(Pic of Dipstick with her friend Jo Jo on The Great Peace March in 1986)Congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I was excited to learn Al won for his ground-saving work on global warming. But here's something I bet you didn't know. Dipstick was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Seriously.
Back in 1986, when I was but a tiny baby dyke, I walked across America in The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. About 1200 of us headed out from Los Angeles, CA on March 1, 1986 enroute to Washington, DC. Along the way, we walked and talked with everyone we met about world peace and the nuclear arms race.
I was part of a small subgroup called the Women's Collective, which worked within the community to talk about connection of feminism and peace. Yes, it was the 80s. I'm sure if we were marching now, there would be an LGBT collective.
As part of that group, we organized something called "Marcher in the Home," where we would hook up and stay with people in the communities that we walked through. I helped organize homestays for lesbians with lesbians all across America. Which was awesome because we got to meet amazing women doing great work in their own communities, plus take hot showers. Most days we walked 15-20 miles and bedded down in our tents in a farmers field.
Anyway, we made it to Washington, DC on November 15th, 1986 after walking through California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and finally into Washington, DC for a huge rally at the Capitol.
The Great Peace March was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Alas, we didn't win. Elie Wiesel won for his great work about the Holocaust. But yes, we were nominated.
Take a listen to some of the amazing music created by Wild Wimmin for Peace a band of powerful and talented female marchers.
In honor of Dipstick and Al Gore, do something to make the world a more peaceful place today.
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