style that   reference feminist theory, such as language. The feminist theorist Luce Irigaray examines how Language gives value to a   male perspective, and how the female view stands as mere opposition. A non-patriarchal, organic, and impartial group like   WiB offers an alternative to the male dominant voice. WiB succeeds in neutralizing a phalocentric language by exercising   silence as their mode of communication.

  Traditionally a silent vigil is not considered an active form of protest. Silence, however, can be a form of action when it is   done by choice. Participants in WiB have a profound impact on the community by utilizing their bodies as vehicles of   protest. The reactions from the passing public verifies our impact, with both positive and negative responses. I am always   astonished by the violent negative comments that a group of people standing silently in a peaceful vigil can instigate.

  When the prospect of starting WiB was discussed at Rust Belt Books, some of the people who agreed to participate were   concerned about the possible public backlash against such a protest. The times were such that people thought twice before   taking a position of dissent against a government preoccupied with defending itself from terrorist acts. Many people at the   meeting suggested that a video camera should be present to record any act of aggression that might arise. We felt that the   presence of the camera might even deter violence. Since I have access to a camera I offered to bring one every week.

  After a few months of just recording the Wib members standing in silence holding their signs, as well as the occasional   passerby yelling negative remarks such as “Go back to Canada!”, I decided to make a documentary video of our group. I   began to interview people. I chose to ask one question only to the participants of WiB. That question was, “Why do you   come to Women In Black?”. I also interviewed people passing by and asked them “What do you think of the peace   group?”. I wanted to keep the questions general so that the answers could be open to the interpretation of their experience.   I started gathering footage and after two years I made this video.

  Something that fascinated me while making this video, and still does, is how the camera plays two roles: one as instrument   for protection and the other as apparatus for documentation. This idea of a video camera as protection is not new, but it was   my first experience with it. When video cameras became more portable, they became more present in protests and   demonstrations as an eye for documentation, or video as witness. An example is the WTO demonstrations where the   camera is witness to the military tactics of the police. Another use of video is as accuser; for example, the Race Riots in Los   Angeles in 1992 where video was used in court to incriminate individuals. Video also has played a role as an instigator of   violence. The aggressive party often stages violent events for the camera to show their dominance and control of the   situation. In Women In Black the camera acts as a deterrent to violence and as guardian. We brought the camera in the   hopes of preventing physical violence. This does not completely deter violent verbal responses but on some occasions it has   done so. A good example happened a few months ago; a person driving by in his SUV slowed down and started shouting   insults at the group. I placed myself in a visible spot and pointed the camera at him. As soon as he saw me videotaping he   stopped his remarks.

  The camera is also used as a tool for intimidation. On one occasion, a man came with a camera claiming to be with the FBI   and took pictures of everyone in the vigil. Another day a man came to the vigil with a digital still camera and began to take   pictures saying he had the government’s permission. He tried to intimidate us with sarcastic remarks and taking pictures even   though some people asked him not to. On this occasion I placed myself and my video camera in his way and pointed the   lens of intrusion back upon him. What ensued afterwards was a dance of two cameras in opposition, each trying to control   the others gaze.

  In her article “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey first coins the term “gaze” as assigned to a gendered   point of view: “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and   passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly”. In the   two incidents of harassment with a camera, the photographers tried to impose the dominant order of the male gaze and   reduce the, mostly women, WiB group to mere spectacle.

  The nature of Wib is also threatening in a society in which the mode of control has become intricately interwoven with its   economic system. David Lyon, in Big Brother to Electronic Panopticon, asserts, “A perfectly plausible view is that in   contemporary conditions consumerism acts in its own right as a significant means of maintaining social order, leaving older   forms of surveillance and control to cope with the non-consuming residue.” WiB projects an alternative method of   communication, one that is anti-dominant and yet accessible to everyone. Standing in a silent vigil, as stated by many of the   women I interviewed, is an empowering act. This non-hierarchal and anti-authoritarian spontaneous gathering of the   community is one of WIB's most important contributions to the public. WIB vigils stand in conflict with consumerism by   making silence an instrument for protest, and by making that statement visible with their physical presence in the community.

  Yet the silent vigils of Wib are far from being silent. We are a formidable presence contrasting with the daily exposure to   jingoistic mainstream jargon. In Wib there is no hierarchal structure. The members are equal and everyone’s voice counts.   The motivation to act is spontaneous and it comes from the people. There is no special interest party dictating to the   participants how to behave.

  Everyone who comes to Wib has their own reasons. They all hold signs that project their opinions. Some want US troops in   Iraq to come home. Some ask for peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Many criticize US foreign policy. All want an   uncompromising commitment to justice and a world free of violence.

 

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