The River Diaries

Friday, September 21, 2001

I need to talk again. Wrapped in the nausea of chemotherapy, I must add my voice to all the others who know that now when the government in this country is rushing to the militaristic, nationalistic right, rushing to the collapse of civil liberties, rushing into our own form of religious fundamentalism, now is the time when we must speak and act. As I write, I hear the bloodless voice of Ari Fleischer, the President’s Press Secretary, speaking his uninflected generalities, his no-nonsense presentation of the goverment’s most rigid, non-engaging simplistic text. He is the Orwellian nightmare come to life. I cannot write more now – but for those in New York, every Wednesday, Women in Black stand on the steps of the 42nd Street library, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm – let us build up this vigil until it is a thousand strong.