BLACK PROTEST

What do hens and black umbrellas have in common? Both unexpectedly became symbols of the National Women's Strikes that have been taking place in Poland since 2016. "Hen” is an epithet that, thanks to some politicians, many internet users and right-wing journalists, has stuck to women striking in defence of the right to abortion. In Poland, a hen is a contemptuous term for an unemployed housewife who has no opinions or interests. The women's rights organization, instead of fighting this term, turned it into an asset, giving women the slogan "Become a strike hen and hatch the petition" (this term in Polish sounds so much better than in English!).
After the first strikes in 2016 world TV stations and the Internet were full of photos and videos from drones showing thousands of people with black umbrellas flooding Polish squares and streets. Immediately they contributed to calling these events “black protests”, as they are called until today.