(Columbia) April 21, 2005 - A group of
students was targeting the morning commute in
Columbia to protest the recent
statements by Rep. John Graham Altman on
domestic violence.
About a half dozen
showed up. Rebecca Poston is a USC law student
and spearheaded the protest. Her family has
dealt with domestic violence over the years,
"Absolutely, as a child my mother was brutalized
continuously. And Altman's statements that women
should just leave is not really as easy as he
may make it seem. Considering his lack of
experience in the area, I think it's pretty
arrogant of him to make those comments."
The group protested for about two
hours.
Dozens of USC and Columbia
College students also marched to the State House
on Thursday afternoon to protest the
statements.
They came with chants like "Chicks not
chicken" to get their message
across. Frances Nichols was one protestor
wearing one of the anti-domestic violence
shirts, "We're wearing them today to show
support for moms and women that have been abused
dealing with domestic violence right now. We put
a band aid on our head to further annunciate
that point."
And protestors like Melanie Savage want
to motivate change, "Hopefully they'll hear our
cries to amend this bill, fix it and do
something about domestic violence."
Shoeba Hassan also turned out for the
protest, "This is not the 16th century, this is
not communist Russia, this is not communist
China. This is the United States of America, and
we need to stand up for our rights."
So they marched five blocks to the Sate
House. Once there they chanted, spoke, and
hoped someone was listening.
At the protest, Jade Kirkley said to cheers
from the crowd, "We urge you today, members of
the Judiciary Committee, to reconsider the
Criminal Domestic Violence bill and show
Americans that women in South Carolina are more
important than fighting Gamecocks."
While many took to the streets to spread
their message, others reached out for national
support without speaking a word. Dr. Sandra
Frick Helms, for instance, launched an e-mail
campaign, "I watched tv last night at 11
and thought, this is really ridiculous and needs
to go further than Columbia. So I have been
emailing friends."
Dr. Helms says the e-mail is, "Asking people
if they think its worthwhile to protect the
rights of victims of criminal domestic violence,
to send it on to their friends across the
country and round the world."
She hopes they do more than just pass it on,
"I hope that everyone in SC that cares
about this will contact their Representative or
Senator and say this whole thing is ridiculous.
This law is past due and we need to have it."
You can contact the House Judiciary Committee
at (803) 734-3120 during normal business hours.
You can reach Rep. Altman's office at (803)
734-2947 or contact Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter's
office, she's the one who co-sponsored the
original bill and her number is (803)
734-2809.
Reported by Angie
Goff
Posted 1:43pm by BrettWitt
