i almost got arrested

yeah thats right. as some of u know i protested today in NYC. and this was honestly one of the best days of my life. we marched from Marcus Garvey Park, to Harlem, and then to Central Park. during the whole march i was fuckin amazed by how many people showed up and how great everything was. but the time i got to Central Park though i just fuckin snapped. i was expecting counter protesters but the minute i walked into the park this lady commented on the poster i was holding up that said "Books not Bomb." she looks at me and goes "no darling, you have it alll wrong! its bombs NOT books." i just ignored her and carried on into the park. then there were plenty more pro-war/pro-bush people there. i went fuckin nuts. i tried to stay calm but i seriously couldnt. there were these metal block things set up to seperate the protesters and counter-protesters. but i was in a heated argument with this one guy who was old enough to be my father and i started to climb over the metal blocks (i seriously wanted to fight him). this cop started running towards me and this lady grabbed my arm and yanked me down. lol the cop came over and was like "if u try that again, im arresting your hippie ass."

anyways today was fuckin awesome, a few guys hit on me, i met some real cool people, tasted the best pizza ive ever had, heard some amazing speakers (including those 3 college kids who just got arrested), walked for miles, almost got arrested, cussed out people who were 3 times my age (which im not proud of but they had it coming). it felt so good to wave my freak flag and not be alone in doing it. i wish i could do it all again tomorrow. i took plenty of pics and i will post them soon.

 

What can protesting acheive?

 

are you kidding? protesting reaches large numbers of people with your message,creates solidarity among organizers and marchers, shows political prisoners that they are not alone, build coalitions with other protest groups,shows the strength of your organization,removes feelings of helplessness, and makes the system react to you.

 

Protesting is a freeing experince. You feel hey look we want change. I've been in 6 so far (starting with WTO Seattle) and i plan for more! Glad you did it KJ!

 

Protesting doesn't make the system do shit

 

kj, amen Sista! Keep up the faith and keep strong. Oh, and no more climbing over fences to hit people, ok? You'll give ALL OF US a bad name. And the last thing we need is to be percieved as violent when it's war and violence that we are protesting against! If you hit the guy, and the cop arrested you, he would've had EVERY right to arrest you, and I HATE cops and what cops usually do!

Be calm and secure in knowing that Truth is on our side. To that **** who said "bombs, not books", let her live in her visceral ignorance. Deep down, she despises herself.

 

Duck, that's true. Protesting alone does nothing. But mass movements, with the help of non-violent direct action, has created all the progressive changes that have happened in our country's history. Study up on the movements of the 1960s. here's a start for ya: www.google.com

Crystal, it's an honor having someone who attended the Seattle '99 demonstrations patronize this often-humble little establishment! lol Rock on!

 

yeah youre absolutely right. this was my first major protest...i was a little excited

 

It's cool. My first demonstration was in 2000, at King Bush's FIRST republican national convention in Philly! Man that was an exciting time. So much radical momentum built and built and built until that fateful day of 9-11, which I believe was planned, blueprinted, and acted out by elements within the U.S. government. I'm certainly not the only American who has expressed this belief. Speaking of, check out www.infowars.org and www.letsroll911.org

 

The only protests that did anything was the pro-black protests but that was only because many people in Washington agreed and the Constitution backed the protestors up

 

Awesome. Simply Awesome. There really are no words to descirbe that first real experience. Maybe that's what drives em nuts ey? That indefinable energy of true, real freedom. You can't wrap in glitter and spotlights and you can't sell it in a can. You can't slap a sticker on it, and you can't sell it during the super bowl. All I can say is good for you. Big props to standing up, mucho respect for really being there and more power to ya sister, you rock.

and to the naysayers it's okay to tell them to kindly STFU because really they only want the same freedom but piss in their pants at the prospects of what it might take to get it. it is the cowards way that they follow and they are weak and forlorn. sad,sad,sad.

