>From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >----- Original Message ----- >From: "L.A. Labor News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >> >> DEMOCRATIC CONVENTIONS PROTESTS REDEFINE MOVEMENT, END ON A HIGH NOTE >> >> by Jim Smith >> L.A. Labor News >> >> Five days of massive, spirited marches and rallies in the streets of Los >> Angeles were capped Thursday afternoon as several thousand Latinos, >> African-Americans, Asians and whites marched against sweatshops and for >> immigrant rights. At the same time, Democratic Party convention delegates >> were grinning-and-bearing another speech by their anointed leader, Albert >> Gore of Tennessee. >> >> (Day-to-day reports, commentary, photos and videos of the Democratic >> Convention protests can be found on L.A. Labor News <www.LALabor.org>. >> The site can also be accessed through Znet at <www.zmag.org>.) >> >> The march, began in the Garment District and made its way past downtown >> sweatshops along Broadway and 8th streets where garment workers waved and >> cheered as they poked their heads out of upper-story factory windows. At >> the rally site - which is across the street from the convention center >> and behind the "Berlin Wall," a blocks-long 13-foot-high concrete and >> chain link fence - they were joined by another large march, against U.S. >> Navy bombing on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. Both march included >> substantial numbers, perhaps a majority, of people of color. >> >> The rally included a spirited and political performance by Michael Franti >> and Spearhead. Gore delegate Tom Hayden skipped the acceptance speech to >> attend the rally and concert. After the concert, several thousand rallied >> at the Twin Towers jail to show their support for the prisoners, >> including the nearly 200 protesters who had been arrested. >> >> Building on the mass movement that exploded into the public consciousness >> last November in Seattle, this week's contribution from Los Angeles was >> significant and of lasting value. While the focus on corporate, or >> neoliberal, globalism is still at the heart of the movement, its impact >> and poor and working people - particularly those of color - was the major >> focus of many activities. Marches and rallies during the week focused on >> the prison-industial complex, abolishing the death penalty, justice for >> political prisoners including Mumia Abu-Jamal, police abuse, mass >> transit, sweatshops, immigration, women's rights, youth rights and >> against racism. >> >> Nearly all protest event planners that I spoke with considered the week's >> activities an overwhelming success, with the exception of the ugly daily >> police violence. >> >> RAMPANT POLICE VIOLENCE >> >> Continuous violence against protesters, and bystanders, by the black-clad >> LAPD has written another chapter in the infamous history of one of the >> more notorious police forces in the country. An LAPD division, Ramparts, >> is already the scene of the largest police corruption scandal in U.S. >> history. Latino and African-American activists say the police tactics >> used during the protests are routine in their neighborhoods at all times. >> >> Police fired rubber bullets at protesters on three of the five days of >> mass marches and rallies. Demonstrators and journalists were hit with >> clubs with little or no provocation. The ACLU has announced a suit >> against the LAPD because of its violence and harassment toward >> journalists. Noted community leaders were shot with rubber bullets and/or >> physically attached, including legal observer and East L.A. activist >> Antonio Rodriguez and Miguel Contreras, L.A. County Federation of Labor >> executive officer. Contreras, a Gore delegate who did not participate in >> the protests, said that in spite of identifying himself to police after >> leaving the convention hall, Monday night, he was hit hard across the >> chest with a billy club. He reported seeing an Asian couple, who were >> tourists, being roughed up by police at the same time. >> >> There have been 198 arrests so far, although that figure may go higher. >> "We are getting dozens of reports of harassment of people trying to leave >> town," Adam Eidinger of the Midnight Special Law Collective told L.A. >> Labor News. Of the 198 arrests, only 38 people had any expectation they >> would be arrested, said Eidinger. Bails have been set as high at $10,000 >> to $75,000 for minor charges including reckless driving (bike riders), >> conspiracy to commit vandalism, and blocking an entrance. The mass >> arrests are at odds with an LAPD report that property damage has been so >> minimal they are not even keeping track of it. >> >> Bicycle riders participating in a "Critical Mass" ride through downtown >> on Tuesday, an effort to show an alternative form of transportation in >> auto-clogged Los Angeles, were also victimized by police. After a >> pleasant 40-minute ride during which they were followed and escorted by >> LAPD officers on bikes, the more than 200 cyclists were surrounded by >> cops from several agencies. Most of the riders were able to escape but 70 >> were arrested, handcuffed and booked on reckless driving charges, which >> normally merits only a citation. Instead they were put in jail for 24 >> hours. The women were subjected to repeated body cavity searches by >> jailers. >> >> Many believe the repression could have been much worse without aggressive >> legal pressure from the Midnight Special Law Collective and the National >> Lawyers Guild, and political pressure from L.A. Councilmember Jackie >> Goldberg, State Senator Tom Hayden, Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo and >> others. The courts generally supported the protesters rights under the >> First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. >> >> The week of protests brought together activists from across the Los >> Angeles basin. Of the more than 200 organizations that endorsed and >> participated in the week's events, more than half were from L.A. Just as >> the WTO demonstrations last winter put U.S. working people and students >> on the map of world political struggle, the Democratic Convention >> protests will go a long way to changing the perception and reality of >> activism in Southern California. The Convention put the spotlight on Los >> Angeles, but the result was not the one that Mayor Richard Riordan and >> his corporate sponsors had intended. >> >> After this week's success, our movement for democracy and against >> corporate control of our lives is well positioned to move from the >> streets of L.A. into campuses, communities and unions throughout the >> country. >> >> -30- >> > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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