Reportback from the Sunday Morning Stanford Protest

Reportback from the Sunday Morning Stanford Protest

I was glad to be a part of that small but very *important* protest, made up primarily of students, Veterans for Peace, and a handful of individuals, like myself, who came on our own. Red fliers were handed out as people entered the stadium and a variety of other leaflets were given out.

An important lesson I learned was that when you have a stadium FULL of thousands of relatively intellectual but uninformed people, have a *ton* of handouts - they want to know, they read, and they do care, despite the small number who are rude. *All* the red leaflets were gone by around 9am!

When Condi came on to speak, several students unfurled an anti-war banner and - amazingly - were not stopped when they stood up and walked the length of the stadium with it. We held our red pages up and also stood and walked to the front and marched back and forth in front of the crowd with them. Many students had taped the red fliers to their caps. This was not planned but done spontaeously, and people stood and joined in, although only a small number.

As we walked along, many many people wanted the red papers and asked us if we had more. People afterwards approached us - entire families came up to me! - asking for the red papers. I could only refer them to websites. It was *very* frustrating not to be able to provide people with information.

So I have to ask, where were all the groups who participated in April 20th?? Where was Global Exchange, IAC, ANSWER, Green Party, Peace Action, ISO, (Indymedia even!) and the many many kazillion other Bay Area groups that are critical to educating the public at this important time?? One woman who I joined up with there went through most of her materials, and we’re just individuals (she’s a mother of three on a bike with a cart) who don’t have a lot of resources to put into materials. I kept thinking, if only we had those stacks and stacks of xeroxes I see in the offices of places like GX and IAC . . . all these people would be sitting and reading them while waiting in the endless lines of cars as they leave, or during the boring speakers.

If groups will not attend events because of the possibility of police confrontation, or having an angry parent shake a fist, or the *huge* 45 min drive, or the potentially conservative attitude in Palo Alto, then we’re in bad shape! I’m not saying this to criticize - everyone is doing the best they can and it’s been wonderful - but I’m saying this to light a fire: We need to get more organized in the Bay Area and not so wrapped up in whom is endorsing whom, or which events we know certain other groups are going, or only going to events in Berkeley where everyone knows each other already, or only attending paid speaking events. We need to continue to step just a little further out into the public, further than marching from one permitted park to another permitted park - which is excellent and critical, but should also serve as a jumping off point for more extended and varied actions.

I know what it’s like to get very ‘group-centered’ (meaning so focused on your own group’s issues and plans) and forgetting about what the big picture is: stopping the violent actions of our government.

I was suprised at the number of positive inquiries in what I would imagine is a very conservative area, and people who ‘just wanted to stand and talk,’ and people who ‘feel alone.’ I was also surprised at the police not really stopping the few actions that there were - one person I talked with ignored their orders and they did nothing.

But we need to think about the many lives being lost around the world right now and ask ourselves what our reasons for *not* acting on an opportunity to educate a huge potentially receptive sector of the public, are.

Thanks so much to the Veterans For Peace! KTVU Ch2 interviewed one of them (My apologies to anyone who was there who I thought wasn’t - speak up if you were). To the various people who have complained that the red papers weren’t a real protest - I agree, so please take some action and help out! Things will only change when each one of us takes responsibility for a part.

Please discuss your thoughts on this here . . .