They Have Guns, We Have Flowers and Candles
Trinidad and Tobago has long been plagued by violent crime and sexual violence against women. As a woman living in Trinidad, you are constantly left with a feeling of powerlessness whenever you hear of the murder of fellow women at the hands of men who never face accountability for their actions thanks to a broken “justice” system that never seems to change.
Recently, the country was rocked by the kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt, which came so shortly after the death of Ashanti Riley — another young woman who suffered a similar fate. Both young women had boarded taxis and were never seen alive again. Following the confirmation of Bharatt’s murder, rather than continuing to live life in quiet resignation, Trinidadians were galvanized into action.
There were protests in the nation’s capital as citizens called for legislative changes to make rape a non-bailable offence, make the public transport system safer, and to legalize the use of pepper spray for women to be able to defend themselves against attackers. There were hundreds of candlelight vigils held across the country by citizens uniting to pay their respects to the hundreds of women who have lost their life to senseless violence and sexual assault over the years.
Some are tempted to fall into the cynical trap of believing that protests and vigils won’t make a difference. Violence can’t be stopped merely by lighting candles and there will be no meaningful change coming out of it, so why bother? What difference does it make?
When people can collectively come together after a tragic incident to show solidarity and support — whether through a protest, a vigil or even just a social media post — it makes all the difference.
Violence itself stems from the irrational, reptilian part of the brain. The bully doesn’t fight because he wants to win; he fights because he wants a world in which everything is resolved by fighting. It doesn’t matter if he loses — the moment you choose to fight, his side already won, and the world becomes more like the world he wants to live in. Fighting divisive hate with more divisive hate won’t make the world a more peaceful place. Neither will apathy. But coming together to share in the solemn loss is encouraging to people who feel like they are alone in this battle. It takes the thinking part — the human part — of the brain to do the quiet reflection and coming together after tragedy has struck.
It’s heart-warming to witness so many people in the country uniting to reflect, show solidarity, and demand change. Even the smallest act towards unity shows that despite all of the bad, people will still choose connectedness. Ultimately, in times of great grief, we choose not to be separate individuals, but to come together as one.
After the 2015 Paris Attack, an interview with a French man and his young son at a vigil went viral for its small, but impactful, message. When the young boy starts telling the interviewer than he is scared because there are “bad people” in France and they have guns, the father responds by telling him that “it’s okay, they might have guns but we have flowers”. The little boy is visibly confused. He tells his father that flowers don’t do anything, but his father tells him to look at all the people laying flowers to fight against the guns, and lighting candles to honour the dead. The boy then concludes that “the flowers and the candles are here to protect us”.
There will always be evil in the world, but as long as people can continue to unite and let good will prevail, the evil in this world can never win. They might have guns, but we have flowers and candles.
