Post #2: The Clothesline Project

Hello again!


This post brings up a new subject of an event that I'm encouraging all students to attend and educate themselves about ... but first I'm going to try to educate a little on this project and the awareness it raises! This revolutionary project is called: The Clothesline Project.


The Clothesline Project was started after an alarming statistic was brought to the attention of people after the Vietnam War. 51,000 women killed by domestic violence. This newly developed statistic brought new attention to something that was previously overlooked. Rachel Carey-Harper presented the idea of The Clothesline Project and in October of 1990, 31 shirts were displayed in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Rachel originally presented the idea of using shirts because in history woman used hanging laundry as a time to share secrets and exchange information. It was this idea that sparked the idea of using T-shirts on a clothesline as a way for woman to express their pain, share stories and realize they are not alone.

From this history The Clothesline Project was born as a "provocative, in your face educational and healing tool" ("History of the," 2004). Since the first 31 shirts the project has expanded to over 500 national projects and more than 50,000 shirts. The issue of domestic violence becomes clearer with the increasing support and specific focuses on: those who died of violence, battered or assaulted, survivors of rape and sexual assault, incest, attack on sexual orientation or political views. The Clothesline Project is also dedicated to raising awareness and educating men and woman so there is not excuse of why there is increasing numbers of domestic violence.

As awareness raises The Clothesline Project's message is spreading to nation and campus wide events! Like at Minnesota State University where during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in 2009 they displayed shirts, hosted an open mic event and marches across campus to raise awareness (Pilnick, 2009). The successful event encouraged younger woman to take the microphone, share their story, make a shirt and encourage other young woman with similar situations to do the same!

In Building Powerful Community Organizations by Michael Jacoby Brown ... It speaks of the need for reminders of our connections within an organization. This relates to the community intervention of The Clothesline Project because as membership of a community becomes stronger, so does it message. As portrayed with this project the sense of community is everything with raising awareness and making victims feel less like victims and more like survivors.

I encourage all my fellow students to attend an event to raise this same awareness on April 9th!

Together we can build a community where we all support each other :)


If you'd like more information, all of the history of the project and information above can be found at: www.clotheslineproject.org


Until next time ...
x0x0 Lacey





History of the clothesline project. (2004, October 6). Retrieved from http://www.clotheslineproject.org/History.html

Pilnick, L. (2009, April 3). Take back the night. Retrieved from http://www.mnsu.edu/news/read/?id=old-1237840758&paper=wcenter