Day 1
Mouths Wide Open's first day in Union Square -- 12-2 and
4-6 went smoothly. We handed out information flyers with
the numbers of Iraqi dead and we read one name per minute
for the four hours. Many people who stood silently and looked
at our display with some photos of the dead (from Dahr Jamail's
website.) The pictures were laid lovingly on a muslin sheet
with rose petals and a dirt circle. Every minute we read
a name, with age and cause of death, with bells accompanying
it. Several people accepted the offer to put rose petals
on the cloth as they offered thoughts to the dead. We had
some beautiful responses: an Afghani man who sat for awhile
and then said thank you so much for doing this. Several
park cleaners from West Africa wanted flyers and to hear
about what we were doing. There was a large confluence of
cops at Union Square, but the one that came up to me early
on stood with me for awhile and offered the comment at how
lamentable it all was, and made no move to interrupt our
work. Of course, many people walked by quickly with cell
phones and didn’t/wouldn’t look -- but that
level of unconsciousness is exactly the reason for which
we were doing this action!
Day 2,3 4
Mouths Wide Open continued our 16 1/2 hour bell ringing
of 1,000 names in Union Square in 2 two-hour shifts Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. There was a mean pelting rain the
second day and it was very cold, but we stood with umbrellas
and felt it was important to keep going. Be and I were the
constant representatives of our group and formed the 2-pronged
core energy -- Be standing still, ringing the first bell
and in a strong clear voice, intoning: ”We honor and
grieve for…” out into the cold air and bustling
square: and then reading a name of an Iraqi civilian, with
their age and cause of death. I stood on the side and sent
my thoughts to those dead, but also walked around and interceded
with the public -- I told them what we were doing, invited
them to take a flyer with information re the mortality studies,
and brought many people close up to the muslin cloth to
take some petals from the basket and scatter them over the
pictures of dead Iraqis with me.
Other members of our group joined us at every session, so
the bells were amplified and our presence was compounded:
Be’s sister Sally, Rory, Mitzi, Puy, Noni (and Oliver),
Steve, Kevin, Kristin, Fred, and Barbara were wonderful
additions. We all shared a feeling of grief and determination
during the cold weather to offer a witness. Standing through
the reading of each name and living through a minute thinking
of that person had a cumulative and visceral effect on each
of us; at the end of every session there were another 120
names on our hearts.
Many people stopped. Both Middle Eastern and American people
thanked us for doing it. Many expressed gratitude for being
offered a way to show their concern. Some people stayed
listening for several minutes with bowed heads looking at
the photos of the dead we had on the muslin cloth. Many
responded to taking a handful of rose petals from the baskets
we had to scatter on the photos. I have pictures still in
my mind of many big young men I encountered in their loosely
hung coats and their youthful swaggers. When I told what
we were doing and invited to scatter some rose petals, I
was amazed how many of them agreed and did so with deep
respect and compassion. One day a woman came up to the cloth
and stayed for about 20 minutes. Without asking, she started
signing each name as Be spoke it and the gestures for each
cause of death made the image far more graphic. The Union
Square Park cleaning crew, who had been intrigued the first
day, grew more supportive. A few of the crew offered to
clean up for us -- the petals kept blowing off the cloth
during the strong winds. Another crewmember embraced us
on the final day and said he was in solidarity with us and
with the call for compassion. Of course many people were
dashing by on their lunch hour or had appointments and kept
talking on their cell phone -- my favorite was the woman
who told me she had “pledged” that morning,
mistaking my proffered flyer for a solicitation.
We had only two real hostile reactions -- one was a guy
who hung around for quite awhile, applauding loudly each
death and said he was “glad we racked up another one
for the good old USA -- the greatest country in the world”.
I was taxed to find a way to engage with him and not have
our solemn ceremony jeopardized. Even in this case, though,
we were supported. A fellow who had stopped by in the days
before came back and stood between the jeering guy and me
and told me just to ignore him. After a certain period he
had to leave, and I was sorry to lose my buffer. Soon after
another man sidled up and in a very disarming way he engaged
with the ranting guy. He was very unassuming and almost
to agree with him to some degree. Every once in a while
he slipped in his own points about how, after all, Iraq
didn’t have WMD after all etc and slowly drew the
guy away. I only just caught his eye to thank him, and he
winked back. We continued on with our names.
It was clear to us though that the bell ringing experience
was not linked to people’s approval or disapproval.
We loved those who joined us and could feel that the energy
was amplified as it was being sent out. But the most fundamental
part of the event was the actual saying of the names. Even
if no one else had heard us we could at least say them out
loud and send our sorrow through the air to them and their
family.
On the last shift Cathy from VITW came by and asked us to
read some names of academics she had been sent after she
had completed her bell ringing. We were honored to pronounce
their names, and their field of study and position. We experienced
another sense of loss as we read these names -- and because
we knew what they did, we felt the additional loss of their
gifts to the country. In the moment between each name, I
felt the weight of all the years of study that each person
had made, all the thought they had developed and then passed
along, and of the collective loss of their contribution
to Iraqi society.
Be’s lovely elegy captures our feeling of the event:
“I hold in my hand the list of 3,000 names out of
the 30 to 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths we ring the bell
sisters and friends in shame for our country’s battle
cry of freedom in the name of Nur the light Al Haqq the
truth I pronounce the names of 29 members of Metaq Aliâ‘s
family 8 25 46 81 6 months 9 months killed in an aircraft
attack 7 year old girl Zhra Talad Kder Hmod shard from her
home through her heart school boys and professors scientists
and engineers 9 16 42 68 Hdea the guide burned to death
Rashid the teacher Karim the generous died in their homes
on their streets at work 64 38 77 flower petals and stones
returning to the earth we speak your name your age our names
our ages 53 55 59 26 in remembrance Ar Rahman Ar Rahim merciful
and compassionate in the cold and wind and rain we mourn
for those dying in the desert 13 17 67 Basirah sees with
the eye of the heart Khabir Shakur the thankful the aware
Gbar 5 year old boy 2 3 1 and a half killed by a bomb a
missile a rocket Fatma the wife 19 36 72 shot to death we
honor and grieve for Alea Abra Kata a 23 year old Iraqi
woman killed in a tank attack I ring the bell and pronounce
your name Jawad Kathom Faris Hussen Al-Aane 33 year old
Iraqi man killed by shrapnel Issa Maryam Yosef Musa Abrahem
Mohammed shapers of beauty parents and prophets 12 29 87
Shahid the witness Hakim the wise Ghafur the forgiver for
16 and a half hours we ring the bells and call your names.”
Mouths Wide Open was very happy to have the chance to do
the bell ringing and express the personal dimension of these
terrible losses. Thank you to all who participated. We send
our wish for peace to the souls of the dead.
Merry Conway and Be LaRoe
for Mouths Wide Open
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