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RNC Update 6 A Great Beginning!!
Today the DNC to RNC march arrived in New York, after walking 258 miles from
the Democratic National Convention in Boston to here. They had planned for
people to meet them at Columbus Circle, and I arrived after a pleasant
afternoon in the Bronx at the community garden the Green Bloc is supporting.
the Democratic National Convention in Boston to here. They had planned for
people to meet them at Columbus Circle, and I arrived after a pleasant
afternoon in the Bronx at the community garden the Green Bloc is supporting.
RNC Update 6 A Great Beginning!!
By Starhawk
Today the DNC to RNC march arrived in New York, after walking 258 miles from
the Democratic National Convention in Boston to here. They had planned for
people to meet them at Columbus Circle, and I arrived after a pleasant
afternoon in the Bronx at the community garden the Green Bloc is supporting.
Hundreds of people were gathered on the grass at the entrance to Central
Park, under a column with a golden Goddess statue on top who was rising
nobly up from three galloping horses. And it was like a wonderful family
reunion. I was seeing friends from the march and friends from back home and
from other actions. There were masses of media and quite a lot of police
but the police were not hassling people and the march negotiated with them
for a lane of the street all the way down to Union Square. It took a good
two hours before we set off, with a contingent of the march wearing red
bandanas to represent a Zapatista insurgency. Wearing masks is illegal in
New York, and many of us had feared the cops would just arrest them, but
they had carefully framed it as a street theater piece and the police let
them alone. Behind them the Bay Area Cluster had yellow flags and birds on
sticks and suns, and we followed behind with drummers and a mass of at least
five hundred people, maybe more. The police lined the street, escorting us
but not bothering anyone, even occasionally smiling and joking with people.
It felt really, really great, to set off and march through the city with
such spirit. Everyone felt joyful‹celebrating the great accomplishment of
the marchers to have come so far, and the ease with which the police had
ceded us space. We were chanting ³We love New York: We just hate Bush!²
and the Zapatista insurgency led the way. All along the route, people were
watching and smiling and giving us the thumbs up sign. New York is such a
dramatic backdrop, with the skyscrapers looming above us and, as dusk fell,
all the lights of Broadway coming on. We marched by the theaters, urging
people to forget their tickets and come join us. Broadway is glamorous
again, reclaimed from the era of tacky sex shows, and we were our own moving
theater piece. At one moment, across the street I saw three African
American women dressed up for a night on the town. We were supposed to be
silent at that point, so we were¹t chanting but they began chanting ³No
justice, no peace!² and dancing between the parked cars and we couldn¹t
resist their urging to take up the chant. People came out and joined us.
At one point, I was walking beside a Latina mother and her three children,
at another, a woman with flowing hair and a son with braces who were
speaking Arabic and quite joyfully amused at the radical cheerleader with
the beard and short red skirt. When we passed 38th St., the whole staff of
United for Peace and Justice had come down to the corner to wave flags and
cheer us on.
The march ended in Union Square, and everyone dispersed peacefully. Many of
us went back to St. Mark¹s to hang out and eat food cooked by Seeds of
Peace.
It was the first sally, and it went so well and so easily that hopefully it
will dispel some of the fear. To be honest, had anyone on the march asked
my opinion, I would have told them I thought it was a bad idea. But no one
did, and so I kept my mouth shut because it wasn¹t my action or my
decision‹even though I did a lot of private soul searching about whether or
not I should voice my concerns. But I would have been wrong, anyway‹it
turned out to be a wonderful event, and in spite of the ongoing propaganda
wars about anarchists and terrorists, the masks didn¹t seem to scare anyone.
And it makes me realize how much the fear had crept into me, in spite of all
the advice I¹ve been putting out about not being afraid, and how powerful it
is when someone just stands forth in spite of all the fear and does
something beautiful and brave.
The New York Daily News has a full front page scare article today, a giant
headline ³Anarchy Inc.², and another whole spread of scare stories and
outright lies. Nevertheless, all the actual people we encounter seem
delighted we are here. The busdriver late last night wouldn¹t let me pay.
