> >LOS ANGELES: QUIET BEFORE THE STORM > > > >by Jim Smith > >L.A. Labor News > > > >Like a dry, hot desert wind in late summer, a oppressive layer of > >foreboding hangs over the city of the angels on the eve of the clash of > >two opposing social movements. > > > >Anti-globalization, pro-democracy workers, students, socialists, > >anarchists and veterans of battles in Seattle, D.C., and Philadelphia are > >poised to confront those torchbearers of civilization and empire, the > >leaders of the Democratic Party. They will confront each other on > >political, ideological and physical levels. It is the latter that has > >ordinary citizens of Los Angeles convinced that we are on the verge of a > >Big One, magnitude 7.5 or greater. Depending on their political > >persuasion and color of their skin, Angelinos are girding for either a > >police riot, or they are anticipating anarchists and/or terrorists > >running wild in their downtown streets. As a result, no one except > >delegates, demonstrators and police will be showing up on the highrise > >field of battle for the next week. However, 3,000 National Guard troops > >are standing by to join the fracas. > > > >Poor L.A. She began as a paradise of mountains and fields. Later she > >contracted a hacking couch from the SMOke and foG. Her Native California > >Indians were nearly extinguished. Her Mexicans were conquered by manifest > >destiny and her African-Americans saw their good union jobs disappear in > >the late 70s as auto, rubber and steel plants "went South." Rampant > >development - a literal fear of ecology - riots, earthquakes, uprisings, > >a paramilitary police force that was unaccountable to anyone, fires, > >droughts, and rebellions finally led us to Ramparts, the most massive > >police misconduct scandal in U.S. history. No wonder Angelinos expect the > >worst. > > > >Instead of calming fears, police and L.A.'s Republican Mayor Richard > >Riordan (who is heading the Democratic Party's convention planning > >committee - talk about Coke and Pepsi!) are following Chicago's late > >Mayor Daley (whose son is Albert Gore's campaign manager) dictum, circa > >Chicago 1968, that "the police are here to preserve disorder." On July > >13, the Mayor's byline appeared in an L.A. Times opinion article > >entitled, "A Fair Warning to All: Don't Disrupt Our City," in which His > >Honor explicitly threaten demonstrators who might interfere with the > >expensive happy face L.A. was presenting to the world. LAPD officials > >quickly followed up with a biased video presentation to the L.A. City > >Council of the Seattle protests that could have been made during the > >McCarthy era. The stage was set for serious government violence. County > >Sheriff Lee Baca's statement, August 10, "We have plenty of room in our > >jails" was merely icing on the cake. > > > >Antidotal evidence says the LAPD is itching for a fight. L.A.'s first > >African-American Police Chief Willie Williams was quickly deposed when he > >actually tried to implement reforms called for by the Christopher > >Commission in the wake of the Rodney King beating and subsequent massive > >uprising. He was replaced by Bernard Parks who acts as if he has never > >heard of Warren Christopher. Parks appointed Tom Lorenzen, to be the > >former head of L.A.'s SWAT squad, field commander of the convention > >detail (what valuable skills does he bring to the job?). Friends who have > >relatives who are married to cops say the LAPD wants to regain its honor > >after its slow reaction to the 1994 uprising and to the Lakers' victory > >party riot last month. "It's the Vietnam syndrome again." > > > >ON THE EVE OF THE ENCOUNTER > > > >It's Saturday night. Tomorrow is the first big march - for Mumia Abu > >Jamal. He is the poster model for the fight against capital punishment. > >He is becoming our patron saint, in the way that Che Guevara is the > >patron saint of Cuba. The fact that he is wrongly accused of killing a > >Philadelphia cop is incidental - except to the cops who see red at the > >mention of his name. If we can get past Sunday without police violence, > >we have a chance to get home free. > > > >I visit the Independent Media Center in Patriotic Hall, which is just a > >stone's throw (excuse the expression) from the "Office Supply" depot (you > >won't get a free commercial plug from me), where the convention will take > >place. About 100 veterans and new video, audio and print journalists are > >gathered in a stuffy room where they lay plans to cover the demonstration > >with military precision. If the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, > >these are the people for the establishment to fear. They're well > >organized and they have diverse skills which are not in service to the > >corporations. What could be scarier? "Democracy Now," the "Nightline" of > >the alternative media will be encamping on these premises by Monday and > >delivering TV, radio and web feeds across the country. Do the Democrats > >have a chance of winning the ideological battle? I think not. > > > >Onward to the Peoples Convention which is holding forth in the Belmont > >High School auditorium. Downtown is thick with California Highway Patrol > >and LAPD vehicles. What will it be like tomorrow. > > > >The Peoples Convention was nearly left out in the cold. It wasn't until > >Aug. 4 that legal pressure forced the school district to honor its > >contract and allow the convention to use its auditorium. The uncertainty > >of a location obviously hurt its attendance. When I arrived, no other > >media are present and about 50 diehards are listening to the windup of a > >panel on the CIA's role in bringing crack cocaine to south central L.A. > >This has been a hot topic in the Black community since Gary Webb broke > >the story in the San Jose Mercury News and lost his job as a result. > > > >In the previous four days, Peoples' conventioneers had heard from United > >Farmworker Vice President Dolores Huerta on the need for third parties > >and various local political radicals and some elected officials on issues > >ranging from neoliberal globalism to the need for a gang truce in Los > >Angeles. As I left, organizers were distributing 30-odd resolutions for > >ratification or rejection by the body. In spite of the lack of violence > >and terrorism, early arriving media from as far away as Japan had aired > >parts of the four-day proceedings. > > > >My last stop was the Convergence Center. It was only yesterday that a > >federal judge had barred the LAPD from staging a preemptive raid on this > >West 7th street headquarters of the D2KLA and the Direct Action Network. > >The four-story building was thronged with people. I made the mistake of > >walking in with my press credentials showing. For this, I was quickly > >accosted by a security person who told me that media visitation hours > >were over. Fortunately, my union had endorsed D2K early on. This gained > >me entrance to the ground floor with a promise not to go higher where > >important meetings were underway. The ground floor turned out to be a > >production area for giant puppets - those icons that have taken the place > >of the saints and the Virgin Mary in our political processions. In fact, > >the judge specifically prohibited the LAPD from messing with the puppets > >- unless they were weapons (as if an icon is not a weapon!). > > > >Tomorrow, and the next few days, will tells us if the First Amendment is > >alive and well in Los Angeles. Right now it's a toss-up. > > > >L.A. Labor News <http://www.LALabor.org> will publish daily reports on > >its website on the Battle of Los Angeles, with a particular emphasis on > >labor activities. > > > _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
