Breakaway March at SF Protest Demands Action To Stop The War

on market

Here everyone is doing a dash towards the military recruitment center on embarcadero. Periodically, people in the front of the crowd ran for half a block. The reason that nothing so violent or titillating for the corporate media people occurred was that the timing was all off for reaching the draft center and it had all sorts of scaffolding in front of it.

Anyone know why some of the cops pictured had the stocks and grips of their (what appear to be) shotguns colored lime-green?

I assume that it means that it's not a normal shotgun. The color probably has to do with the type of gun, and in a riot situation, they use tear gass, rubber bullets, batton rounds, or beanbag guns. With all those toys to choose from I bet their toy-chest gets a bit messy, so better to color code em. The caption of the picture says "pellet gun." I've never heard of it, but thankfully i've never had any of them used on me either so I don't know which color does what. Maybe some of the cops who frequently spam our sites could answer this one? :p

peace

That's also not to say that if you know that you're a cop. But the cops who're reading probably know too. ;)

this is a dense group on market. The tactic was to stay spatially close together, maintaining an image contrasting with that of the earlier iac march, then occasionally people towards the front would start to run for a block. Running is a bad tactic in an actual arrest situation, or if police seem to be shouting directions or are there on horses, because panicky behavior in a situation like that can only lead to confusion and disarray and people could be hurt or isolated. It looked cool here though, because the implication is that a bunch of hooded people are about to do something, and the Gap and military recruiters will never be safe.

By the way, sorry for throwing the alignment of this page off with my photo sizing. If any techi knows how to convert these photos back into 480x640 size, please go ahead.
Here is the turn through the narrow financial district streets. The crowd was fairly diverse, including some visible members of the clergy, and people in pacifist hippie garb with signs advocating "smoke pot, not afghanis" and things of this nature. The majority had dark attire on though.

Here is what the Chronicle had to say about this entire group of 500 anarchists running through the financial district. They gave them less space in their article than 'protesters who brought their pet dogs to the march, with cute signs on them'. Which sort of contrasts with the Chronicle's stated editorial policy that they deemphasize mundane protests because they're one-a-day in the Bay area, and they only really give special coverage to protests with novelty or that involve blood - and here this group acted like they were right at the edge of that, but the reporters can't even bother to interview anyone and discover that their vocabulary is entirely mistaken - there is no group called 'direct action'.. I don't know what organization that reporter pictured above is with, but clearly they were there on the scene, yet disappointed that no one marred the recruitment center office or something like this. I know some journalists, and they are always being bugged by people who demand that they write a story a certain way for them, and that's wrong, but here they clearly need to actually step outside of the Chronicle offices and notice what's going on in their city:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/27/MN28617.DTL
"Many marchers posed for pictures in front of the police line, flashing peace signs or flexing their biceps.

Several hundred members of a group called Direct Action surprised police by breaking off from the crowd and heading down the Embarcadero toward the Bay Bridge. They didn't want to be hemmed in by the organized rally, members said.

Meanwhile, a contingent of employees from the Cheeseboard Collective Bakery in Berkeley walked around with baguettes in the shape of peace symbols mounted on wooden poles."

The brightly colored guns mean it shoots rubber bullets instead of the "real bullets".

Aren't rubber bullets just regular rounds coated
with plastic? I've never seen any and are
unfamiliar with them.

What's the deal with the sight failure yesterday?
Also does anybody know why no other IMC sight
(that I've checked) has a latest comments page?
This is a great system (when it works) contributing
to the process.

I guess I wasn't looking, that closely; LA's
got one.

so does Palestine.

The break away protest was wonderful while it lastest. I was really glad to see people are willing to risk their saftey and freedom to stop the war. I almost pussied out and didn't join but I seen kids marching while more and more cops came. Thats the most cops i've ever seen in one place and I was sure and were going to beat and arrest us. I got the balls together and realized it takes a lot more to stop a war than a protest that the cops let u have. I'm glad I joined in and wanted to say to those who joined in to keep fighting and take further steps to end oppression . We need less liberal Democrats begging and more revolutionaries fighting to stop the war. Noone is going to get peace by begging you have to take it.

The break away protest was wonderful while it lastest. I was really glad to see people are willing to risk their saftey and freedom to stop the war. I almost pussied out and didn't join but I seen kids marching while more and more cops came. Thats the most cops i've ever seen in one place and I was sure and were going to beat and arrest us. I got the balls together and realized it takes a lot more to stop a war than a protest that the cops let u have. I'm glad I joined in and wanted to say to those who joined in to keep fighting and take further steps to end oppression . We need less liberal Democrats begging and more revolutionaries fighting to stop the war. Noone is going to get peace by begging you have to take it.