Tonight Lisa and I went into a store, admitted we were protestors and the
shopkeeper brought out his pack with anti-Bush buttons on it and wouldn¹t
let me pay for my candy.
And I think back to a meeting last spring, where Cory and Adam brought the
idea of the march to some of us in the Bay Area, asking for feedback and
support. And now they¹ve done it, a huge feat of organizing and endurance.
At the end, at Union Square, all the marcher grabbed each other in a big
group hug, just so, so happy. I begin to have a sense that something
wonderful could happen here!
http://www.starhawk.org <http://www.starhawk.org/>
By Starhawk
Today the DNC to RNC march arrived in New York, after walking 258 miles from
the Democratic National Convention in Boston to here. They had planned for
people to meet them at Columbus Circle, and I arrived after a pleasant
afternoon in the Bronx at the community garden the Green Bloc is supporting.
Hundreds of people were gathered on the grass at the entrance to Central
Park, under a column with a golden Goddess statue on top who was rising
nobly up from three galloping horses. And it was like a wonderful family
reunion. I was seeing friends from the march and friends from back home and
from other actions. There were masses of media and quite a lot of police
but the police were not hassling people and the march negotiated with them
for a lane of the street all the way down to Union Square. It took a good
two hours before we set off, with a contingent of the march wearing red
bandanas to represent a Zapatista insurgency. Wearing masks is illegal in
New York, and many of us had feared the cops would just arrest them, but
they had carefully framed it as a street theater piece and the police let
them alone. Behind them the Bay Area Cluster had yellow flags and birds on
sticks and suns, and we followed behind with drummers and a mass of at least
five hundred people, maybe more. The police lined the street, escorting us
but not bothering anyone, even occasionally smiling and joking with people.
It felt really, really great, to set off and march through the city with
such spirit. Everyone felt joyful‹celebrating the great accomplishment of
the marchers to have come so far, and the ease with which the police had
ceded us space. We were chanting ³We love New York: We just hate Bush!²
and the Zapatista insurgency led the way. All along the route, people were
watching and smiling and giving us the thumbs up sign. New York is such a
dramatic backdrop, with the skyscrapers looming above us and, as dusk fell,
all the lights of Broadway coming on. We marched by the theaters, urging
people to forget their tickets and come join us. Broadway is glamorous
again, reclaimed from the era of tacky sex shows, and we were our own moving
theater piece. At one moment, across the street I saw three African
American women dressed up for a night on the town. We were supposed to be
silent at that point, so we were¹t chanting but they began chanting ³No
justice, no peace!² and dancing between the parked cars and we couldn¹t
resist their urging to take up the chant. People came out and joined us.
At one point, I was walking beside a Latina mother and her three children,
at another, a woman with flowing hair and a son with braces who were
speaking Arabic and quite joyfully amused at the radical cheerleader with
the beard and short red skirt. When we passed 38th St., the whole staff of
United for Peace and Justice had come down to the corner to wave flags and
cheer us on.
The march ended in Union Square, and everyone dispersed peacefully. Many of
us went back to St. Mark¹s to hang out and eat food cooked by Seeds of
Peace.
It was the first sally, and it went so well and so easily that hopefully it
will dispel some of the fear. To be honest, had anyone on the march asked
my opinion, I would have told them I thought it was a bad idea. But no one
did, and so I kept my mouth shut because it wasn¹t my action or my
decision‹even though I did a lot of private soul searching about whether or
not I should voice my concerns. But I would have been wrong, anyway‹it
turned out to be a wonderful event, and in spite of the ongoing propaganda
wars about anarchists and terrorists, the masks didn¹t seem to scare anyone.
And it makes me realize how much the fear had crept into me, in spite of all
the advice I¹ve been putting out about not being afraid, and how powerful it
is when someone just stands forth in spite of all the fear and does
something beautiful and brave.
