Ferguson’s radical knitters: “If someone asks me what I’m doing, I say, ‘I’m knitting for black liberation”

madamehardy:

Knitting for justice – no, really.

When I saw the front-page headline I had an immediate burst of OHMYGOD, assuming it was well-meaning outsiders making sweaters for oppressed people, or something.  

Nope.  It’s local activists, who have been there from the beginning, knitting as a comfort activity, a space for activists to gather, and a way to open conversation with outsiders.  It’s organic, and it comes from the people who have a stake in the game.   Awesome.

The women who participate in the Yarn Mission view it as a form of activism, but it is one that helps relieve stress. They cannot escape structural racism, but coming together to knit offers solace in a community exhausted by police brutality.

…

“Knitting can help you feel productive,” she adds. “When so much of what we do as activists is pursuing social and racial justice, it’s easy to feel like we’re not accomplishing anything. For me, the feeling that I’m finishing something is really critical.”

Ferguson’s radical knitters: “If someone asks me what I’m doing, I say, ‘I’m knitting for black liberation”