![](https://trudiyoungtaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/handbag-2.jpeg)
by Susanna Arwin
In 1985, Danuta Danielsson, child of a concentration camp survivor, swung her handbag at a member of the Nordic Reich Party parading through Sweden. Hans Runesson captured the iconic moment in his photograph, “The Woman with the Handbag.”
![](https://trudiyoungtaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/handbag.jpg)
After the photograph’s publication, Ms. Danielsson, afraid of Neo-Nazi reprisals, sought anonymity, but two years later, she committed suicide.
The repercussions of violence and hatred never stop with one generation.
A statue of Ms.Danielsson was commissioned and prompted dialogue over the use of violence in protest. Susanna Arwin, the sculptor, called Ms. Danielsson “more like a symbol of anti-violence and a feeling of ‘enough is enough.’
I agree with the sculptor and applaud Ms. Danielsson. Not her violence, although I understand it. Daily, I feel her anger and fear, living in Texas. Home of Ted Cruz, unhinged crazies who tell me I’ll go to hell for being a ‘non-believer,’ and elected officials who supported overturning democracy by storming the Capitol.
(If you have old handbags, get them out. I’ll talk about what we can do with them next post.)