Narrative and Photos of ANSWER/UFPJ peace march, Washington, DC, 10/25/03

[jsmacdonald]

Okay, folks, most of you know what these photos are narratives are like. This one is similar.

See my pictures and read all about my experiences and about the march at

http://www.yellowstonemagic.com/peace. I've entitled it "Twilight Zone."

I want to see your comments, especially since this one may not be as celebratory as some of my peace narratives.
Jim

***excerpt***
Imagine if you will a peace demonstration. In the mix of marching, chanting, colors and drumbeats it looks like any other peace demonstration. Police lines dot the boundary, and beyond that boundary is a cold stale world of concrete. The distinction is clear. What's inside the demonstration represents hope and what stands outside of it represents an empty world of alienation. In the world of hope, however, drumbeat after drumbeat, sign after sign, chant after chant, something strange begins to happen. The further we march, the less diverse are our signs. No one can seem to remember the words of the chants, or the last time they heard a new one. Our colors start becoming increasingly fewer, at this point reducing to three. What's worse, no one inside the peace demonstration seems to notice. All they take solace in is that they are not in the world of concrete. Well, that is true except that everyone now has a cell phone, or a video camera, or a job inside one of those buildings outside the police lines. We have dinner plans, or plans to write peace narratives on the web. All of us are obsessed with getting angry at the media who will again misreport the numbers of the march, if they report it at all. As the whirlpool begins to swirl, the police begin to leave. Or, worse, we cannot tell whether we are police, or whether they are now demonstrators. Our cell phones begin turning into rifles. Our colors are now simply army fatigues. We march now in straight lines and no longer have signs. Our peace demonstration has become a war party, and suddenly safety behind a concrete wall looks rather tempting. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.

On Saturday, October 25, with approximately 50,000 other people, we did not enter the Twilight Zone of the peace movement, but we marched closer to it, perhaps. On a beautiful, sunny autumn day that had all the look of a successful demonstration, something creepy badgered me in those moments that I took notice of where I was. After more than 6 months without a major demonstration, I felt an eerie sense that we risked becoming what we hated. When worlds turn upside down, why are we still pretending that our world is the same?

Here is my report of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stow War and End Racism) and UFPJ (United for Peace and Justice)October 25, 2003, rally and march to end the war and occupation in Iraq. Despite my sense that our world of peace activism is slipping closer to paradoxical neverlands, I had a wonderful time witnessing and participating on it. Yet, right now, I have no interest in feeling good about myself or ourselves. So, let's focus on the darkness that made its way through the light--that tunnel at the end of the light.
***excerpt***

[burrowowl]

1. Thank you

JS

[hippiechick]

2. incredible ... thank you !!

:toast:



:hippie:

[jsmacdonald]

3. Thank you both

It helps validate some of my labor of love.

Jim

[NJCher]

4. enjoyed the photos

Nice page and I really appreciate the links to larger photos.

Bookmarked to read the essay tomorrow with a bagel and coffee. I haven't missed a one of your accounts of the marches and I want to enjoy this one without fighting to stay awake at 3:30 a.m.

Re "Dick Cheney," I think they were using it as a verb, as in "dick him around." The other side of the sign seems to reinforce that?

I wanted to wear the death mask and a long black robe, too. I looked at the masks at the store, though, and couldn't imagine wearing one for long. My sign was going to read, "American Foreign Policy."

For whatever reason, I can never come up with a good protest sign. Mine are always boring! I love seeing the clever work that people do on their signs at the marches, however.


Cher

[jsmacdonald]

6. Thanks

Thanks for making sense of that to me. I never quite got close enough to try and figure that out.

Jim

[jsmacdonald]

8. Just one more thing

I will be very interested in what you or anyone else has to say about the narrative itself because I think it may be a little unsettling, if not that, obtuse.

Jim

[nostamj]

5. thanks, and about that pink slip...

It was so windy that I never quite was able to read this sign.  However, it got quite a reaction from the marchers.  It has something to do with Bush's lies.

this was an action by Operation Pink, a nationwide women's action group. the 'pink slip' is a 'pink slip' for bush* - as in, you're fired.

they did this at a fund raiser in CA and the SS stormed the hotel room they were in and seized and destroyed the banner.

thanks for all the great images... will read the account at my leisure a bit later.

[jsmacdonald]

7. Thanks

They needed someone 3 floors down to hold the bottom of the sign. It wasn't that windy yesterday, but it was breezy enough to cause havoc with signs. My group, the DC Anti-War Network, had two balloons holding a sign that said "DC Says No to War and Empire", but the breeze made it look like they were flying a kite.

Jim

[nostamj]

9. of course I meant CODE PINK

not "operation"

man, posting too early I make more gaffes than any random minute of bushco...

[jsmacdonald]

10. I knew what you meant :)

:) We've done a lot of work with Code Pink; they are one of our main allies in the local movement, and we have a lot of cross membership.

Jim