Action Summary for May 10, 2002: Click here for some Direct Action for Palestine!
Action Summary for April 20, 2002:
Click here to get a good recap of A20, it was RAD!
Action Summary for March 24, 2002:
Short personal account of yesterdays socks to the homeless.
So me and my ACC team member set off yesterday from SCCC on the usual Capital Hill route to give those in need well needed care items. �We helped about 12 people. We gave away all the socks we had!!!
Some people I can remember:
An American Indian man in pretty dire straits. He had a bad cut above his eye (to go with the black eye) that had just started to scab over, he was having trouble talking (although it didn't appear to be chemical substance related) . We offered to take him to the hospital, but he refused. He was very guarded when we first offered items, but after a bit of talking he asked for socks- just socks.
A white middle aged wommin who's been on the streets
for a couple years now. �She took floss, socks, candy. As we were talking a
friend of hers came up and was really really happy to get two pairs of
socks, a package of sewing needles, and a bunch of floss. This one young man didn't need anything right then but wanted a candy bar- Milky Way and Snickers are his favorites. he got a snickers and a couple others
After about an hour we decided to head home and went to the bus stop. After
5 min. we started to notice smoke in the air and rushed over to jack in the
box where it seemed to be coming from. It turned out to be some family's car
completely destroyed by fire. (unclear how)
It's feels weird to say, but since I started going out (this is maybe my
seventh week) and doing this I've grown a lot as a activist and I think as a
person. I hope we can find a way to expand this program (yes- I know the ACC
is stretched unbelievably thin as is). It's been really hard for me to come
to terms with the suffering that is taking place everyday in Seattle (not to
mention the rest of the world), but it's been maybe the best thing. It's
just so different to see what's going on then to only know what's going on.
To listen to peoples stories of suffering and pain and joy and resolve. One
of my favorite people I run into a lot is a younger guy who recently got a
dog. I started carrying around dog food (as per his request) and it is just
so obvious when you see him that he loves that dog. I've gotten such a
different perspective and I don't think I'm ever going to stop doing these
type of actions. �It's was a really emotional day for me and I just needed
to share a bit of it with you all. Sorry. not sure how coherent that all is.
Action Summary for March 18, 2002:
A surprise action! At approximately 3:45 PM, friends of the Seattle Anti-Capitalist Convergence dropped a small banner on an unsuspecting GAP store on Broadway (Capitol Hill). The banner read "FUCK SWEATSHOPS, STOP IMF/WTO, FUCK GAP, seattleacc.cjb.net, protest April 20!" Pictures soon, promise...last updated 3/22/02.
Action Summary for March 17, 2002:
distribution of needed care items to those on the streets.
1:00 PM is not the best time to go on Broadway, though it's a really good time to go downtown-
Totals- 14 dental floss, 4 pairs of socks, 3 sewing kits, 14 energy health bars, 18 candy bars, 3 packages of sewing needles, 2 packages of thread, 6 condoms, 3 packages of foot medication.
Future item requested- DOG FOOD, a couple people we regularly see have dogs-
6:30 PM, instead of the usual handing stuff out we went to TACO BELL, not to eat but to call them on the treatment on the farm workers picking the tomatos they buy!
More info on the farmworkers struggle can be found at- www.ciw-online.org
Downtown- About 300 flyers were passed out exposing the fact the workers must
pick 2 TONS (a day-every day) of tomatoes for 50 dollars!
Capitol Hill- During the small demo inside the store Someone dropped a large
banner over the front of the store that said said "TACO HELL", "blood in the
Tomatoes", "support farm workers", "People Not Profit"-etc 3 hours after the
banner was dropped IT WAS STILL UP!!! Pictures will be available shortly.
Action Summary for March 10, 2002:
Sunday was by far our best day of item distribution ever! Every group reported
giving out almost everything they had. No one had any major problems and we are
all starting to talk to the same people we've seen before- which is good for
building up trust etc. We do need to remind all acc'ers that it's fine to say
your from the ACC but don't mention A20 or try to get people involved in ACC
actions. The purpose of this is to serve a need. It's better to do other types
of educational outreach where your not in a uneven power dynamic with the
person.
Anyway kudos to all- Some of the quotes from people we talked to-
"wow, you guys have stuff we need, the Christians just give us blankets"
"do you have any toothbrushes? my teeth are getting stained from tobacco"
"where were you all yesterday? I needed a sewing kit so fucking bad"
"do you guys smoke weed?"
