UNDERGRADUATE

seems to depend on the rhetoric that “Flower Child" has
established to civically perform on its own.
Nearly forty years later two photographs were taken that
each depict a woman placing flowers in police officers’
shields outside of Kiev, Ukraine’s presidential office. 3 We
notice an obvious difference in these images from “Flower
Child at the Pentagon": they are in color. In the first photo,
a blond-haired woman seems to be smiling as her she puts
a bright, coral colored carnation in the openings of a shield.
The other vibrant colors in the photograph come from
the woman’s pink scarf, a large yellow ribbon tied around
her wrist, and three stickers that are on the low wall that
separates the soldiers from the rioters. The lively colors all
come from the side of the wall that protests, that is against
what is going on behind the shields. The men and women
behind the wall are just barely visible above their shields.
All we see of them are black helmets, which have a clear
cover that extends over their eyes. Similar to “Flower Child
at the Pentagon", the military personnel clump together
by means of their anonymous foreboding attire. However,
the soldiers are no longer on the offense pointing rifles
and bayonets at the onlookers. They are now only visible
on the defense. It was important in “Flower Child at the
Pentagon" and Flower Power for the protesters to use
peaceful means to communicate their message promoting
peace and to abort the Vietnam War. In Ukraine, the values
are different. Many Ukrainians suspected the election was
unfair because of voter intimidation and electoral fraud.
Leonid Kuchma supposedly won the election, despite
overwhelmingly popular support of Viktor Yushchenko. In
protest, citizens wore the color of Yuschenko’s campaign,
orange, and flooded Ukraine’s capital Kiev. The protesters
are not present because they want peace, but because they
want justice. Perhaps this is the most important historical
different between these photographs of the Orange
3 The first picture can be viewed here:
http://mostepicstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/16-Ukranian-
Women-Placing-Flowers-In-Police-Shields.jpg.
The second can be viewed here: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.
com/736x/cf/f5/2e/cff52ebd7c52ebddbd8738a3bd8933d6.jpg.
Revolution and those taken at the March on the Pentagon.
In “Flower Child at the Pentagon", there was a war that
protesters wanted to stop. In this photo, there would not
have been a crisis had citizens not acted in response to the
election. Interestingly, the more recent photos demonstrate
citizens taking a more active role in civic engagement.
We might even go so far as to wonder if “Flower Child
at the Pentagon" validated young people’s feelings and
encouraged them be more involved in their communities.
In the second photograph taken nearly the same time
and space, a woman dressed in a black coat strains to
reach over the low wall and place the carnations, perhaps
slightly pinker than the previous, in the soldiers’ shields.
She holds two flowers in her left hand, while the right hand
shares another. Similar to “Flower Child at the Pentagon",
the shields stretch into the background, seeming to go
on forever. The men still wear their black helmets and
clear shields, but their faces are barely recognizable.
Now we see a mass of ominous black helmets behind
the front row of shielded soldiers, where before we only
saw the front line. Again, all of the vibrant colors are
on the right, behind or on the woman: the flowers, an
orange stripe on her hat, other yellow flowers in the
background, some orange-yellow ponchos that other
onlookers wear. Both of these women are on the right of
the photograph, flowers in hand, facing a line of armed
uniformed military, as in “Flower Child". The question
remains: why are these people sharing flowers with the
force who is blocking them from intervening? Why does
this type of image keep reappearing? There is a perceived
helplessness embodied and felt by citizens on the right
of each of these images. However, these pictures validate
their actions and this kind of peaceful response. Kasmir
reflected the values of the flower power counterculture
she was a part of, promoting peace in spite of a war. These
women face shields, not bayonets. Are they the threat?
The relationship between the left and right halves of the
photographs is perhaps not as deceivingly simple here.
We cannot identify the offense and defense, the right and
wrong, the innocents and threats. Yet, it is still women
150 CREATING KNOWLEDGE