Elgin Community College (ECC) will be host to The Long Red Line, a community effort to support One Billion Rising, a global movement to end rape, violence, and oppression against women, Wednesday, Feb. 14. The annual event will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Building B Jobe Lounge. The accompanying art exhibit opening and reception will take place Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. starting in the Building C Library Gallery. Both events will take place at 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Admission is free and open to the public.
Now in its sixth year, The Long Red Line is a visual demonstration of solidarity where community members are invited to bring a red scarf or piece of fabric that will be held together by participants and form one long, red line. Many have been creating scarlet scarves for The Long Red Line since Fall 2013. Vicki Rae Harder-Thorne, The Long Red Line committee chair, event speaker and survivor, brought the idea to the Elgin committee with the notion that scarves tend to represent self-restriction and silence, but when held together can symbolize freedom and community members’ connection to one another. The color red was chosen because of its association with blood, vitality, passion, courage, sexuality, and aggression. “I’ve personally found that publicly sharing my story of survival has been powerful in breaking the chain of shame and guilt; helping recover dignity, courage and value as a human being, and giving hope to others who may still suffer in silence,” said Harder-Thorne.
Approximately 350 individuals attended last year’s event. In addition to the forming of the long red line, this year’s event will feature guest speakers: Maureen Manning, director of client services at the Community Crisis Center in Elgin; Vicki Rae Harder-Thorne, survivor, vocal advocate, founding member and current chair of Elgin’s One Billion Rising event; Jeff Swoboda, Elgin Police Department chief; Elisa Lara, community outreach nurse coordinator at the Visiting Nurse Association of Elgin; Shla George, ECC student, a published poet and performer; Traci O’Neal Ellis, executive director of human resources at the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, School District U-46 board member, and 2018 recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award from the city government of Elgin Human Relations Commission; Katie Shaw Thompson, pastor of the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren; and Denise Tracy, Elgin Police Department chaplain.
— Vicki Rae Harder-Thorne
chair, The Long Red Line
