Postcard from the Past: Rolling Thunder, 2003-2004

Rolling Thunder was a series of coordinated actions inspired by “thunder” in South Africa — protests against apartheid. In 2001, women from South Africa joined Gamaliel’s International Leadership Assembly (ILA) to discuss the “strike a rock” women’s campaign in their country. In the following years, Gamaliel affiliates held coordinated actions across the nation, kicked off by South African delegates to ILA, who presented a Zulu stick to then-Gamaliel President Ann Smith. Every Gamaliel Public Meeting in 2004 had the same theme, banner, logo and took on Civil Rights of Immigrants as a national issue. At every meeting, and the Zulu stick was passed to the president of the local organization.