The New York Daily News has a full front page scare article today, a giant
headline ³Anarchy Inc.², and another whole spread of scare stories and
outright lies. Nevertheless, all the actual people we encounter seem
delighted we are here. The busdriver late last night wouldn¹t let me pay.
Tonight Lisa and I went into a store, admitted we were protestors and the
shopkeeper brought out his pack with anti-Bush buttons on it and wouldn¹t
let me pay for my candy.
And I think back to a meeting last spring, where Cory and Adam brought the
idea of the march to some of us in the Bay Area, asking for feedback and
support. And now they¹ve done it, a huge feat of organizing and endurance.
At the end, at Union Square, all the marcher grabbed each other in a big
group hug, just so, so happy. I begin to have a sense that something
wonderful could happen here!
http://www.starhawk.org <http://www.starhawk.org/>
For more information:
http://www.starhawk.org/
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
quoted from: Resistance to War, Occupation, and Empire
Ward Churchill Speaks in Vancouver
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=30&ItemID=6088
"Every square inch of terra firma of Turtle Island that purportedly forms this corporate structure, the geographical integrity, the territorial integrity of these mega-States is land that was taken directly from Native people. That consolidation of an internal colonial empire is what it is that makes the outward power projection known as globalization possible now. Of course, it is in itself a part of an earlier phase of globalization. We used to call globalization by its proper name: we called it imperialism. We called it imperialism and we fashioned ourselves to be anti- imperialists, and we took that as a priority, a basic formative aspect of our consciousness."
"So what I'm suggesting to you right now is that in order to combat in an effective fashion this process that now goes under the name of globalization we have consciously to restore our understanding of the necessity of being - as a first priority - anti-imperialist. But we need to be anti-imperialists who have learned from the past mistakes of anti-imperialism, and that is: you don't find the symptoms when you are approximate to the cause. If you want to stop globalization you have to stop it where it lives. You do not purport to be a revolutionary in the context of an internal colonial construction. To be a revolutionary is to overthrow the existing apparatus of the State and replace it with yourselves. If you do that you perpetuate the problem. The State is contingent on its existence both in the United States and in Canada, upon the perpetual colonization, subjugation, subordination, exploitation, expropriation, of Indigenous peoples, it will continue to be illegally occupied territory until the principles of anti-imperialism are applied here not only analytically, but forcefully. The decolonisation of North America is the absolutely essential ingredient in halting the process of globalization and making it impossible ever to resuscitate it again. See it clearly for what it is, and understand the implications."
"You say that this is privileging Native rights, perhaps, beyond that of others? You say I am opposed to sexism as a first priority; you say I am opposed to ageism as a first priority; you say I am opposed to classism; I am a good Marxist, dialectical materialist; I am opposed to something else as being prior in importance to native rights? In the restoration of territory though Native rights, you place things back under Native governance in accordance with the Native tradition, and we were not ageist, we were not sexist, we were not classist, none of these 'isms ' or 'ologies' pertained. In defeating one you defeat the other and that cannot be said by reversing the order and priority of things. First Nations, first priority, first always, that has to be the rule if we are going to understand the beast and ultimately defeat it."
"That said, we are going right to the nerve centre of what makes the thing function and it will not stop functioning painlessly; it will resist. There is not a petition campaign that you can construct that is going to cause the power and the status quo to dissipate. There is not a legal action that you can take; you can't go into the court of the conqueror and have the conqueror announce the conquest to be illegitimate and to be repealed; you cannot vote in an alternative, you cannot hold a prayer vigil, you cannot burn the right scented candle at the prayer vigil, you cannot have the right folk song, you cannot have the right fashion statement, you cannot adopt a different diet, build a better bike path. You have to say it squarely: the fact that this power this force, this entity, this monstrosity called the State maintains itself by physical force, and can be countered only in terms that it itself dictates and therefore understands. That's a deep breath time; that's a real deep breath time."
