What to do to improve my local protests?

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I've been going to local anti-war protests for about 2 years... and we've had 4. Three of which I have been able to attend and did attend.
The protests usually have from 40 to 80 demonstrators and we just stand on various parts of an intersection holding signs. They usually only last about 3 hours. The only place where information is given about these demonstrations is on the local green party website, a local cofee shop, and a bookstore. I was thinking that I should talk to the organizer of these protests and see if we can't find some people to speak at these gatherings and get the news out through as many mediums as possible so as to increase the turnout. I mean, we have at least 250,000 people in the Pensacola area... and I think our turnouts are shameful for a city of that size.

any suggestions?

I could always pay out the ass and go to the big time in DC next time...
although I can't afford that shit no more

[coda]

It sounds like you are doing very well. it would be a good idea to get some speakers. You could probably even speak yourself since you know all the issues.

But, don't think small protests aren't good or effective though. People driving and walking by take notice more than you would think.

I've been doing small local anti-war protests for about 3 years now every week. One of the ones I go to has a very small turnout anywhere from a few people to maybe 25, and most of the people who do drop by i think only come because we have a very famous local activist there who is Pete Seeger. He stands out there with us when there are two people or there are 100 people, in rain, snow, whatever the weather. That has personally shown me that numbers don't matter--- but getting the message out there and visible is the important thing. Maybe you should start having the protests every week.. even if it is just yourself and a couple friends doing it. and
dropping a lot of flyers where ever you can with as much info as it can hold announcing the dates of protests and what you are protesting would help.


Good Luck! :):)

[STI]

You know Pete Seeger? You should get him to sing for you!

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Don't count on liberals letting a communist speak.

[Nachie]

Here's just a small suggestion, but this appeared in a DIY column in the second issue of the Red & Anarchist Action Network's "Network News" (RAAN-NN) publication back in 2003:

DIY CORNER RED & BLACK FLAGS - By The Kazm Collective (RAAN)

Here's a quick, easy (and cheap!) way to
make lots of red & black flags to hand out
at protests, which will greatly increase
the presence of any anti-capitalist bloc.

STEP ONE: LINEN LIBERATION
The best way to get fabric for your flags is
a hotel raid: Find a local hotel and wait for
a time between when everybody is checking
out and when everybody is checking
in. Usually anytime right after 12 is good.
This is when the cleaning people are at
the height of their activity, and you can
wander around the halls of the hotel and
pull linens off of all the cleaning carts.
Bedsheets are huge and make good banners, but
for flags you really want to concentrate on
the pillowcases. Just cut/rip
one open and you'll end up with a big
piece that more or less matches your
expectations for the size of a flag. Make
sure to get lots!

STEP TWO: DYE
The pillowcases are white, so you gotta
dye them red and/or black. Fabric dye can
be found in most convenience or art-sup-
ply stores, and the price for one package
of red dye was 50 cents (but liquid dye is
better than the type which you dissolve).
One package is enough to make a bucket
of dye that will easily take care of three or
four flags. Follow the directions - usually
it involves boiling water, salt, and some
stirring. Only dye one pillowcase at a
time, and leave them in long enough to
get really bright reds and dark blacks.
Don't try to make a red/black diagonal flag
with this method! (you'll end up with an
ugly tye-dye)

STEP THREE: FLAGPOLES
Flagpoles can be made out of almost any-
thing, and are really easy to dumpster. We
were able to find some bamboo stalks.
The flags can be attached to the poles
with duct tape or a staple gun.

Full issue - http://raan.yardapes.net/publications/raan-nn/raan-nn2.pdf

[Guest]

<<You know Pete Seeger? You should get him to sing for you&#33;>>

He does sometimes show up at the protest with his guitar or banjo and sings a few songs with his musician grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger. Unfortunetely though, Pete&#39;s starting to lose his singing voice -- He turned 86 in May&#33; But he can still play&#33; and He&#39;s still a very active activist, protesting at the anti-war events and very involved in local environmental causes including his founding organization, CLEARWATER, which aims to protect the Hudson River and teach about other waterways, and also involved in the Close Indian Point campaign (IPSEC) to shut down a very volitile Nuclear Power Plant in our vicinity that has repeated violations of radioactive releases.

There is a current photo, (taken just last week) of Pete on the front page of the IPSEC website scroll down to see it. And if I can I will try to scan a photo of him playing at the Clearwater Festival.

Pete is excellent people&#33; And a great example of life-long activism.

