The Potential of Discontent Thoughts on the March for Women's Lives by Osage Bell Revolutionary Worker #1240, May 16, 2004, posted at http://rwor.org April 25, 2004. Going to D.C. for the March for Women's Lives--from the moment we gathered at the metro train stop in Baltimore, Maryland, to the moment we exited near the Washington Monument, we were carried along in a sea of people. It felt like standing-room only at a concert where you are held up by the moving bodies around you. The train ride took an extra 20 minutes than normal because of "crowd control" issues. Even though it was Sunday, it felt like Monday morning rush hour--there were so many people! The train platforms were filled with men and women from young girls to high school and college students to retirement age. Many were carrying signs with clever quips like, "Hey W, Outta My Bush!" Many already had the neon orange Refuse & Resist! sticker on them, which read, "Abortion On Demand & Without Apology!" Pro-choice chants echoed throughout the metro station as we waded our way to the exit. Out on the street, we found ourselves catching up to what was already the back of the march. Aside from its immensity, one of the first things that struck me was how energetic the march was. There was laughter and singing and a sense of "Finally!" For a lot of these women, this was the first demonstration they've been to--either in decades, or ever--and they were clearly very excited to be in the streets. Many others had been to anti-war demonstrations, or were active in the 1960s. I also saw countless multi-generational groups--women who had come with aunts, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, etc. Many people's eyes lit up when they saw the sticker the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade was getting out that advertised the rwor.org website and read, "Break the Chains! Unleash the Fury of Women As a Mighty Force for Revolution!" There was a surprising amount of openness to that slogan and curiosity toward our red flags--one had Marx, Lenin and Mao's faces on it that was a gift from revolutionary communist youth in Canada. For many in D.C. that day, it seemed to be a moment of awakening. One young woman, a Harvard Law student whose family had come all the way from Kansas to march together, told me she saw the march as an opportunity she'd been waiting for to actively speak out on an issue that is of serious concern to her. She told me, "Sitting idly by while the Bush administration decimates what I consider to be the most fundamental of civil liberties is just not acceptable.I haven't been much of an activist in the past, for whatever reason, but I'm really excited to have the chance to start now."... continue this article at http://rwor.org/a/1240/dcwomensmarch.htm
Great article. It sounds like such a fantastic event. I would loved to have been part of it. (but couldn't, being stuck in Britian amongst other things) TTFN Sage