"It will not be a painless process, but, hey, newsflash: it's not a process that is painless now. If you feel a relative absence of pain, that is testimony only to your position of privilege within the Statist structure. Those who are on the receiving end, whether they are in Iraq, they are in Palestine, they are in Haiti, they are in American Indian reserves inside the United States, whether they are in the migrant stream or the inner city, those who are 'othered' and of colour, in particular but poor people more generally, know the difference between the painlessness of acquiescence on the one hand and the painfulness of maintaining the existing order on the other. Ultimately, there is no alternative that has found itself in reform; there is only an alternative that founds itself - not in that fanciful word of revolution - but in the devolution, that is to say the dismantlement of Empire from the inside out."
Ward Churchill Speaks in Vancouver
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=30&ItemID=6088
"Every square inch of terra firma of Turtle Island that purportedly forms this corporate structure, the geographical integrity, the territorial integrity of these mega-States is land that was taken directly from Native people. That consolidation of an internal colonial empire is what it is that makes the outward power projection known as globalization possible now. Of course, it is in itself a part of an earlier phase of globalization. We used to call globalization by its proper name: we called it imperialism. We called it imperialism and we fashioned ourselves to be anti- imperialists, and we took that as a priority, a basic formative aspect of our consciousness."
"So what I'm suggesting to you right now is that in order to combat in an effective fashion this process that now goes under the name of globalization we have consciously to restore our understanding of the necessity of being - as a first priority - anti-imperialist. But we need to be anti-imperialists who have learned from the past mistakes of anti-imperialism, and that is: you don't find the symptoms when you are approximate to the cause. If you want to stop globalization you have to stop it where it lives. You do not purport to be a revolutionary in the context of an internal colonial construction. To be a revolutionary is to overthrow the existing apparatus of the State and replace it with yourselves. If you do that you perpetuate the problem. The State is contingent on its existence both in the United States and in Canada, upon the perpetual colonization, subjugation, subordination, exploitation, expropriation, of Indigenous peoples, it will continue to be illegally occupied territory until the principles of anti-imperialism are applied here not only analytically, but forcefully. The decolonisation of North America is the absolutely essential ingredient in halting the process of globalization and making it impossible ever to resuscitate it again. See it clearly for what it is, and understand the implications."
"You say that this is privileging Native rights, perhaps, beyond that of others? You say I am opposed to sexism as a first priority; you say I am opposed to ageism as a first priority; you say I am opposed to classism; I am a good Marxist, dialectical materialist; I am opposed to something else as being prior in importance to native rights? In the restoration of territory though Native rights, you place things back under Native governance in accordance with the Native tradition, and we were not ageist, we were not sexist, we were not classist, none of these 'isms ' or 'ologies' pertained. In defeating one you defeat the other and that cannot be said by reversing the order and priority of things. First Nations, first priority, first always, that has to be the rule if we are going to understand the beast and ultimately defeat it."
"That said, we are going right to the nerve centre of what makes the thing function and it will not stop functioning painlessly; it will resist. There is not a petition campaign that you can construct that is going to cause the power and the status quo to dissipate. There is not a legal action that you can take; you can't go into the court of the conqueror and have the conqueror announce the conquest to be illegitimate and to be repealed; you cannot vote in an alternative, you cannot hold a prayer vigil, you cannot burn the right scented candle at the prayer vigil, you cannot have the right folk song, you cannot have the right fashion statement, you cannot adopt a different diet, build a better bike path. You have to say it squarely: the fact that this power this force, this entity, this monstrosity called the State maintains itself by physical force, and can be countered only in terms that it itself dictates and therefore understands. That's a deep breath time; that's a real deep breath time."
"It will not be a painless process, but, hey, newsflash: it's not a process that is painless now. If you feel a relative absence of pain, that is testimony only to your position of privilege within the Statist structure. Those who are on the receiving end, whether they are in Iraq, they are in Palestine, they are in Haiti, they are in American Indian reserves inside the United States, whether they are in the migrant stream or the inner city, those who are 'othered' and of colour, in particular but poor people more generally, know the difference between the painlessness of acquiescence on the one hand and the painfulness of maintaining the existing order on the other. Ultimately, there is no alternative that has found itself in reform; there is only an alternative that founds itself - not in that fanciful word of revolution - but in the devolution, that is to say the dismantlement of Empire from the inside out."
