Patch suggested by Hannah and designed and sewn by Margaret Guccione, librarian at Goucher College; writing by Margaret

I’m a librarian and I reject the notion of censorship on any level, but when it’s imposed in connection with the abridgement of basic human rights, it’s especially abhorrent, intended as it is to subjugate a people and break their spirits. So when Hannah was telling me about several ideas for quilt squares, I was most intrigued by the idea of depicting the creative ways that women communicated and distributed censored information through the exchange of food in the marketplace. I’d never heard about how flyers would be baked into loaves of bread, or hidden in egg crates headed for the markets. I’m sure that men were resisting in important ways, too, but women were the ones who sold bread and eggs. That connection with keeping a cause alive through the goods that sustain life is really a nice metaphor, besides being good actual strategy. Of course, when you engage in this kind of activity, the risk is real and serious. But I remember conversations I had with the women I knew in Romania about their lives during the Ceaucescu years. They resisted in small ways, in spite of enormous hardships and personal grief, and also real danger, but no one considered herself a heroine. What I found amazing was the personal growth many had achieved in spite of it all, and the absence of bitterness – or the presence of joy – they had been able to sustain in their personal relationships. They had survived. I don’t know if I’d have that kind of courage.

Nothing is black and white, of course. Some people betrayed each other. Some did get overwhelmed, depressed and lost heart. In fighting for a cause, some inflict equal or worse atrocities than the oppressors. There’s social evil of some kind in all places, so sometimes it seems like simple justice can never be a reality. But many continue to persevere and the hope, as I see it, is that young people are paying attention.