Defending Democracy in D.C.

by John J. Braun, WAMM

My participation in the Washington, D.C., protests against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) started on Friday noon, April 14th, and extended through Monday, April 17. Within two hours of our arrival, my wife, Marie, and I went to the Convergence Center, a warehouse area where organizers had set up their headquarters and training camp.

At the Convergence Center, I was first struck by the presence of a large number of young people. In the next three days, I witnessed thousands of them, age 25 and younger, link arms, sing, dance, caucus, beat drums, form human barricades, and, on a few occasions, swarm into a street to block police motorcades escorting IMF and WB delegates to their scheduled meetings.

One event, in particular, stands out in my mind. It occurred early (5:45 a.m.) on Sunday morning, April 16. We had joined a growing number of demonstrators enroute to Farragut Park, just a few blocks from the IMF office building where an IMF meeting was scheduled for that day.

Many of us were still talking about the police raid that closed down the Convergence Center on Saturday morning on the pretext that it was a fire hazard. We were also talking about Saturday evening arrest of 600 demonstrators who had marched in front of the Justice Department calling for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Our distraction with these two events was abruptly erased when we saw a police car, followed by a van, come roaring down the street in our direction. Presumably, the van was transporting delegates to the IMF meeting. Then an amazing action took place.

As many as a hundred people (mostly young people) swarmed into the street in front of the oncoming police car. In a flash, they dropped to their knees and unfurled a huge banner across the street. I feared for their safety and was greatly relieved when the police car stopped within inches of some of them. In this encounter there was no use of batons, tear gas, or pepper spray. The police car and van backed up to the nearest intersection and drove down another street.

I was profoundly impressed by the young protesters' courage in this highly effective action. Gandhi and King would have approved. It was nonviolent, creative, certainly disruptive and patently defiant of business as usual. At times, this is the way democracy needs to express itself when other, less confrontive ways of political expression are dominated by the corporate elites.

"Foolish children!" That is what an IMF official called the protesters. Really? The fact is that the protesters' actions have put the policies and practices of the IMF and WB in the spotlight, and as one commentator said of these institutions, "They are like Dracula. They don't like daylight."

At this point, the IMF, WB, and World Trade Organization (WTO) advocates can no longer be faceless forces whose policies have, among other things, brought about environmental degradation, low wages, horrendous working conditions, insurmountable debts, and an increased transfer of wealth from third world countries of the south to first world countries of the north.

Both the Seattle and Washington, D.C., protests achieved what the mainline media failed to do. They have informed the general public about the true nature of the IMF, WB, and WTO. This is very important and provides a glimmer of hope for the future. I commend especially our younger citizens, who played such an important role in these protests.

JAIL SOLIDARITY LETTER

"We, the male prisoners arrested in Washington, D.C., during the week of the A16 demonstrations against the IMF/ World Bank (April 16-22, 2000), wish to express our solidarity with our fellow inmates, as well as with prisoners around the world who die and are tortured daily, often simply because they ask to be treated fairly, equally, and justly . . .

"For no apparent reason, some of us were physically attacked by U.S. Marshals; we were forcefully thrown up against the wall, pepper sprayed directly in the face, or thrown on the floor and beaten. At least two individuals were forced against the wall by their necks in strangulation holds, with threats of further violence. This sort of violence was perpetrated against at least two juveniles in order to separate them from the larger group. The U.S. Marshals told us that we would be going to D.C. Jail, where we would be raped, beaten, and given AIDS or murdered by 'faggots' and 'niggers' . . .

Despite efforts by prison officials to alienate us from the resident inmate population, we continue to feel a great sense of community and solidarity with them . . . Unlike the 'brutal monsters' that the racist, homophobic U.S. Marshals described to us in offensive and threatening detail, we found our fellow inmates to be intelligent, caring, and passionately concerned about injustice inflicted on all members of our society by governments, as well as injustice perpetrated by U.S. based corporations, around the globe."

--Jail Solidarity Letter