After nearly four years of holding Friday afternoon
demonstrations in downtown, Hollister’s homegrown peace movement is
on the move.
Hollister – After nearly four years of holding Friday afternoon demonstrations in downtown, Hollister’s homegrown peace movement is on the move.
Starting Friday, Hollister in Black – a group of approximately 10 people who dress in black and hold silent vigils on the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets – will begin to take their demonstration to other areas throughout the city, according to Franz Schneider, a founder of the group. Schneider said some hope that taking their demonstrations to other locations will invigorate Hollister in Black and provide a broader audience for its pacifist message.
“I think some people in our group think we needed to kick-start ourselves a little bit,” he said. “Because it is getting routine.”
Founded in April, 2002, Hollister in Black seeks to remind people of the innocent victims who are killed and injured in U.S. wars abroad, Schneider said.
“It started back in 2002 as a growing concern that we were having,” Schneider said. “The feeling that, from our government’s point of view, only (U.S.) casualties counted.”
And over the past four years, people have gotten more receptive to the message, Schneider said.
“We are getting a more friendly reception from people who drive by than we did four years ago,” he said.
Schneider said that Hollister in Black is a local off-shoot of Women in Black, which was started in Israel in 1988 to protest the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hollister in Black believes that war – any war – can never end war, but only perpetuate it, Schneider said.
“We’re not just an anti-war-with-Iraq,” he said.
On Friday afternoon, Hollister in Black will be on the corner of Nash and San Benito streets near San Benito High School, according to Schneider. Future locations have yet to be determined, he said.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected].
