It’s Getting Hot In Here

The air in St. Paul is one of both tense expectation and also hoped-for disappointment. The protesters and the police are poised, waiting to see who will provoke the other first. At the same time, no one really wants a major violent confrontation.

All around, people are wearing their protest on sleeves, chests and skin. The protests are here but what have they become? A violation of civil rights to prove that the state is willing to go to those lengths against its own people, when we know they have been willing to conveniently forget that citizens of the world not just the United States have human rights. Is it worth provoking? In the name of peace we take to the streets, and in the name of dismantling oppression we confront the state, and in the name of revolution we do whatever it takes? What does it become? Fuel to the fire.

In response to Josh’s post last week on the Republican National Convention, Willie makes the point that while the conventions draw an astounding amount of media coverage, the strategy and impact of these protests are perhaps not the most effective use of our energy. Surely, it seems like the larger the gathering, the less impact any one individual has. Still, there is incredible power in numbers.

The trick here is that the RNC has brought a lot of people together who have a common desire to change the direction of our country, and care enough and are able to come to Minnesota to express that desire. Folks have come from all over, but at least outside the RNC (which is all that I had access to) people want change, and they want it now.

So what is going on outside the RNC? I personally have not been a part of the marches or protests, but I spent yesterday at Ripple Effect, a day long festival on the Capitol Lawn, intended to provide a positive space for arts, music and activism without planning to confront the po. Around 5,000 people came through the festival over the course of the day and they were all ex cited about building community, making change and confronting our current broken system. And by no means was it a homogenous crowd either. People from all over the country who came for the RNC attended the event, along with local Republicans, Greens, Democrats and anarchists.

That day, more than any time I can remember, the speakers, musicians and audience were drawing the connections between the war, worker’s rights, economic justice, global warming and political participation. At one point, we were backstage doing an interview with a couple of veterans with Iraq Veterans Against the War, and their message was so incredibly in line with what we in the “youth climate movement” have been talking about. And yet, they don’t necessarily identify as a part of the youth climate movement – they primarily focus on anti-war efforts. Medea Benjamin, Founder of Global Exchange and Code Pink, emphasized the hypocrisy between professing to be pro-life while pursuing an illegal war for oil that kills thousands of innocents. Dead Prez and Rosa Clemente, vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, talked with us about the need to address the economic oppression that poor and colored communities are facing as a way to confront climate change. By building safer communities and more economic opportunities, we can help create the flexibility, support and empowerment that enable people to organize to a greater degree.

What struck me yesterday was the very real display of solidarity. All of these causes and issues were present in one venue, and the support from people of such diverse backgrounds was truly inspiring. We absolutely need to be working with people from other groups, not just to show support for them, but to make all our messages stronger, more compelling and more representative of the public’s concerns. We are all in this together, so let’s get out there and play well with others.

Other highlights from Ripple Effect:

-The vast variations on the “Make Love, Not War” slogan:
Make Out, Not War
Make Believe, Not War
Make Art, Not War
Make Awkward Sexual Advancements, Not War
Make Random Shit Up, Not Causes For War
- Discussing the “Browning of the Green Party” in Chicago with Rosa Clemente, and how the Green Party is actively building and seeking leadership from non-white citizens and getting them elected all over the country.
- Rage Against the Machine was prevented from playing on stage by security on the premise they might incite a riot. Amid cheers of “Let Them Play,” “Our Capitol” and “We Want Rage,” the audience burst into a rousing round of the national anthem. Eventually Rage simply went to the front of the crowd and led a capella versions of their songs with a bull horn.