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i believe in change
2003-03-22 @ 7:30 p.m.
my most bizarre moment today involved going to meet friends at the smithsonian kite festival after protesting in front of the white house. the white house where police shut down the park and disallowed allowed protestors and even journalists with white house press credentials from entering. i've got good voice projection so as is my usual spontaneous duty, i got chants going. we had a good bout of "show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like!" going for a while. i swear there were almost more polic in riot gear and on horses than there were protestors. when someone asked, "what are they afraid of?" in reference to the huge police presence, i heard someone else say "democracy, i guess." i got interviewed by australian tv before i left the protest. they asked me if protesting is more of an uphill battle now that we're actually at war. i told them that protesting isn't anymore of an uphill battle than it was last week, that the only difference is that the stakes have been raised. people are dying, homes are being destroyed... the stakes are higher and more urgent. in only a matter of a few blocks i went from inspiring, invigorating protest zone to happy american tourist-ville. it was so bizarre. within five minutes i went from being surrounded by all kinds of people joining together making our voices of dissent and hope heard, to being surrounded masses of happy families buying sodas and eating soft pretzels from street vendors near the smithsonian's kite festival. it was such a bizarre juxtaposition. perhaps these people had no idea that protests are going on across the world. perhaps they have no concept or desire to think about the terror and destruction being rained down on iraq. they're watching the same news coverage i am. i don't understand how masses of people can go about their merry way as if nothing is different. i just wonder what a difference it might make if all the families at the festival brought their kites and their kids down to the white house. i wonder what would happen if each of those families at the kite festival and other families around the country each spoke out on behalf of one iraqi family, pleading to the white house for their safety and wellbeing. i wonder if anything would be different if the people who support the war thought about it in those terms. if everyone in this country, hell if even half the people or a quarter of the people in the u.s. decided to sponsor the safety of one iraqi by way of speaking out to the bush administration and the media, i have to believe that things would be different.
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