Exxon/Mobil, the RNC & Widespread Nonviolent Militancy
"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is
a merger of state and corporate power" -- Benito Mussolini
"If elected, I will run the government like a business" -- George W.
Bush
Forget for a moment that Exxon/Mobil (XMO) is the main proponent of
greenhouse gas emissions?
Along with Enron, the Exxon/Mobil corporation was the biggest monetary
contributor to George W. Bush's 200 presidential campaign. It has
reaped the benefits of record high petroleum oil prices which have
been brought about and sustained by G.W. Bush's energy policies. One
can easily make the argument that this latest war in Iraq was fought
largely for XMO (and other oil corporations) -- their gas they sell is
tainted with the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi "collateral
damage." But, whether you buy that argument or not, it is easy to see
how closely interrelated corporate policy (particularly XMO's) is with
the government policy. If we have any ideals (or hopes for future
generations) we must recognize this situation for what it is --
FASCISM.
It may not be the genocidal fascism of the industrialized Nazi's, but
this brand of Republican fascism must, nevertheless, be seriously
confronted before it gets bolder and causes more pain and suffering
around the world. This American fascism may not be the genocidal
fascism of the Nazi's, but it empowers the oil corporations and
facilitates a global warming which could wipe out most species on
Earth.
Greenpeace and Adbusters, along with some others, have already called
for an international boycott of Esso/Exxon/Mobil (and there have
already been international days of protest) but? we need to become
evermore coordinated and vigilant. At the very least we should be
able to get every Democrat to boycott the Republican-funding XMO and,
at best, we should be able to put that fascist corporation out of
business by means of widespread nonviolent militant civil
disobedience. We need to fight to win and we need to add populist
elements to the battle. Any one person or group can participate at
their own level in this protest which can include, but is not limited
to, sit-ins, leafleting, creative harassment of all types, and maybe
petty vandalism like graffiti and stopped-up toilets. Don't forget
(and I'm not recommending this), Gandhi, on multiple occasions,
advocated even suicide (by fasting, walking into clubs, and in
response to Nazism) to draw attention to injustice. And Gandhi wasn't
even facing ecocide.
The RNC begins August 29th in NYC where up to 2 million people are
expected to protest Bush and his policies. At that time, there and in
cities around the world, a simultaneously coordinated protest of XMO
can send a clear message that we the people are not fooled by oilman
Bush and the corporate fascism he represents. In NYC all of the XMO
stations can be protested throughout the week of the RNC while, in
other cities, high-traffic stations can be engaged during peak rush
hours (4-7 p.m.). The number and ambition of activists in your
community will obviously determine the style and number of protests in
your city, but make sure to write letters to the editor and contact
other media outlets for best results. In some areas the "flash mob"
style of protest could be most effective -- even with folks unaware of
the protest beforehand. Whoever takes charge locally will largely
determine the style of protest -- but everyone who shows up, literally
and figuratively, is worthy of respect and is not to be dictated to.
Leadership in this cause is largely to just get the ball rolling as
effectively as possible -- so spread the word in your community and
get creative with actionable plans. Learn your rights and take a
stand despite the Patriot Act. True patriots revolt (against a true,
clear, corporate fascist entity that we can destroy). Lay siege,
conquer and destroy! Exxon/Mobil must die.
http://www.stopexxonmobil.org
pax.protest.net/event.cgi?ID=459252
http://www.pacificenvironment.org/stopexxonmobil/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details...
http://www.dontbuyexxonmobil.org/
http://www.vshiva.net/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/justearth/
http://www.gnn.tv/
http://www.webprowire.com/summaries/495562.html
http://www.thehurricaneonline.com/
news/2002/12/06/Opinion/Exxon.Mobil.Protest.Throws.Oil.In.Sadaams.Eyes
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cssn/cssn-list/2002/12/00011.html
http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp...