Pete&#39;s founding organization
http://clearwater.org/


Pic of Pete
http://www.ipsecinfo.org/

[coda]

Sorry, Forgot to sign in above.

here is an article about pete at our little protests-- And Little they are&#33; not more than 10-15 people most of the time. So, hey, Red Zep don&#39;t feel so bad if it seems others won&#39;t get involved. More people will eventually join. when you do the little ones, just shows how committed you are to the cause.
A salute to you, comrade&#33;

"When the Vietnam War ended and there were no more huge demonstrations in Washington," Seeger said, "a lot of people thought, "Well, I guess there are no big things happening now.&#39; I believe the big thing now is many small things. The fact that many small things are going on is the big story. "

http://www.motherjones.com/news/dispatch/2004/09/08_400.html




Here&#39;s some more Pete articles and some recent NPR audio interviews.

Pete bio
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/seeger-bio-2.html


interview: Protest Music as Responsible Citizenship
http://cfs.osu.edu/activities/ProtestMusic...ship/seeger.htm (http://cfs.osu.edu/activities/ProtestMusicAsResponsibleCitizenship/seeger.htm)

Pete turns 86&#33;
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050516/terkel
(note: The article should say that Pete founded Clearwater in 1966, not when he was 82.

Pete&#39;s Penthouse interview
http://www.peteseeger.net/penthse.htm

Pete appreciation page
http://www.peteseeger.net/

NPR interviews
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1640167

Pete audio interview 17 minutes.
http://www.beacham.com/id7.html

Pete links
http://musicmoz.org/Bands_and_Artists/S/Seeger,_Pete/Links/

[rioters bloc]

40-80 demonstrators is fine. any display of dissent, however small, makes a difference.

here are some things which we&#39;ve done with a small number of people and have been effective

rallies: even 50 people taking up an area of road, disrupting traffic in any way, shows you mean business. make banners, come up with cool chants, and go for it.

guerrilla theatre: something i love, because it&#39;s creative and involves the public as well. dress up, douse yourself in red paint, and go for it. a couple of things we&#39;ve done: going into a war-profiteering bank with a &#39;dead iraqi&#39; on a stretcher and tried to cash her in at the tellers. got on the news so raised awareness. also a few days ago, a new branch of that bank opened up and they had a &#39;launch party&#39; so we had a counter-party where we wore zombie masks, covered ourselves in fake blood and bullet wounds, and set up a table with meat pies with tomato sauce [with the meat and sauce spilling out], red cordial, etc. it was great&#33; we had about 20 people for the first action and only about 6 for the second, but it still worked well. maybe if you have more people you could do a bunch of decentralised creative actions like that.

occupation: targeting war-profiteers and stuff is fun. for this i&#39;d recommend at least 20 people depending on how strict your cops are. preferably more. power in numbers yo&#33; you&#39;ll feel heaps more confident if there are a group of people with you, stay in a bunch, or cops will try and pick you off. get skilled up in dearresting.

realy depends on what your strategy is. do you want to make a symbolic protest or actually disrupt people&#39;s business etc? also make sure that everyone in your group is comfortable with what you&#39;re planning, and you know to what level you want to go [eg are u okay with getting arrested etc]

[rioters bloc]

stickers are fun.

as an ongoing awareness campaign.

[coda]

Yeah, Stickers&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

Also, if you want to reach as many people as possible - distribute informational packets which can be done all the time and at demos and gets some serious information into people&#39;s hands. I try not to be too confrontational because a lot of times it alienates the people i want to reach, so, the low key approach works for me, -- propaganda packets has proven to be really effective means and not just against the war but also for anti-capitalism- pro-communism outreach. I&#39;ve had quite a few people follow up and contact me, asking questions or for more info. (I put a contact email on them.)

One propaganda sheet i use is information from the Cost of War website. when people are too desensitized over dead bodies :( seems they get very riled up when they realize that their tax money is being misspent and could and should be used for school/education, cheaper pharmacy drugs or anything that could benefit them and their families in the community.

cost of war website has good tax dollar conversion of social programs.

http://costofwar.com/

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Maybe I&#39;m not in touch with the local radicals... or maybe there are hardly any... but most of the demonstrators are old liberals. So I&#39;m not hoping for anything too radical.
The organizer I believe is a wobblie, though.

[rioters bloc]

i think thats what i like about street theatre tho

it&#39;s not &#39;radical&#39; in that you could get arrested for it

but it&#39;s fun, creative, effective, and engaging