 

books not bombs, but you can't hold yourself back from fighting someone on the other side of the fence? that last poster was right, if you can't hold yourself back and maintain a decent peaceful protest, you should get lost.. you give all of us a bad name.

by the sounds of it, including the title of this thread, the big thrill here was nearly getting arrested.

 

Lots of protesters nearly get arrested or even spend time in jail because the deck is stacked. Wake up.

 

was it necessary that she act like an ass and try to pick a fight? she's no worse than the people she's arguing with if she can't see the difference between protesting and jacking off. violent protests are only going to help bush. you wake up.

 

Aha ha ha. One day I will wake up to the real world right? yeop I can't wait, until then I think Ill call it as I see it. How about a spineless contingent of slimeball wonders that only serve to shuffle about and exhibit large words and a serious lack of delivery in substance. if some bitch came up to me and tried to tell me that bombs are better than books I think I might give her an earful too. I might even want to jump that convenient fence and get in the bitches face with a fistful of knowledge. The rest can crawl back into their comfortable little holes and hide while some people actually do something. Once again, props to kj for keeping a modicum of cool and not ending up in some warehouse surrounded by barbed wire.(Which is where some people think you should be for speaking up and telling the truth) Remember that there are plenty who whine a great deal but will bitch at every attempt you make to help to promote their very own freedom. Keep on the path and you will find that there are many who will try to bring you down, in a plethera of ways. Be strong. You rock sister.

 

well i don't quite know how to argue with someone who so obviously advocates violence. you most definitely confuse pragmatic pacifism with cowardice.

ghandi said, "peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and practiced by unarmed nations in the face of odds."

you sound like one of those hotheads that push the front of an otherwise peaceful protest and try to get everybody riled up; you annoy the hell out of me. (however, i have enough backbone to restrain myself and my 'fistful of knowledge'.)

peace,
sophia

 

Ha ha, he's obviously full of violence. You do well in the let's stereotype category. Fistfull of knowledge is only a statement towards backing up ones stance. Because I disagree with you I am now a violent man? Wow, I really didn't know that about myself, news to me. I am only frustrated with the terrible lack of spine that seems to be all the rage in political circles. Then there's Ghandi. Bring up Ghandi and guess what, sure we can discuss Ghandi, maybe in another thread, start one, I don't care because I know all about Ghandi and I'm willing to bet that I probably have more experience in dealing in a peaceful manner with a hostile public than you do. You're trying to make it out like I'm a horrible person and totally neglecting what the original posts words said. Did she start a riot, did she beat anyone up? Nope. But she merely related the feelings and the story. Or are we disallowed passion now as well.? Attention, from here on out there will be no passion in protesting. No passion, no feelings allowed.

 

i certainly wasn't implying that you're violent because you disagree with me. i said, you obviously advocate violence, because you're sticking up for the girl who gets a hard-on from hostility. you ask, did she start a riot, did she beat anyone up? i believe that's pretty much what made me reply to her thread in the first place.

she wrote,

i'm not advocating cowardice, buddy; you seem really stuck on the spineless, and i agree... the cowards are a hundred times worse than the violent. at least the violent are off their asses and doing something.
in the end, though, violence is just going to be seen as evil from the other side of the fence, and that's going to do jack shit for your cause, wouldn't you agree? you can't win people over by screaming obscenities at them til you're blue in the face. no one's going to take a gang of teenaged hoodlums who can't contain themselves seriously.

peace,
sophia

 

you couldnt find the power to ignore a counter protester.. go home.

ghandi and mlk's movements were strictly nonviolent. those, i believe, were the only anti-government protests in the last century to achieve anything. peace is the answer, if you cant simply ignore people who disagree with you, then go home; youve got a lot of growing up to do.

you also did a very good job of fitting in with the entire anarcho-protester stereotype that emerged before last year's rnc -- pro-violence protestors who are out there for the soul reason to fuck shit up. good job!