meganmonkey
05-03-2008, 01:26 AM
I feel compelled to post this email I got today - this is the daily rush hour protest group, it's been going on for more than 3 yrs, every weekday.
pls. forward to anyone you think might be interested.....
hello fellow 5th & Liberty agitators -
since our numbers are dropping way down, i would like to try to organize to ensure that some people will show up weekdays, 5:30 - 6:30pm. our signs which were stored in the basement across Liberty have disappeared, so i'll show up every weekday in my sign-filled car if i know other(s) will be there. it's just that i don't like standing alone.
please email or call if you can promise to show up one day a week, one day a month, two days a month, whatever - to the best of your ability. (ex: every friday; the 3rd wed. of each month; the 2nd and 4th thursday of each month)
i'll make a calendar as soon as i rec'v enough replies and email it to you. today at the protest three people gave me committed days, so we have a start!
i'll paste below a list i've come up with - why these protests are important. please feel free to send me more reasons!
thanks for the time and thinking you might put into this!
Lxxxxx
2xx-xxxx cell
ps - i'm going to the Gray Panthers meeting tomorrow to recruit, and will go to any other meetings i think of or you recommend. feel free to recruit people - just let me know the days they choose so i can add to the calendar. maybe we'll have 10 people a day sign up! or more!
* * * * *
Maybe E.M. Forster had us in mind:
"Not an aristocracy of power, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes and through the ages, and they know each other when they meet. Authority, seeing their value, tries to net them and to utilize them But they slip through the net and are gone; when the door is shut they are no longer in the room; Their temple is the Holiness of the Heart's Imagination, and their kingdom, though they never possess it, is the wide open world."
REASONS TO PROTEST
--we have a fairly large variety of signs, and they need to be seen. they're good for children to see. they emphasize points which the media downplays or never reports
--i've been told by a number of people that having a presence during rush hour is important, even if numbers are small. i was even told this by a psychic! today (may 2, 08) a gentleman told me he drove by last week and was upset to see nobody protesting!
--i'm naieve(sp) enough to think that the many people who say that they'll find the courage to show up some day, or will show up soon, or know it's important, or want to be there but just can't, etc etc.....will show up someday
--once we were all interviewed by a Dutch Public Radio guy with fancy equipment. he was covering an astronomy conference at the U. said he'd do a segment on us in the netherlands. he's a dramatic example of all the many foreigners who come by taking our photos, commenting that in their country people think this kind of thing never happens in the US. can't begin to name the many countries' people we've heard this from.
--teens and older people from all over michigan come to glitzy a2 for shopping, eating, whatever. it's great for the teens to see us and talk. other protesters talk to pedestrians, too, and we're all getting better at it. one couple visiting from west mich. said maybe they'd try to start up something in their town.
--day laborers from all over mich., ind., ohio, and maybe canada come down 5th in trucks each day after installing granite counters in a2 homes. sometimes they tell us to get a job.
--folks from all over the midwest and US (?) come to a2 for medical & dental treatments, etc. - some or many make their way on foot or in cars to liberty & 5th.
--folks come from everywhere(the world) to the U for conferences, to visit kids, museums, etc.
--we recognize the same a2 people walking home from work each day who won't look at us, some who've told us this does no good or that we're wasting our time. or we should just wait out the rest of the bush reign. i call these folks the a2 neo-liberals and they also keep me returning to the demo.
--people thank us a lot, even tho they can't bring themselves to be there. one offered me a free massage!
--i was in a2 during 69-70-71-72 and in honor of those days, when the windows on s. univ. would all be broken if we had the current regime back then, i keep returning.
-- i personally feel compelled to go public for at least an hour each weekday (i realize most of you work and i have the time!). the public contact can't be beat. it's especially great when a young person comes by and wants to ask questions. (many times we hear that our efforts are wasted and nothing will change until there's a draft. that's when i like to explain the mind-controlling mass media we live under. 4 companies all with ties to congress and the white house....that 25 yrs ago we had 2200 companies owning our media.)
November 15, 2006 exerpt from counterpunch.org article
New Challenges for the Anti-War Movement - Iraq After November 7 By WALDEN BELLO
...So it comes down to the anti-war movement.
