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One-Half Million Protest in New York
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Sue Ann Martinson, W A M M
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On August 29, 2004, one-half million people took to the streets of New York City at the Republican National Convention (RNC) to protest the policies of the current administration. In the history of the United States, it was the largest demonstration and march that has ever taken place at a party convention.
Although this demonstration had limited coverage in Minnesota, it was covered-unlike many demonstrations-in media nationwide. It is difficult to ignore half a million people flowing through the streets of New York City!
In the course of the week of the RNC, nearly 2000 outraged citizens were arrested in NYC. With the exception of a few, most of these thousands of people did nothing to provoke arrest other than walking peacefully through the streets. After the permitted march of August 29, two non-permitted poor people’s marches resulted in about 200 protesters being “penned” (in orange, flexible fence barriers) and arrested. The next day, 3000 people started out from Ground Zero to march to Madison Square Garden, the RNC site. Immediately, over 200 were penned and arrested in a move obviously meant to stop the march, but the march did not stop. Organizers simply took a different route, ending with about 50 people being arrested at a die-in in front of Madison Square Garden.
One protester, a realtor from Minneapolis, reported being held for 42 hours (24 hours is the legal limit in NYC to hold anyone without a hearing or seeing a judge). A judge finally threatened to fine the City of New York $1000 per protester if they were not released immediately. The Minneapolis protester also reported that many of the NYPD in the jail expressed sympathy with the protesters’ issues, just as, on the streets, protesters expressed support of the NYPD because they did not get the raise they requested.
What happened in NYC? The day before the major protests began, the New York Daily News carried headlines such as “Road Map for City Terror” and “Anarchy Threat to City.” New Yorkers, answering the challenge, took to the streets in full force, joining the busloads of those who came from other parts of the country. The image that comes to mind is the coiled snake with the words printed under it, “Don’t Tread on Me” (from the Revolutionary War). I asked one gray-haired woman walking next to us with her husband why she had not succumbed to the fear factor. The woman, from a nearby suburb of NYC, said that at age 71, she had nothing to lose.
One newspaper summarized the march as “Bush-bashing,” missing, as the media so often does, the real issues represented. Yet the issues were self-evident in the signs and chants: the occupation of Iraq, Palestine, transnational corporate domination, poverty, job loss, health care, worker rights, immigrant rights, etc.
No media I encountered discussed the essence of the message of NYC: You will not destroy our right to protest, our right to disagree with your policies, and your insidious attempts to stifle our voices. Michael Moore used the catchy phrase, “Dude, where’s my country?” (also the title of his latest book) to say the same thing.
A local Twin Cities newspaper reporter wrote that the protest did not seem too organized. He too, missed the point. First, organizing half a million people, as United and Peace and Justice did for the Sunday march, and coordinating the busloads that came in from other states, required a lot of organizing. For the rest of the week, many groups organized their own marches, protests, and actions, including large organizations like School of the Americas Watch, the groups that organized the poor people’s march, the War Resisters League, Veterans for Peace, and smaller organizations and affinity groups of many stripes.
Democracy is diverse, and therefore sometimes “messy.” It’s not a corporation, nor should it be run like one with hierarchical top-down policy-making. This diversity made for a colorful week with creative marches like the poor people’s march. Other creative actions emerged, as well. At Ground Zero, activists rang a bell for the victims of September 11, 2001. A group of guitar players in black sang Johnny Cash songs to the RNC delegates, who were at a private auction of Cash memorabilia (ironic, since Cash was known to give benefit concerts for farmers and other groups). Smaller groups went to the many Broadway shows RNC delegates were attending in groups. These are only a few of the many independent actions that took place.
The burning of the papier-mâché head of a dragon in front of Madison Square Garden during the Sunday march is worth noting. Several Black Block members were subsequently arrested (a couple of them literally at my feet!). Two things are particularly notable about this incident. One is that the many marchers in the area remained calm and peaceful during the arrests of some of these Black Block members, even when charged by a calvalry of about twelve mounted police. Second, no media mention I heard or read mentioned what the very long tail of the dragon said: “Self-determination,” meaning the right of countries to determine their own form of government. |
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© 2004 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete October 2004 Index - click here
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