As I read all the postings I thought of something; why we were all there. Don't forget what the reason for the march was. It's really too bad that so many people had to act cool with their masked faces. If you really stand for something you don't hide!!!! Don't give me the crap about the authorities etc. If you exercise your constitutional rights, you don't have to worry (in this country). If you plan on vandalism, then I can see why you would mask up. That is just being a punk though and detracts from the cause.

The break away protest was wonderful while it lastest. I was really glad to see people are willing to risk their saftey and freedom to stop the war. I almost pussied out and didn't join but I seen kids marching while more and more cops came. Thats the most cops i've ever seen in one place and I was sure and were going to beat and arrest us. I got the balls together and realized it takes a lot more to stop a war than a protest that the cops let u have. I'm glad I joined in and wanted to say to those who joined in to keep fighting and take further steps to end oppression . We need less liberal Democrats begging and more revolutionaries fighting to stop the war. Noone is going to get peace by begging you have to take it.

The break away protest was wonderful while it lastest. I was really glad to see people are willing to risk their saftey and freedom to stop the war. I almost pussied out and didn't join but I seen kids marching while more and more cops came. Thats the most cops i've ever seen in one place and I was sure and were going to beat and arrest us. I got the balls together and realized it takes a lot more to stop a war than a protest that the cops let u have. I'm glad I joined in and wanted to say to those who joined in to keep fighting and take further steps to end oppression . We need less liberal Democrats begging and more revolutionaries fighting to stop the war. Noone is going to get peace by begging you have to take it.

is apparently still pre-natal.

You got a right bleat and plead in America.

Go ahead, bleat and plead, Niles, but don't insist that others construe "democratic avenues" as anything but a dead-end street.

Actually democracy isn't such a dead-end street. Democracy and anarchism are virtually indistinguishable. The problem is, what most people call 'democracy' isn't anything even close.
The federal gov't knows this perfectly well. In public they may praise democracy, but behind closed doors, they feel it's subversive and they have no taste for it.
If you're interested in what your politicians *really* think about democracy, check out this little resolution they passed against democracy in the USA (H Con Res 443) dated Dec. 2000

http://forcesct.multiservers.com/sense.html

yeah! exactly.

yeah! exactly.
How can it be democracy if it's not direct???

The US is not a democracy. Never was set up to be that. It's a representative Republic. I like it that way.

That's not it's only problem.

Built by slaves on stolen land, America is a nation of sheep, owned by pigs and ruled by wolves.

And we're supposed to be proud of this, why?

It's not a problem. Democracy sucks. Republics are better.

The rest is an extremist view not held by a majority of the working class or the population as a whole and is therefore not worth considering.

http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/pop.htm

"Democracy sucks ... an extremist view not held by a majority of the working class"

Forgive me if my suspension of disbelief fails me at that particular fantasy.

to Matt-- Or should I say white doorMatt. Your little race-baiting of Nessie doesn't go on unnoticed. How many uhuru losers should up to your "historic" demo. I heard 5 people. Fuckin 5 people!!!!! Fuck couldn't you just pay a couple homeless people a few bucks to stand around with you-- to at least double your pathetic numbers of your pathetic "coalition". The oppressed of the world are very impressed with your efforts on their behalf.

I enjoyed the coverage of the breakaway protest, but please watch the spelling.

dean i don't care if you like me. i don't know nessie or his relationship to indymedia. but my statement was a political struggle of dredging up how great things were in the 60s in contrast to today. he is welcome to respond to it.

i saw you also, yesterday. you were lurking around the sidelines as usual. i was wondering what you were doing there since you hate anything that is affiliated with the uhuru movement. some of the other folks you are attacking by attacking the demo for being small though are starhawk and folks from food not bombs, the barrio defense committee, midnight special and the national lawyers guild.

so why were you there? because you thought it was a valid action and you were waiting for enough people to summon up the courage to join it yourself? or were you just hoping for the worst to come here and be nasty?

-matthew willis

Did you hustle any reparations cash out of the oppressor-nation attendees of your rally Matthew?

I hear Omali desires a new SUV.

I'm sorry dj but a republic would not serve the interests of working people. I advise you to take a look at "The Anarchists and The Spanish Civil War" by Robert Alexander. After you read about the Spanish Civil War go ahead and comment on such issues.

I'm sorry dj but a republic would not serve the interests of working people. I advise you to take a look at "The Anarchists in The Spanish Civil War" by Robert Alexander. After you read about the Spanish Civil War go ahead and comment on such issues.

