Sidewalk Intactivism

To the right is a photo of the sidewalk across the street from my house.  It's heavily trafficed with people walking to and from the bus stop on the corner as well as cyclist, dog-walkers, and joggers going to and from the park.

Let's face it, people are curious...even nosy.  We see something written in brightly colored chalk at our feet?  We'll read it.  In the days following I would watch as people would slow down, perhaps pause, and even back up just to read what was written.  And you know something talking about babies dying would get their attention!

So, grab your kid's sidewalk chalk and pick a nice public walkway to spread the message!

A few tips -

• Wet chalk or chalk on a wet surface is not only easier to work with, but also lasts longer and shows up better.  Just dip chalk in a cup of warm water for a few seconds before you start writing and dip again as needed.
• Another option is sidewalk chalk paint.  It's cheap and easy to make (out of cornstarch, of all things!) and lets you write on rough patches of sidewalk more easily than with sticks of chalk.

I find that shorter messages work best for this (let's face it, getting down on your hands and knees to write out a long message is hard work...and I've got small children so my time is limited)  Here are some ideas:


"More than 117 babies DIE each year in the US from circumcision"
"HIS body.  HIS choice!"
"Whose body?  Whose rights?"
"Female circumcision = MUTILATION 
Male circumcision = okay?"
"His penis?  HIS decision!"
"Bring your WHOLE baby home!"

And of course I like to leave a link to more information....my link of choice being WHOLEnetwork.org.  :)