Out of the Darkness

In 1981, a group of women marched from Cardiff to the Greenham Common RAF base in Newbury to protest the siting of US nuclear missiles on British soil. They formed what became the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp and stayed there for almost twenty years, in what would become the largest, most effective woman-led protest since the Suffrage campaign. Out of the Darkness reunites the women of Greenham to share their recollections of the highs and lows of camp life, explore how they organised, and uncover the non-violent ways they challenged military, police and cultural forces, all in the name of peace. Whether freeing MoD geese or dancing on silos, whether composing songs to put their cases across in court or kissing in the face of advancing police, this is the story of the power of creativity, wit and courage, and the sisterhood the Greenham women created. This book celebrates the Greenham pioneers of peaceful protest and hopes to inspire a new generation of activists.

Auteur

Kate is a freelance writer, researcher and educator. She won The Jerwood Charitable Foundation's Playwright's Award and is Founding Editor of online publication The Heroine Collective.

Texte du rabat

The significance of the Greenham Common Peace Camp is largely overlooked now, but it was one of the longest political demonstrations in history. Established in 1981 when 36 women from Cardiff marched to an RAF base in Berkshire to protest against nuclear weapons it grew exponentially - despite being dismissed as 'an eccentricity' by Thatcher in 1983 it was to last for twenty years. Across those two decades the women of the camp experimented with new ways of living, organising and effecting change, exemplified by the 'Embrace the Base' campaign where 30,000 women were mobilised via chain letter to encircle the base in peaceful protest. The numbers of women, methods and make-up of the camp ebbed and flowed but a singularity of purpose remained. Drawing on a unique collection of interviews, scores of unheard voices are gathered together for the first time in print and interwoven with an exploration of the key elements that shaped the movement. The result is a celebration of the army of women who, in liberating themselves, acted as a catalyst for change across multiple fronts and transformed the nature of protest forever.