With Courage and Solidarity: A Firsthand Account of the Battle in Seattle

by Barb Pratt, WAMM

While protesting in Seattle, I was interviewed on the street at different demonstrations, once by an independent videomaker from New York who found me at an environmental march and rally. The videographer asked me why I was there to protest the WTO. Fortunately, I was well prepared to answer, having spent much of the previous weekend at an intensive teach-in.

The teach-in covered nearly every aspect of the WTO and was conducted by the International Forum on Globalization and the Positive Futures Network. There were outstanding speakers and panels discussing issues related to labor, agriculture, environment, health, genetic engineering, patents on lifeforms, food safety and security, corporate rule and the dismantling of democracy, and the impacts of the WTO on third world nations and the poor. It was like a compact graduate program. The teach-in was held in a packed symphony hall in downtown Seattle. Tickets sold out a week in advance, so there was ticket scalping for a trade teach-in!

The next time I was approached by a journalist, Wendy Kaufman of National Public Radio (NPR) asked me to describe for NPR listeners what I was seeing. WAMM member Nancy Jones and I had just left a rally and suddenly found ourselves blocked by a line of police officers across an intersection. Nancy and I moved up a few feet into a parking lot from where we could observe others gathering at the impasse. This was early in the week and the police action seemed like a test and demonstration of the kind of force they were prepared to use.

The police were dressed in brand-new riot gear, with helmets equipped with window visors and long, wooden clubs. There were dozens of police cars, paddy wagons, and a camouflaged armored vehicle. Protesters were walking away from a rally in small clusters right into this surreal wall of Robocops. The police looked terrifying and provocative, even when standing still.

People carrying small flags picturing dolphins and sea turtles walked right up to look into the officers' window visors and stood there gesturing the peace sign. A group of young people sang "Turn that Frown Upside Down." These were early signs of the immense courage shown by young people and the pervasive solidarity of demonstrators that would characterize the week.

It was a privilege to be at the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, even in a drizzly, freezing rain. The stadium was packed with labor-union members and environmental activists, including dozens of people wearing wonderful sea-turtle costumes. It was moving to hear the inclusive language and witness the sharing of the podium by diverse labor leaders, men and women, South African miners, Malaysian sweatshop workers, and the director of the Sierra Club.

As the sun broke through, various unions clustered behind giant banners, getting ready for the huge march into downtown. There were airline pilots dressed in uniforms alongside the many longshoremen (who-although their livelihood depends upon international trade-had shut down the West Coast ports for the day). The march included many others affected by the WTO, including farmers, students and citizens participating in democracy for all to see. In fact, my favorite chants were, "This is what democracy looks like!" and "There ain't no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people don't stop."

There were costumes, puppets, bands and drummers keeping a lively pace. I was so entranced by a Latin percussion band that I followed them the whole route, thereby missing the detour some were taking toward the WTO meeting hall. There, things were beginning to heat up as nonviolent protesters blocked all the entrances to the hall.

Riding on a bus after the march, we heard many first-hand reports from that scene. A couple of students took the hard black rubber bullets used on them out of their pockets to show us, reporting they were fired on at close range. I was struck by the militarization of the police force. We can expect to see more of this in repressing dissent--especially as the effects of corporate managed globalization become more obvious and outrage more people.

After the march, I learned that the students had trained for months for their very planned and coordinated resistance to the WTO. Direct Action Network and Ruckus had conducted training camps. Yes, there was a handful of vandals, while tens of thousands were absolutely committed to peaceful resistance, despite brutal and excessive force being used by the police, and despite the presence of the National Guard and Secret Service.

Overall, I left Seattle with an overwhelming feeling of hope and optimism. Citizen actions made a strong statement that was heard, and the voices that were heard were, in great part, those of informed and powerful young people.