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm...
http://www.geovrml.org/archive/msg01062.html
http://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp...
http://www.adbusters.org
http://www.greenpeace.org
"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is
a merger of state and corporate power" -- Benito Mussolini
"If elected, I will run the government like a business" -- George W.
Bush
Forget for a moment that Exxon/Mobil (XMO) is the main proponent of
greenhouse gas emissions?
Along with Enron, the Exxon/Mobil corporation was the biggest monetary
contributor to George W. Bush's 200 presidential campaign. It has
reaped the benefits of record high petroleum oil prices which have
been brought about and sustained by G.W. Bush's energy policies. One
can easily make the argument that this latest war in Iraq was fought
largely for XMO (and other oil corporations) -- their gas they sell is
tainted with the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi "collateral
damage." But, whether you buy that argument or not, it is easy to see
how closely interrelated corporate policy (particularly XMO's) is with
the government policy. If we have any ideals (or hopes for future
generations) we must recognize this situation for what it is --
FASCISM.
It may not be the genocidal fascism of the industrialized Nazi's, but
this brand of Republican fascism must, nevertheless, be seriously
confronted before it gets bolder and causes more pain and suffering
around the world. This American fascism may not be the genocidal
fascism of the Nazi's, but it empowers the oil corporations and
facilitates a global warming which could wipe out most species on
Earth.
Greenpeace and Adbusters, along with some others, have already called
for an international boycott of Esso/Exxon/Mobil (and there have
already been international days of protest) but? we need to become
evermore coordinated and vigilant. At the very least we should be
able to get every Democrat to boycott the Republican-funding XMO and,
at best, we should be able to put that fascist corporation out of
business by means of widespread nonviolent militant civil
disobedience. We need to fight to win and we need to add populist
elements to the battle. Any one person or group can participate at
their own level in this protest which can include, but is not limited
to, sit-ins, leafleting, creative harassment of all types, and maybe
petty vandalism like graffiti and stopped-up toilets. Don't forget
(and I'm not recommending this), Gandhi, on multiple occasions,
advocated even suicide (by fasting, walking into clubs, and in
response to Nazism) to draw attention to injustice. And Gandhi wasn't
even facing ecocide.
The RNC begins August 29th in NYC where up to 2 million people are
expected to protest Bush and his policies. At that time, there and in
cities around the world, a simultaneously coordinated protest of XMO
can send a clear message that we the people are not fooled by oilman
Bush and the corporate fascism he represents. In NYC all of the XMO
stations can be protested throughout the week of the RNC while, in
other cities, high-traffic stations can be engaged during peak rush
hours (4-7 p.m.). The number and ambition of activists in your
community will obviously determine the style and number of protests in
your city, but make sure to write letters to the editor and contact
other media outlets for best results. In some areas the "flash mob"
style of protest could be most effective -- even with folks unaware of
the protest beforehand. Whoever takes charge locally will largely
determine the style of protest -- but everyone who shows up, literally
and figuratively, is worthy of respect and is not to be dictated to.
Leadership in this cause is largely to just get the ball rolling as
effectively as possible -- so spread the word in your community and
get creative with actionable plans. Learn your rights and take a
stand despite the Patriot Act. True patriots revolt (against a true,
clear, corporate fascist entity that we can destroy). Lay siege,
conquer and destroy! Exxon/Mobil must die.
http://www.stopexxonmobil.org
pax.protest.net/event.cgi?ID=459252
http://www.pacificenvironment.org/stopexxonmobil/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details...
http://www.dontbuyexxonmobil.org/
http://www.vshiva.net/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/justearth/
http://www.gnn.tv/
http://www.webprowire.com/summaries/495562.html
http://www.thehurricaneonline.com/
news/2002/12/06/Opinion/Exxon.Mobil.Protest.Throws.Oil.In.Sadaams.Eyes
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cssn/cssn-list/2002/12/00011.html
http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp...
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm...
http://www.geovrml.org/archive/msg01062.html
http://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp...
http://www.adbusters.org
http://www.greenpeace.org
For more information:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en...
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