"Oh, handwarmers, sweet!"
"do you have a boyfriend?"
"can I have some extra stuff to share with people, I have floss and stuff but I
hang out with a lot of the the other homeless kids who don't have much and it's
cool to have stuff to give away"
"floss is way better then beer"
"hey, these are the good thin condoms, other places give you these fucking thick ones that feel like your wearing a bunch of unblown up ballons"
So here we go- Our revised totals from the whole day- (from the FOUR groups that went out!) Ya Ya ACC! Stuff we passed out:
24 Handwarmers
20 Pairs of New White Socks (note for future- we only have one size, we need
bigger socks)
16 Sewing Needles
6 mini sewing kit
3 packages foot cream
1 hat
12 Harvest Energy bars
12 candy bars
2 mini bottles of water
10 Assorted size ziploc bags
14 condoms
17 packages of dental floss Action Summary for March 3, 2002: It went well today, we handed out about 45 items total. We didn't have any food (mental note for
next time), but we still managed to make a small impact. My group was all
wommin and that seemed to make a difference in how some people responded to
us.
Action Summary for February 24, 2002: Hi! Seattle ACC will not be having a specific ACC action on the February 24th. We will be dropping off the goods we collected (floss, thread, foot care items, socks) at PSKS- a street kid run community center for those on the streets and they will distribute them. The SPD (nazis) killed another black man this week, and we will be supporting the vigil that is occurring at 2PM for Shawn Maxwell Sunday Feb. 24th at the shooting location (51st and 7th Ave N.E.) University District.
We will also be supporting a protest at the Seattle Fur Exchange- there
auctioning thousands of mink pelts. Action for Animals is the organizing
group. (From AFA)
8:00 AM 2/24 - Seattle Fur Exchange, Opening Day
Here is what they said:
"This one will go till dark. Opening Day for SFX! This will be the biggest
event. If you can make only one day, please make it this one!! Some signs will
be provided, but feel free to get creative and bring your own. Let's make sure
we are heard. Noisemakers are encouraged and dress for cold weather; a
balaclava, bandana, scarf, or other facial protection is suggested. ;-)
We are asking that everyone wear black in a show of solidarity. Plan on food
and water for the day; we'll be meeting at the Green Lake (65th St) Park n Ride
beneath I-5 @ 700a sharp and carpooling to the CINEMA near SFX to rendezvous at
745a."
Cinema near SFX
-From Seattle I-5 South to exit 154A 405 North
-Exit to Hwy 167 South towards Kent
-Take 1st exit to 180th and turn Right onto East Valley Rd
-CINEMA is on the left within one mile. Park in the lot just past the CINEMA
(the old Home Base)
UPDATE! Click here for a report on the AFA demo, they arrested a young female protestor! This happened after we left, so I can't give anymore intimate knowledge than that.
Action Summary for February 17, 2002: The first action of the Seattle chapter of the ACC (Anti-Capitalist Convergence). The aim of today�s action was to bring needed items directly to those on the streets while hopefully getting a better perspective on the struggles they face. We talked to around 23 people. The low number seemed to be due to the rain/chilly weather and partially us not knowing the best places to go. We started out from near SCCC shortly before 5 in teams of two, and later 6 of us walked the university district. One of the most talkative people we met was a man selling real change on Univ Way. He makes just enough working as a team with his wife to afford a place to sleep every night, but has nothing left over for food and other essential items. He told us of the difficulty of street life and how every once in a when it's been raining his feet will get foot rote. It's no fun when your feet are molding, and we gave him 4 pairs of socks. He said he has it better then most people he knows but he hasn't got much hope for the future. A lot of people seemed skeptical of what exactly our agenda was. To them is seems anyone who wants to give them something wants something in return. Some people and groups have had a religious motive while most have just wanted them off the streets so business would improve. We said we were from the ACC but that was it and we all agreed afterwards that it's important when you do stuff like this you not have an ulterior agenda.
We distributed:
13 pairs of socks, 9 Sewing needles, 6 oranges, 5 grapefruits, 6 packages
of floss (for teeth and as thread),3 pens, 12 chapsticks,1 package of anti-fungal foot cream, 10 one gallon size Ziploc bags, and 7 condoms.
In the future people told us they need (in case you can donate any):
Chap stick-Foot anti-fungal spray/cream-mini sewing kits.
Please email us to set up a way for you to donate. It would be really helpful!!!