But the movement cannot even think about relaxing for a second. The moment is critical. Now-the immediate post-election period-is the time to raise the ante. Now is the time for the U.S. anti-war movement to escalate its efforts-to mount demonstration after demonstration-to effect immediate withdrawal. Electoral choice has created the momentum that can be translated into street action that can, in turn, translate into strong pressure on the Democrats not to agree to a protracted exit strategy. The movement cannot afford to squander this momentum, for the price of stepping back and letting the Democrats come up with the strategy will be more Iraqis and Americans dead, sacrificed for a meaningless war with no real end in sight.
pls. forward to anyone you think might be interested.....
hello fellow 5th & Liberty agitators -
since our numbers are dropping way down, i would like to try to organize to ensure that some people will show up weekdays, 5:30 - 6:30pm. our signs which were stored in the basement across Liberty have disappeared, so i'll show up every weekday in my sign-filled car if i know other(s) will be there. it's just that i don't like standing alone.
please email or call if you can promise to show up one day a week, one day a month, two days a month, whatever - to the best of your ability. (ex: every friday; the 3rd wed. of each month; the 2nd and 4th thursday of each month)
i'll make a calendar as soon as i rec'v enough replies and email it to you. today at the protest three people gave me committed days, so we have a start!
i'll paste below a list i've come up with - why these protests are important. please feel free to send me more reasons!
thanks for the time and thinking you might put into this!
Lxxxxx
2xx-xxxx cell
ps - i'm going to the Gray Panthers meeting tomorrow to recruit, and will go to any other meetings i think of or you recommend. feel free to recruit people - just let me know the days they choose so i can add to the calendar. maybe we'll have 10 people a day sign up! or more!
* * * * *
Maybe E.M. Forster had us in mind:
"Not an aristocracy of power, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes and through the ages, and they know each other when they meet. Authority, seeing their value, tries to net them and to utilize them But they slip through the net and are gone; when the door is shut they are no longer in the room; Their temple is the Holiness of the Heart's Imagination, and their kingdom, though they never possess it, is the wide open world."
REASONS TO PROTEST
--we have a fairly large variety of signs, and they need to be seen. they're good for children to see. they emphasize points which the media downplays or never reports
--i've been told by a number of people that having a presence during rush hour is important, even if numbers are small. i was even told this by a psychic! today (may 2, 08) a gentleman told me he drove by last week and was upset to see nobody protesting!
--i'm naieve(sp) enough to think that the many people who say that they'll find the courage to show up some day, or will show up soon, or know it's important, or want to be there but just can't, etc etc.....will show up someday
--once we were all interviewed by a Dutch Public Radio guy with fancy equipment. he was covering an astronomy conference at the U. said he'd do a segment on us in the netherlands. he's a dramatic example of all the many foreigners who come by taking our photos, commenting that in their country people think this kind of thing never happens in the US. can't begin to name the many countries' people we've heard this from.
--teens and older people from all over michigan come to glitzy a2 for shopping, eating, whatever. it's great for the teens to see us and talk. other protesters talk to pedestrians, too, and we're all getting better at it. one couple visiting from west mich. said maybe they'd try to start up something in their town.
--day laborers from all over mich., ind., ohio, and maybe canada come down 5th in trucks each day after installing granite counters in a2 homes. sometimes they tell us to get a job.
--folks from all over the midwest and US (?) come to a2 for medical & dental treatments, etc. - some or many make their way on foot or in cars to liberty & 5th.
--folks come from everywhere(the world) to the U for conferences, to visit kids, museums, etc.
--we recognize the same a2 people walking home from work each day who won't look at us, some who've told us this does no good or that we're wasting our time. or we should just wait out the rest of the bush reign. i call these folks the a2 neo-liberals and they also keep me returning to the demo.
--people thank us a lot, even tho they can't bring themselves to be there. one offered me a free massage!
--i was in a2 during 69-70-71-72 and in honor of those days, when the windows on s. univ. would all be broken if we had the current regime back then, i keep returning.
-- i personally feel compelled to go public for at least an hour each weekday (i realize most of you work and i have the time!). the public contact can't be beat. it's especially great when a young person comes by and wants to ask questions. (many times we hear that our efforts are wasted and nothing will change until there's a draft. that's when i like to explain the mind-controlling mass media we live under. 4 companies all with ties to congress and the white house....that 25 yrs ago we had 2200 companies owning our media.)
November 15, 2006 exerpt from counterpunch.org article
New Challenges for the Anti-War Movement - Iraq After November 7 By WALDEN BELLO
...So it comes down to the anti-war movement.
But the movement cannot even think about relaxing for a second. The moment is critical. Now-the immediate post-election period-is the time to raise the ante. Now is the time for the U.S. anti-war movement to escalate its efforts-to mount demonstration after demonstration-to effect immediate withdrawal. Electoral choice has created the momentum that can be translated into street action that can, in turn, translate into strong pressure on the Democrats not to agree to a protracted exit strategy. The movement cannot afford to squander this momentum, for the price of stepping back and letting the Democrats come up with the strategy will be more Iraqis and Americans dead, sacrificed for a meaningless war with no real end in sight.