Candles, Support at UW-Milwaukee for Terrorist Attack Victims

The wind and rain didn’t stop people from coming and showing their support although it did stop some people from lighting their candles.

Unable to light their candles, they stood holding hands while the ceremony proceeded.

The event was a joint effort put on by the Student association and the French department as well as various other groups and individuals wanting to hold a vigil. The event was advertised on Facebook and Twitter and also by word of mouth.

There were around 100 people in attendance, mostly students, bundled up and ready to brave the elements in order to show support for the victims.

The attacks being recognized at this vigil were all recent attacks by the terrorist group ISIS such as the plane bombing in Egypt killing 224 passengers, the suicide bombings in Lebanon killing 43 people as well as the bombings and shootings in France killing 129 people.

Sarah Davies Cordova, a French professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, spoke to the mass of attendees huddled together. She spoke in both English and French saying that they “felt the need to be together for comfort.” She wanted there to be an event on campus for the students to come together in solidarity.

The attack on Paris in particular has sparked a world-wide conversation. Many people in the U.S. are showing support for the French by changing their profile pictures of Facebook to the Tricolore (the French flag).  The French attacks have been widely covered, and a lot of Americans are responding with acts of solidarity.

Davies Cordova stressed the importance of supporting and recognizing everybody affected by the recent ISIS attacks, not just the people of Paris. She says the community of Milwaukee has reacted profoundly to stand with the victims but that it was important “to give equal attention to all sides.”

The purpose of the event was to bring into focus the other areas of the world that had been recently affected by these terrorist attacks and to stand up as one to recognize all that were affected.

After the brief speech, everyone in attendance joined hands in a large circle as John Lennon’s Imagine played over the loud speaker, an echo of the performance a pianist did in Paris after the attacks there.

Tabitha Miller, one of the event’s organizers and an international studies major at UWM, said the vigil was put together last minute. She wanted to make sure the university did something to support the victims of the attacks.

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing at all,” Miller said. She wanted there to be an opportunity for students to be able to come together and mourn the loss that they felt after these tragedies. She contacted others to see what was being planned and also helped.

Behind where the crowd stood, were multiple dry erase whiteboards with the quote “Standing in fraternity and solidarity for peace” translated into French, English and Arabic. Attendees were encouraged to write their own messages of solidarity on the boards and they took advantage of that, writing things like “Vive avec amour” which translates to “Live with love.”

-By Hannah Cornish