Our Human Rights Group, victims of Government Harassment/Surveillance/Abuse will be joining you at the Jan. 20 Inauguration Day in Washington D.C. All activist groups should be there to have the entire world hear their outrage against the injustices in the United States.
Contact: truthset@hotmail.com
As a child of the '60's I watched nightly both the protests of the peacelovers and the body count rise. Both of these numbers seemed to swell both independantly of each other yet parallel.. They were analogous each other in another key correlation- the people watching this madness unfold on national television every night became anesthetized to both the numbers of dead (unless of course it was Your son, grandson, etc) and to the sight of another screaming horde of the young enveloped in clouds of teargas supplied oh-so-generously by the stormtroopers.
In a visual medium such as television, one green body bag looks the same as every other- as does each throng of a thousand marching hippies with signs. It began to seem as if the stations were simply replaying the news from the night before, the only changing aspect being in location.
The extraordinary became mundane - until Kent State.
As I watched the film clips of the Seattle protests I felt transported back in time. Many survivors of the '60's felt the same. There were two noted differences though between then and now. Then there was a common focus- a laser beam of energy, action and thought directed at a discernable end point. The other difference is that somehow now the stormtroopers are much more frightening in deportment, arms, and strength. It is as if they have been trained for this for years and years in expectation of an eventual rebellion by people who are waking up to the truths of the world. Perhaps they have been.
Unfortunately for the peacelovers, we have not. What we can do at this point is look to the mistakes made- and learn from them. Another mass of screaming protesters will not make a statement on the national conscious. It simply gives the fascists more ammunition to use against us- as they have so many times... and gives the infiltrators an opening, as happened at the RNC.
Many who are holding center stage currently are the ones who years ago began the process leading up to this point in history. Understand that they have decades of experience in handling us. They look at us as children tossing tantrums in the corner. And when we have seemingly disparate issues-we are in several corners, divided; all too predictable in our actions.We need to close these gaps- womens rights, the environment, economic imbalance, sweat shops, race etc. etc. and realize that all of these issues add up to One issue. That issue is the same as the one fought for in the 1960's -
Life vs. Death.
The ones who have orchestrated this coup are Pro-Death.. Let this be our focus:
The Death of democracy, the Death of Freedom. The same bell is being tolled for us all.
That being so- then I propose a March of Mourning- a Funeral dirge.
The protestors in Washington and elsewhere should - EN-MASS - dress in black from head to toe, paint thier faces white in unity, and walk in TOTAL silence -carrying no banners, no posters.. Instead, carry coffins: coffins draped in black cloth bearing one word -DEMOCRACY- in letters as scarlet as the blood of those who have died in defending it.
At the moment of the Coronation of King George the thousands of protestors should - as ONE body- silently turn thier backs on the scene of the crime.
I can think of no stronger visual or visceral impact than this. A silent, unified condemnation that would be utterly horrifying to the Pro-Death people.
This way there can be no infiltration of ranks - there can be no censure by those who would want to call us 'rioters' and 'anarchists'- and no arrests or beatings that 'they' seem to delight in.
And for those watching, an indelible image to contemplate.
here's a site for the protests. There will also be huge demonstrations against the death penalty and in support of freeing Mumia.
http://www.inaugurauction.com
Also check out indybay.org for additional links.