catching up on some reading today online, checkin' up on the activists who converged on new york city for the republican convention this past week...and once again confirmed my belief that there ain't no power like the power of the people!
even before the convention began, people were actively using their rights to the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly - though it wasn't made easy since the protesters actually weren't allowed to legally protest anywhere! A permit request for a rally in central park was denied 'cause they were worried about the grass getting ruined.
not since the february 15th 2003 peace march (millions and millions on the streets around the world!) have that many people taken to the streets in new york...sunday's march organized by United for Peace and Justice found anywhere between 200,000 - 500,000 folks (of course it depends on who you ask...but the consensus IS '100,000's of thousands') raising their collective voice against the bush administration and it's unfair (to be polite) domestic and foreign policies.
among the other protests to take place in the past week by citizens and groups of all stripes - such as the 'mile long unemployment line' which had thousands of unemployed citizens in a mile long line stretching through new york streets...all of them holding bright pink slips which warned your job could be next! Or the group that repelled down the side of a grand hotel near central park to hang a massive (really huge and couldn't be missed) banner with two giant arrows pointing in opposite directions...one said 'bush'...the other 'truth' - my favorite story of triumph is that of June Brashares, Jodie Evans and the many other Code Pink activists! These women for peace were courageous enough to crash the convention...and bush's speech!
For more information on some of the protests, the 'jail' that was filled with over 1500 protesters, and some lessons learned...I would recommend starting with these two articles, as both of these sites are full of further reading if you're interested:
"Crashing the party was suprisingly easy, activists say"
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0904-02.htm
"First they came for the protesters"
www.alternet.org/rights/19779
And to find out more about the amazing grassroots network of Code Pink, which has chapters all over the states, some in Canada and the UK too, visit their web site www.codepinkalert.org
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