and back in new york...
august 2004

my weekend protesting at the republican convention

here is the story of my week so far:

most of you know i planned my summer around the conventions. after a really empowering time in boston at the democratic convention, its now time for the republicans to come to my town and new york ain't happy about it.

i myself have been diving into all the activities with a reckless abandon!

this week i have:

1/ volunteered for the democratic national committee for a day, helping with the motorpool that is driving the kerry surrogate speakers get around the city to speak the democratic point of view.

the dnc has a full staff here preparing responses to what they here from the republicans.

2/ marched with 25,000 loud and proud women over the brooklyn bridge to shout out for our right to choose. planned parenthood planned a march that was strong in voice but peaceful and soft in spirit. there was certainly no need for the cops that lined the route and the police helicopter that flew back and forth over the route.

3/ rang bells at ground zero memorializing the victims of 9/11 and other violence around the world. in this event we each were given a bell, and many brought big bells from home, and told to line the perimeter of ground zero. we all sat quietly ringing our bells. i was there for an hour and 15 minutes and the sounds of the bells carried the hope for peace all around the city and hopefully the world.

4/ marched with 500,000 people protesting the iraq war and many other bush policies. the people here are fired up. "hey hey! ho ho! george bush has got to go!" there were people from all over the country voicing their disatisfaction for bush's policies from palestine to taxes, from unemployment policies to the iraq war.

it was very empowering to march through the main avenues of new york with so many impressive people. hopefully everyone will take their energy to the swing states and change the course of this election!

5/ almost got arrested in times square.

on sunday afternoon, times square was filled to the brim, as it usually is, and there were a bunch of protesters there heckling the delegates that were going to the theater. i had only been there about 10 minutes and was felling really uncomfortable with it. in my mind, it is a useless thing to just yell at them because they are republican.

but before i had figured out what to do things took a turn for the worse. i was with a friend and his wife and missed getting arrested by meer minutes for standing on the sidewalk and mostly minding my own business (with a few political buttons on - showing what side i was on). in fact my friend did get arrested!

the story is: they told us to clear the streets because they were very crowded and go to the sidewalk. then while we were standing on the sidewalk they began unfolding this orange mesh barrier. i thought they were just putting a barrier between the sidewalk and the street so i stood there, not really knowing where to go. the next thing i saw was a bunch of people running away really fast. they kind of looked like the police were following them so i froze and watched. meanwhile the police were moving the orange barrier and making a pen. anyone stuck in the pen would get arrested. just by luck, i got out and my friends's wife saw me and followed, but my friend stopped because i think he was looking for us. in any case he and about 4 other people were in the pen and got handcuffed and taken away.

it was really freaky. initially when the police started marching in, we had no idea what to do or where to go. they were everywhere. then when my friend got arrested we really didn't know what to do. we just sat there and watched helplessly and then found the legal observers who are all over the streets, but there was nothing we could do.

in the end my friend got taken to a pier and was held in a bunker like place for 24 hours - moving them every hour - so they couldn't sleep. eventually, they let him out with a court appearance date next month and charged him with disrupting a public walkway, which is less of an offense than a parking ticket. so the point was just to lock them away and make sure they never want to protest again, and believe me they are sending a message! i got it loud and clear.

6/ volunteered and met republican delegates from around the country.

this was my chance to be inviting. i helped my waterfront development group with a boat tour for delegates of the new york harbor. i mostly held my toungue and saw what they thought of new york. my main goal was to make sure that they spend money here and i basically sat with them and suggested great places to shop. i really should be in tourism. i'm a natural!

in my heart of hearts, first and foremost, i love new york and want them to love new york too. i want us to present an inviting place to visit. their minds are set and our protests have no effect on them, but in the long run its good for new york to be inviting to as many people as we can.

with only one more major protest to go*, i believe the protests are for the outside world to see how our country feels and for the protesters themselves to feel the support of others with similar points of view. i feel empowered and impressed by people's passion.

* the last protest is an unemployment line where people will line up from wall street to madison square garden to bring light to the economic troubles we are facing because of bush's policies. i can't wait!

i hope you enjoy hearing whats going on. please feel the energy and empowerment yourselves and GO OUT AND GET SOMEONE TO VOTE FOR KERRY TODAY!

cordelia

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