Sept 23 Anti-War Protest

Yesterday I went to an anti-war protest/march in Minneapolis. It was organized by the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, a group which I’ve never heard of, but there are so many of them. I found out about from this socialist e-mail list that I’m on. Anyways, the plan was that people were going to gather at noon at this plaza at Hennepin & Lagoon, and then march to a military recruiting station and protest there. We got there an hour late, so they had already marched away, but there were still people milling about the plaza with signs, tabling with info about their groups and such.

One of the first things we noticed when we got there was a big, hand-lettered banner that said “Really Really Free Market- brought to you by Your Friendly Neighborhood Anarchists” People brought stuff they didn’t want, or wanted to share, and anyone could come up and take as much as they needed. I went thru the piles of clothes, and found a couple of cool books that I took, and there was also a stand of free fruits and vegetables, so I helped myself to a peach. There was a table of free anarchist literature as well. This is, in a way a political action- it is intended to create a community-based, economic alternative, and conserve natural resources. They are planning on doing this once a month, so I’m going to find out where they have it, and bring some of my stuff too. Also there was this guy who had this bike that could carry 7 people, and he was letting people ride it with him, so my brother & I tried it out. We had fun doing all that stuff, and talking with people, and then the marchers came back and had a rally. We chanted, people spoke out against the war, announced upcoming protests and events. People held up signs and cars honked in support.

Chants: The People United, Will Never be Defeated!

This is What Democracy Looks Like- Bush is What Hypocrisy Looks Like!

It was a pretty good turnout- the organizers estimated about 320 people. The space was not large enough to accomodate a huge crowd. I felt like I was doing something to voice my opposition to the war, though I don’t know how effective it was- I wonder if there was any media coverage, it may not have been big enough. I had fun, and felt connected to the community and the peace movement.

*My brother took some pictures at it, so maybe I can post some of them here later.

Advertisement