I was on the front lines, with camera in hand as part of the Philly IMC. I stood and watched so many people take to the streets with their signs and their causes protesting for the things they believe in. Looking back now it was an amazing experience. Sadly though, many of these causes were completely ignored by the mass media.

When I returned home (60 miles from Philly) and started talking to people about the protests. Many of them had no clue what the people in the streets were doing. Many of them just thought they were a bunch of kids who had nothing better to do other then break things and disrupt traffic. The major media had done an amazing job of reporting about "protesters" but not about their causes. They reported "violence" and "Clashes with police" but they never bothered mention the thousands of people who sat and protested peacefully. The end result is that much of what we were fighting for in the streets of Philadelphia has been discredited or watered down.

YOU CAN"T LET THIS HAPPEN IN LA!

When your out on those streets protesting for your cause make sure the media knows exactly why you are there. Hand out flyers with your motives, Talk directly to reporters (be clear and concise with them so they cannot mess up your views), and most importantly avoid violence. In Philly, the media used any property damage to discredit the protestors as vandals. Although kicking in the windows of some police cruiser seems like a strong message it will only be turned against you by the big media machine.

I don't think I can stress enough how important this is. These protests have the possibility of waking a lot of people up and maybe help make this world a better place. If people come up to you and say all your doing is blocking traffic and breaking laws remind them that the people who contributed to the Boston Tea Party were technically breaking the law, but we now hold them up as "heroes of the revolution". Remind them that our government is doing the same things now that caused the tea party. (The media also seems to forget all about the civil rights and anti-vietnam movements of the 60's. Be sure to ask them why they think this is any different from those movements)

Let the Nintendo Generation take control!

We are all members of a very electronically inclined generation. The protestors in the 60's never had the media outlets that we do. Please use all of them to your advantage. Contributing to websites like this will help even out the news that hits the streets. But don't stop there. Create your own websites, email local newspapers and radio stations, print up flyers and photocopy them. The media is yours so make the best of it.

I'm hoping once the general public gets a one two punch of two well organized protests within weeks of each other they may start wondering about whats going on.

and in closing....

One chant I heard in Philly was, "The whole world is watching". The protestors chanted this as they were surrounded by cops (to remind the officers of the huge media presence so that they wouldn't start pummeling protestors). I feel that the message, "The whole world is watching" is something the you the protestor should remember every second you are in those streets. Your actions in the streets of LA will be watched by millions. Make sure you message is heard loud and clear and from every possible angle.

Protest with your mind and body and not with your fists.

Good Luck