On Aug 23, 2008, at 7:32 AM, Doyle Saylor wrote:
In my view the pro immigrant marches were a bigger deal in the U.S. than Seattle but hardly mentioned in most discussions. ... I don't agree Seattle defined anything on the agenda of what to do. And Seattle will not inspire a movement to come. However, the discussion to make a movement and what really really works is well worth bringing up.
I happened to be in NYC two years ago for a ukulele festival during the weekend of a Saturday anti-war protest, followed two days later by a Monday Cinco de Mayo immigrant march. I participated in both and both were peppered with members of all classes, colors and cultures. The immigrant march was larger. Over a six-hour period I walked the length of the immigrant march twice playing anti-war tunes on the banjo-uke. Both marches were reminiscent of the WTO in Seattle, as well as the actions I attended in San Francisco before Bush's Big Iraq Attack. To me, the function of all of these protests is to foster a cohesion among people, reminding each of us that we are not alone in our frustration. It's a coming together, a refueling, a meeting at the waterhole, R & R for peace and justice workers. It also raises the big finger to the warmongers. Feels good. Perhaps unsettles armchair peaceniks. Does it create a "political movement" that spectators can get behind? I doubt it. Television gets in the way. But people working the streets need to know they're not alone. These functions work for that, if nothing else.
Wednesday in Denver, Ralph Nader will be holding a huge rally/concert/ rising to force open the presidential debates. He'll be joined by many others, including Cindy Sheehan who's qualified for the ballot to unseat Nancy Pelosi. This is where the fight is, in my opinion, and where my own efforts will go. We need to work now on impeachment of the president whether Obama or McCain. Both have promised to continue Bush's treason.
Dan Scanlan _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