To Matt and his 5 white-oppressor nation comrades-- Thank You for liberating Market St. for 20 seconds. Your valiant protest was indeed historic. Matt can you send us some reparations money via Omali.
Thanks-- The Oppressed

hey nessie, i shouldn't have been so snippy in response to you earlier. at the time i read your story, i was getting myself psyched up for an act of voluntary arrest myself. so i responded subjectively and full of adreniline reading your diss of peaceful, voluntary cds.

nonetheless i stand the underlying criticism i made. it is lame to raise up badges of honor from the past when you all gave up in the 60s when the movement was crushed through the brutal cointellpro attack on the black panther party which was providing leadership for all types of struggles.

what was i doing in my 21st? not much. reading about the panama invasion that had happened a few years earlier, feeling concerned about the looming iraq massacre and feeling pissed off, and reading about how 25% of black men in DC were in prison.

then iraq jumped off, and i got involved in white left demos in d.c. and nothing happened. then the rodney king rebellions jumped off and i knew i had to find a relationship to the black community. shortly after that i met the uhuru movement. i had a reactionary negative gut response to the idea of reperations, but the more i got into it, the more it made sense and worked for me politically.

i was living with my brother at the time and the first thing i heard from his girlfriend when i mentioned i had met some folks in this group called "uhuru," was that they were a "cult." i asked her to define what that meant and when she couldn't, it led to a verbal dispute. i'm the type of person, when someone tells me not to do someting, or believe something, i end up more questioning the person giving me advice more than the thing i'm being told to aviod.

so thats a short synopsis of my 21st year.

just a short plug.
Some people just cannot participate in civil disobedience, and aren't good with fund raising or meetings, but might like to do something that has critical impact on other people.

The Prison Literature Project is based out of the 'grassroots' house, just a couple doors West of Shattuck and Blake Street in Berkeley. Regular hours for putting together book pckages are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm to about 10pm. They send out hundreds of packages of books to prisoners around the country each month, yet we have to toss lots of letters (usually from the large volume coming from Texas) because we just aren't able to keep up. The San Francisco wing of this group shut down because they lost their space, so that increases the work that the East Bay group has to do. A couple people with PLP are uniquely talented at fundraising via Moe's books and Bound Together Books, so we have postage money (most groups seem to struggle the most in the fundraising area). Bound Together Books founded the project more than 20 years ago. But we aren't keeping up with the flow of letters coming from the 2 million people in prison.
The content of requests for books really varies, but if you read a sampling of letters, it really will really convince you of the critical importance of the project. Prisoners often are stuck in SHU housing units where they are in a cell 23 hrs a day slowly going insane without any productive work to do, and they usually just ask for a dictionary or a guide on how to start their own business when they get out, or books on learning spanish or english. A lot of prisoners ask for ethnicity based literature or things like yoga, art and drawing, creative writing, health or sexuality. Quite a few want political literature, and an impressive number have achieved a level of education that exceeds that of UC Berkeley students, where they name philosophers like Nietzsche or Francis Bacon, or high level literature and poetry.
PLP doesn't have meetings where anything is discussed, and for every hour you put in, probably 10-15 people sitting in a cell are directly affected. If you have a particular type of prisoner you wish to reach, be our guest to come and direct your efforts at letter requests of a certain category.
Books can be donated at Moe's books, and we have shortages of latino, spanish, pagan/celtic, african american, anything legal, textbooks, any good literature, and empowering small business books.
We would like to get caught up by the winter holidays that most prisoners celebrate.

i appreciated the picture being shown of the press guy who was an assole, it is good to know who these folks are so as to not give them the time of day.
we can save our energy for those worthwhile pres...

I'm very pleased you published the photos of the photographer who tried to provoke us. Even he wasn't an agent provocateur for the Feds, he was acting like one for the major media who in reality is the ministry of misinformation for the Government. The major media has the power to raise consciousness--quickly. Instead, as we all know by now, it panders to the corporate dictatorship.

I thank the Goddess for the Internet and the alternative media such as indymedia. With out y'all many of us would be in concentration camps now or worse. Little has changed since the Sixties with the major media. In 1967 I literally walked off a job in San Antonio editing an agri-business magazine because of the publishers printed diatribes against farm workers. I started an underground newspaper in Spanish and English called Inferno. Memos from my FBI files show COINTELPRO set me up to be raped and otherwise tortured while jailed for civil disobedience in Oct. 1968. Now I'm president of Stop Prisoner Rape. We have bipartisan legislation pending in both houses in Washington but George II is holding it up despite the fact his brother Jeb passed a similar bill in Florida last year making that state the first in the country to enact such legislation.

Estos son los tipos que velan por la seguridad??
pues menudos "sobraos", en mi pueblo estos se quedan sin "curro" ya mismo ,que verguenza, dan mas pena que la misma pena...pa cagarse!!!