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rmhttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/08/11/rnc_protest/index.html
That's about the upcoming protest situation in NYC for the RNC.
I've been pretty blase about the RNC coming -- I mean, I'm appalled and unhappy, but unlike many of my peers I've been convinced that at least in terms of protests/safety/riots it won't be that bad.
I'm increasingly less convinced, in part because of the above article and in part because when I wear shirts like "Republicans for Voldemort" I'm no longer getting discrete smiles on the subway, but sometimes as many as a half-dozen people a day coming up to me to inquire where I got it.
I'm not going to speculate on what NYC will be like at the end of the month, because frankly, this situation is so unprecedented, I couldn't come up with a good guess.
But speaking of the above article and my and my satircal t-shirts -- the following has occurred to me:
From the beginning, as protest permits were denied and denied and denied, I've said one of the only ways we have to protest wherever we are is clothing. I still think this is a true and powerful thing. But I also think that anyone wearing protest garb/satircal t-shirts/anti-bush/anti-republican t-shirts should consider the possibility they will be considered a protestor in a non-approved protest zone and face possible arrest. It's completely insane, I realize, but I think it's a real possibility.
I think the rage New Yorkers feel about the convention _using_ our city is being vastly underestimated, and that the protestors coming in from other places are potentially the least of it.
That's about the upcoming protest situation in NYC for the RNC.
I've been pretty blase about the RNC coming -- I mean, I'm appalled and unhappy, but unlike many of my peers I've been convinced that at least in terms of protests/safety/riots it won't be that bad.
I'm increasingly less convinced, in part because of the above article and in part because when I wear shirts like "Republicans for Voldemort" I'm no longer getting discrete smiles on the subway, but sometimes as many as a half-dozen people a day coming up to me to inquire where I got it.
I'm not going to speculate on what NYC will be like at the end of the month, because frankly, this situation is so unprecedented, I couldn't come up with a good guess.
But speaking of the above article and my and my satircal t-shirts -- the following has occurred to me:
From the beginning, as protest permits were denied and denied and denied, I've said one of the only ways we have to protest wherever we are is clothing. I still think this is a true and powerful thing. But I also think that anyone wearing protest garb/satircal t-shirts/anti-bush/anti-republican t-shirts should consider the possibility they will be considered a protestor in a non-approved protest zone and face possible arrest. It's completely insane, I realize, but I think it's a real possibility.
I think the rage New Yorkers feel about the convention _using_ our city is being vastly underestimated, and that the protestors coming in from other places are potentially the least of it.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-12 03:24 pm (UTC)The universe is very strange, and at the retreat last night, when one coworker came to dinner wearing an anti-Bush shirt, she got a round of cheers -- from people not at our retreat, as well as us. This is heartening.