People march the streets of Carbondale for the Annual Take Back the Night March

A white shirt hung among an array of T-shirts that clung to the clothesline draped across the Town Square Pavilion in Carbondale.

The tees varied in their hues, as well as the amount of sorrow and inspiration they expressed. Despite the great deal of emotion illustrated through each one of these shirts, one stood out.

Perhaps, because it was accompanied by a pair of underwear, torn underwear with imitation blood splashed upon them, and a simple but blunt message:”When you raped ME, this isn’t all you tore.”

This shirt provided just one of many powerful messages given on Oct. 18, as men and women of the area participated in the Take Back the Night March and Rally, a tradition in Carbondale for more than 20 years.

The literal journey of survivors and friends and family of survivors began inside the walls of the Interfaith Center. The building provided the ‘Safe House’ for women preparing to march.

While the women prepared to make their journey from the Interfaith Center to the Town Square, they occupied their time by constructing fans to carry with them as they marched.

It had been drizzling most of the day, and as participants sprinkled little by little into the building, there

was some concern that the rain would affect the turn out.

“More people should come,” said Trisha Beltz, a senior in philosophy from Makanda, as she anxiously awaited the start of her second Take Back The Night March. “This is important to me because I have a few friends that have had experiences with domestic violence.

“I grew up around it and I’m glad I got away. But then again, you never really get away.”

Beltz expressed a desire for the realization that various types of assault and violence exist, aside from the typical depiction of a ‘man hitting his wife’ shown on television.

Pamela Smoot, guest speaker in the Take Back the Night Rally said such information is particularly important for the male population to acknowledge.

“This is a good opportunity for men to become aware of the sexual abuse and violence they may have somehow inflicted and realize they need to be held accountable,” said Smoot, a professor in Black American Studies attending her first Take Back the Night March in Carbondale.

“It’s an opportunity for women across color lines to come together to share their experiences and find avenues in which to vent about abuses they have suffered.”

The scene Smoot and others encountered as they ventured upstairs in the Interfaith Center dashed any fear that the weather would affect this year’s turnout.

Marchers bumped into one another in an attempt to navigate through the large crowd and obtain a candle to carry in the march. Despite the light rain, they were determined to communicate their demands for non-violence.

Most of the prospective marchers were, of course, women. But a few men had ventured to the center to show their support.

“A lot of people misunderstand these situations and feel that the women are to blame,’ said Marty Weltge, a Marion resident who had attended the march six times prior to this year. “This isn’t just a woman’s problem; it’s everyone’s problem and it’s not going to just go away.”

Although Weltge was in the minority, he was not the only man who marched that night.

Some of the men in attendance brought drums that they pounded in perfect rhythm to the chants of their fellow marchers.

“No more rape. No more violence. No more death. No more silence!”

Men and women filtered out of businesses on the Strip to gaze at the more than 100 individuals making their way down the Strip.

Some appeared annoyed by the traffic, but most voiced their praises for marchers.

Some even stopped what they were doing and joined in.

After a short but moving journey, attendants of the march reached their destination of Town Square, where they were met by a number of individuals waiting for the rally.

Although the clothesline project, an assortment of T-shirts made by survivors and friends and family of survivors of sexual assault and violence, was displayed on campus earlier that week, people were still enthralled by how touching many of the shirts were.

There was a faint presence of sorrow in the eyes of Carbondale resident Carrie Atterberry as she studied a yellow tee hanging from the clothesline.

Atterberry, who was attending her first Take Back the Night March, was preparing to celebrate the one-year anniversary of leaving her abuser.

She said that, after six times, she was finally able to leave the man responsible for the mental and physical abuse that eventually resulted in a nervous breakdown.

“A lot of people would say, ‘Why don’t you just leave,’ said Atterberry as she waved a fan with the words ‘Grace Under Pressure,’ glued to it. “But people need to realize that the person has invested time into the relationship.

“Also you endure loneliness. I didn’t have any money. And it’s like a cancerous love. You wish that the other person would just love you back.”

The rally officially began with a message from Women’s Center director Camille Dorris.

“I’m glad to see so many people here tonight,” said Dorris. “It shows that the community is looking at violence and taking the time to help end it.”

The audience participated in a moment of silence for survivors of sexual assault, including the 822 victims of domestic violence that were assisted by the Women Center last year.

The night continued with opportunities for women to express their thoughts and emotions in the form of the ‘drumming circle’ and ‘speak out’ session, both traditional parts of the march.

As attendants of the march, men, women, adults and a few children ventured past the array of colors represented on the clothesline, there was a common hope that future marches will produce a similar turnout.

As everyone filed out of the pavilion to go his or her separate ways, there was a visible excitement about the success of the 2002 Take Back the Night March.

In spite of this excitement, there was also the memory of a statement from Smoot’s speech, and the truth it holds.

“We should not have to take back the night. It should already be ours.”