Prayer Ribbons - Witness Together
The Provincetown Community Compact will launch the documentary “Prayer Ribbons - from Provincetown to Orlando,” by Provincetown filmmaker Lise King on Monday,
December 21, 2020, the winter solstice. The film will be posted at 7:00 pm on The Compact’s Facebook and Youtube platforms. The public is invited to inscribe a Prayer
Ribbon and join the community that honors our connections to loved ones.
The Compact invites the public to Witness Together by sending a special message
to be written on a Prayer Ribbon, honoring a loved one - whether living or departed -
to add to this living memorial. Three thousand five hundred personal messages on five-foot long colored ribbons have been gathered - a testimony of hope and caring, a
singular collective experience.
“The disruptions to our personal, cultural, political, and environmental world in 2020 have reminded us of what’s important - a compassionate community, bringing
diverse voices together, sharing the pain, sharing the joy,” states Compact artist, founder and director Jay Critchley. “In its own enduring way, Prayer Ribbons, conceived
for the Swim for Life in 1993, has created a nurturing, global community,” he added.
The Prayer Ribbons are an historic document of a community that stood up to an unresponsive federal government with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and
created a national model of boots-on-the-ground response, which continues today with Provincetown’s unfaltering response to the current pandemic.
On the shortest and darkest day of the year, the winter solstice, The Compact welcomes the rebirth of the sun and its energy for regeneration, renewal and
self-reflection. We take this moment to recognize the first community, the Wampanoag Nation, People of the First Light, whose ancient lands we inhabit.
The Compact invites all those affected by the dramatic challenges of 2020 to inscribe a ribbon for a loved one lost or someone essential to the safety and well
being of our families and communities. Join us as we witness together the tragedy of COVID and its economic impact, particularly in communities of color. Let us also
honor those individuals and families fighting systemic racism and the violent deaths of family members.
The documentary, Prayer Ribbons, from Provincetown to Orlando, follows the journey of the ribbons to Orlando, Florida where forty-nine people, mostly Latinx were
gunned down at Pulse Nightclub in a wave of gun violence, homophobia and racism. A special strand of Prayer Ribbons honoring these victims in 2016 was created in a
ceremony at Provincetown Town Hall in solidarity with the city and the victims’ families. It was installed outside Orlando City Hall on three anniversaries. The ribbons were
also installed on World AIDS Day at the US Capitol in Washington, DC and at the State House in Boston.
Send a Prayer Ribbon Message
The Compact on Youtube