Anti-War March in San Francisco

These are wonderful pictures which for me document the height of human evolution. Thank you for showing the bravery of those who go forward to speak out about this horrible war, even in the face of likely police suppression. The Bay Area makes me very proud.

It's facinating how some people think if one is against this war they are anti-American and/or pro Hussein.

It was nice to see that 4/12's protest went off without Black Bloc distorting the message.

whether the black bloc tactic should be used in the context of the current anti-war "movement" in the US is certainly debatable. it's about timing, strategy, vision. these things need to be debated. of course, the liberal peaceniks would have you believe that something is going to come out of this march with regards to the international policy of the US government.

i'm afraid that just isn't so. what probably happened is that some non-profit organizations saw their membership increase, maybe got some donations or something, a wide variety of well-intentioned individuals went home thinking that they're part of a movement and that marching some long blocks and listening to identical speakers is how to best participate in that. the government will certainly take notice, send some undercovers out to walk about the crowd and take notes, get some videographers out there to keep tabs on the organizers.

but the government knows that the threats to its power are extraordinarily limited, and that it has trustworthy allies when it comes to the liberal/progressive communities. when demonstrators start doing the job of the police, as has been seen countless times since ms. benjamin of global exchange jumped in front of nike town's window in seattle to prevent a brick from entering (and has happened countless times before all throughout the world), the job of the government is made much easier.

i guess if demonstrators are alright with the "peace" that existed before the "war on terrorism" and the invasion of iraq, then they are little better then the loyal opposition. when the daily poverty faced by millions across the country, including tens of thousands in the bay area that are so easy to only pay lip service to (see richmond chevron demonstrations) but not actually have meaningful contact with, is addressed, then real organizing work will be getting done. it is then that a movement will be able to not only oppose war, but oppose the people at the top of the capitalist system that use war simply as a means to make the world safer for rich people.

so i hope the black bloc shows up in the future. but i hope it's smarter, leaner, and more flexible than it has been in the past.

Peaceful protest has failed. Violent protest has failed. Protest has failed, period.

What does that leave?

just wondering, I'm not sure what you're considering protest or terming failure. Protest takes many, many forms, from permitted marches to direct actions (nonviolent or otherwise) to boycotts to fasting to political organizing. It's true that the types of protest we've seen so far have had limited success as far as changing the plans for the war or the early phases of the profiteering (which had been planned for months or years, let's face it). But they have raised awareness of our dissent around the world and hopefully drawn some attention to the profiteers. It's too early to say that protest has failed altogether; it's also too early in my opinion to say that any specific tactics have failed. A continued diversity of tactics and creativity and persistence in deploying them is what needs to come next. They want us to go away. We have to refuse to go away, even if we're not immediately successful.