I was an anti-war activist. For the first half of 2003, I designed, printed and posted flyers, organized and gave speeches at rallies, and marched, held signs and shouted slogans. I lost steam by the time of Bush’s “mission accomplished” speech. I felt betrayed, burnt out, and disillusioned with protesting (precipitating a personal recession –maybe a depression– that lasted for months. Shouting and marching didn’t leave much room for careful nuance, and the attitudes and tactics of other activists were often motivated by hatred and animosity. This was difficult to reconcile with a nonviolent ethic inspired by King and Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.
In spite of this history, I’m ready to march again. It took me until this morning to decide, but I’m going to march on the Federal Building in downtown LA today. I think my change of heart was motivated by an open invitation by the American Friends Service Committee. I’d like to see how Friends balance universal compassion with indignity at injustice. The successful management of the Yin-Yang interaction between these is one thing that fascinates me about the Society of Friends–throughout history, they’ve transformed mysticism into activism, quiet contemplation into a powerful voice that has challenged slavery, sexism, racism and war.
I’ve sat in silence with Quakers. Perhaps it’s time to walk with them.
Watt, I’ve got Mosh on a loop in my cranial background noise. I feel empowered!
Add your voice to the chorus–there are actions all over the nation today. If you want to join me and the AFSC in Los Angeles, we’re gathering at 5th and Hill at 11:30 AM and then joining the larger march.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Miko // Jan 27, 2007 at 8:16 am
good for you! enjoy & be well. I won’t make it today, but I feel that writing senators is not always enough…
2 Elise // Jan 27, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I’ll be really interested to hear about your experience. I’ve always thought marching/protesting seemed like a waste of time, but the only displays I’ve observed involve 10-15 people marching outside of city hall. The type of large protests I saw on the news tonight - in L.A. and on the mall in D.C. - seem to be much more powerful than a few people with small cardboard signs.
Do you think there were any direct effects from the efforts today? Did you ever feel the threat of chaos, like the crowd might get totally out of control? I’m always a bit concerned about that in such passionate crowds.
3 John // Jan 29, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Elise, this had more of the air of a chaotic parade than, say, something like the Seattle WTO protests.
I’ve asked myself the same question about the efficacy of marches, and I have a number of answers, none of them really satisfying. I don’t know how much protests affect opinions of the public or of the government, but I suspect that it’s more influential than no protest at all. I know that when we think of the history of women’s suffrage and civil rights, there seem to have been a lot of rallying and marching.
I decided to go to this one to put pressure not so much on Bush as on our senators.
I suspect that these mass protests are as much for the activists as they are for everyone else. They are good ways to connect and network, to release frustration by doing something, and to remove any sense of isolation.
4 John White // Jan 30, 2007 at 5:04 am
+1 on benefit to the marchers.
My recollections:
http://john-with-an-h.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-didnt-even-get-t-shirt.html
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