In D.C., a Diverse Mix Renews War Protest (Washington Post)

[diamond14]

In D.C., a Diverse Mix Renews War Protest

By Manny Fernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page A08

-snips-

Tens of thousands of antiwar demonstrators marched in Washington yesterday to call for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, turning out in smaller numbers than for prewar protests but making plain their opposition during a noisy yet peaceful procession.

From a stage on the Mall and along a route that ringed the Washington Monument, the White House and the Justice Department, protesters lodged an array of grievances against the Bush administration's domestic and foreign policies, including the financial and human costs of the occupation and the effect of the Patriot Act on civil liberties.....

The demonstrators represented a diverse mix of dissent, from suburban high school students to gray-haired retirees, from fathers pushing their children in strollers to Muslim American college students shouting through bullhorns. There were people from D.C. Poets Against the War, the Louisville Peace Action Community, Northern Virginians for Peace and Central Ohioans for Peace, among many others. Banners in Spanish, Korean, Urdu, Hebrew, Arabic and Tagalog decried the war. Smaller marches began at various locations in the city and led to the main rally, including those organized by Muslim American and by African American activists.

....Becker and other organizers said yesterday's turnout exceeded their expectations, and they estimated the attendance at 100,000, with crowds on the march route spilling over what they described as 23 Washington blocks.... ....large number of veterans and military families with loved ones in Iraq participated....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17636-2003Oct25.html

[Brucey]

1. What I saw on TV did not look impressive.

I hope we've got more and higher quality support than was visible on the tube.

[DebJ]

6. re quality of support

This was the first time I attended a public rally of any type. I had anticipated that the speakers would provide more concrete information then what we heard yesterday. With TV coverage on CSPAN, what a lost opportunity to actually present some hard core facts. Even if only 100 people chanced to hear new facts....well, I don't think even that happened yesterday.

I would have like a speaker to have had a banner and a speech educating people along the lines of:

Bill of Rights:
On the left of the banner, a list of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Amendments, etc
On the right of the banner, a list of infractions of these amendments by the current government, and references to where these facts can be verified

Media Sources of Information:
Most of the 'common man in the streets' that I meet have no idea how tightly controlled our media is (and how much did the media financially gain from Bush's tax cuts?)

ETC, ETC
The American public will not march until the American public gets facts.

In the Declaration of Independence, it says that our government should
'derive its just powers from the consent of the governed'. But true consent requires facts, information, data! Not simply emotional statements, which was what the rally was almost solely about. Although I could relate to what was said, that was only because I ALREADY have SOME info (but want more,more, more). For example, I understood the one speaker's Venezuela references....but people who just tuned in to CSPAN...what did they know or learn??

[diamond14]

8. welcome to DU...but it's not nice to start criticizing if you are new

here...and especially if this was you first rally...

this rally was put together BY THE AMERICAN PUBLIC...

if you feel a need to change a rally...then the first thing you should do (and you can start TODAY!!!) is to go over to the DC offices and start putting some effort into this ...if you put lots of effort into any cause, then eventually, YOU TOO can get up on the stage and say whatever you want....with lots of work, YOU too can arrange the speakers and help organize it...YOU too can STAND UP and really be an American...

but if you sit around here at DU and complain about the March...especially as a new poster, then others will get your gist and know that you are definitely a whiner, a complainer, and not a community DU person...

so I welcome you here...and hope this helps you in your posts..

:hi:

:bounce: :bounce:

:nuke:

[screembloodymurder]

7. I was there and

I don't think you can judge the crowd by the number at the rally. Frankly, many choose not to attend the rally because there are too many speakers with radical agendas. In contrast, the march allows people to protest Bush w/o being labled. I would estimate the marchers at 30,000. About half the number that marched last October. If you weren't there, don't criticize the turnout. You don't have to agree with every sponsor to march against this morally corrupt administration.

[KoKo]

2. What I saw on C-Span when the camera panned was HUGE!

It's hard to know how it compared with the other DC Protests because C-Span didn't pan. But, at least they covered the speakers in the other marches. We have to be thankful for "small favors." But, today, the panning showed a HUGE group. It's always hard to know unless one can do a grid and figure out how many bodies occupy a given space, like the DC Mall. Still, it was impressive.

[piece sine]

3. most of the local news in DC didn't even cover it?!

what's with that? NO coverage at all. poof...it didn't happen?!

[bpilgrim]

4. GlobalFreePress.com has the story...

http://new.globalfreepress.com/article.pl?sid=03/10/25/0542238

:hi:

peace

[DebJ]

5. CNN website said about 8000 people/ I was there yesterday

and we (the three of us) were rather disappointed at the light turnout. I can't judge the numbers of people....and we arrived late, around 11:45 I think....just before Sharpton spoke ... but even with the @#$% wall built around the Washington Memorial, which greatly cut back available space, sad to say there was a great deal of room for many more people. I was borne in DC in 1955 and grew up just over the line. "Local" news there IS national news; I watched all the protests of the 60's as a child and on several occasions we had to drive through them on trips downtown. This was NOT heavy turnout.

Perhaps the most important message sent out by a couple of speakers yesterday was that everyone at the rally needs to recruit 10 more people. That's a nice easy workable goal, something that won't make people feel it's hopeless...which is what most people I have worked with over the past two decades seem to feel....that one person can't make a difference....I always reply, certainly not, when that is your perspective.

[diamond14]

9. DC Police Chief Ramsey estimated that the event drew 50,000 (link)

..why are you complaining and distorting facts, so soon after appearing on this board???

link to March story with estimates from the DC Police Department....
and Chief Ramsey is noted for his underestimates...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17636-2003Oct25.html


also, you said this was your first rally, yet claim to be born in DC in 1955...so you missed a lot? or what?

[deutsey]

10. I was there (with a group of fellow DUers)

I thought this certainly lacked the same energy or, perhaps, size of the demonstrations prior to Bush's invasion of Iraq.

However, the focus seemed to me to be on getting people to go back to their communities to organize opposition activity at the grassroots level, not on having a massive demonstration (although there were quite a few people there...my gut says somewhere between 50,000 and 90,000, based on a number of protests I've been to).

Regarding the "quality" of people there: as always there was an impressive mix of people from all over the US. Anarchists, church groups, old, young, suburban and urban, black and white (I seemed to notice a much larger number of African Americans than at previous demonstrations, which isn't to say there were none at other ones. Their number just seemed to be larger to me this time, which I was glad to see).

I've said before I'm not a big fan of ANSWER, but, damn it, they're the only ones providing an opportunity for these public demonstrations. I give them credit for that and I thought it was also great that United for Peace teamed up with them to stage this event on Saturday.

Can they improve? Certainly, and I did think I saw improvement over previous rallies (the stridency seemed to be diminished this time around, thankfully). One thing I'd like to see is cutting back on the number of speeches they allow...me and the DUers decided to leave the rally before the speeches were over so we could get on to the march before it got too late. A few thousand other demonstrators had the same idea: Thousands were in the streets even before the last speaker spoke.

Things like this demonstration are necessary, but the most important thing is to get involved in your community and organize events that provide a space for dissenters to come together and express their dissent. Whether this is a vigil, peace walk, forum, movie night (the peace group I belong to had 210 people show up for our showing of Bowling for Columbine in our small, rural town).