Patch of Peace

A little while ago, I discovered Craftivism. I blame Josie Long. That might make me a victim of celebrity endorsement, but it's in a good way. Anyway, here’s a definition,

“Craftivism is a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper & your quest for justice more infinite.” Betsy Greer.
I found the idea exciting. I could do stitching, and be an activist plus I wouldn’t have to get a coach to London, or do any scary marching. It's always good to meditate while the needle flashes.

I decided to make a patch to go towards the globally made And Sew To Bed project, a sort of replica of John Lenon and Yoko Ono’s bed-in on the themes of peace, equality and justice. Follow the link for a beautiful description of it all. Hey, you could make a patch too if you like. STOP PRESS, here's a picture of my patch that Sarah from the Craftivsit Collective took to put on Flickr. Thanks Sarah.

I had a few ideas of what I might stitch. My first thought was to do the slogan from Stonewall’s anti bullying campaign put together by young the LGBT community ‘Some People Are Gay Get Over It’. I have been proud of my daughter H’s strength and dignity as she faced down the bullies in school and on into college.

I also thought about stitching a message in support of people seeking sanctuary. Asylum seekers are an incredibly vulnerable group, increasingly demonised by government and press who seem to think that there should be a cap on compassion. Things are so bad in Coventry that the group I support don't want to be identified, they are just mad keen for a hard boiled egg to keep in a pocket for lunch. Seriously.

I stayed up late one night with peace on my mind, remembering a school friend of my daughter N who had joined the army aged 16 hoping to learn a trade, and who had died in Afghanistan aged 20. I’m not sure that there are words that fit on a seven inch square for that. RIP Guy.

The more I mused, the more ideas for patches I had, but I wasn’t setting out to make a whole quilt. In the end, I went for a quote by William Shakespeare, master of multi layered thinking on the human condition. The passage from Twelfth Night is on his plinth in Leicester square. I like to see it when I’m in London.

'There is no darkness but ignorance.'

In order to make progress in equality, justice and peace, we need to understand people who are different from ourselves. In doing so, we may find common ground, a position of acceptance, or a way to make changes together. When issues are too big, and the world too dark, we may still learn from each-other and strike a little light.

Other links:
Craftivists on Twitter
Craftivist website