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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 23, 2004 Protesters carried messages By Chris Ammon Tidings Correspondent When it comes to covering major protests, the media have a penchant for handcuffed anarchists, violence and disruption. This was certainly true for the protests outside the Republican National Convention, where the major news stories revolved around the nearly 1,800 arrests that occurred throughout the week. demonstrators protest the republican national convention in New York this summer. Despite headlines shouting about arrests, the vast majority of those who participated in the protests did so peacefully and with a purpose. Chris Ammon | For the Tidings While it may have made for exciting copy, this "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality ignored the 399,000 or more protesters who expressed their dissent from the Bush administration not by breaking laws, but with methods that would make any psychoanalyst proud. Throughout the city, protesters of all ages and ethnicities held marches to mourn, laugh, get connected, and express anger - all in a peaceful manner. Mourning Despite the high level of creative energy and excitement in the city, aspects of being in New York are inevitably sad: the visible poverty of homeless people sleeping on sidewalks, the relentless commercialism epitomized by ads of too-young girls dressed to sell expensive fashions, and most dramatically, the tangible void lingering where the World Trade Center once stood. While, overall, most protesters described their experience in New York in a positive light, there were some dark moments. Dan Chabarek and Carol Melia, members of the Oregon band "Enemy Combatants" were in New York to protest with music. Chabarek said that they use their music "to speak truth to power and to use biting criticism but with humor." But humor wasn't always easy to come by. At one point during the protest, Melia was on top of a light pole filming a group that was going by with 1,000 flag-draped coffins representing Americans who died in Iraq. She had to come down because she was crying. Several others cited the same march as the saddest part of the protest. Laughing In the shade outside of the New York City public library on the Tuesday of the convention, a group of well-heeled individuals sat around a long table sharing finger sandwiches and martinis. A woman named "Tiffany Golden from Riverdale" sat across from a man named "Ollie Gareck" and gushed about the previous evening's "Vigil for Corporate Welfare." Both Tiffany and Ollie were members of the group "Billionaires for Bush." The "Billionaires for Bush" used satire and street theater in order to highlight what they perceive as elitism in the Bush administration. Although they tenaciously clung to character during the protests, their PR flier reveals that they are a "grassroots media campaign that is changing voters' minds in swing districts." Like many of the "billionaires," Mr. Garck didn't reveal his real name, but broke character long enough to explain that he used to live in Corvallis, Ore. He got his start in political activism when he worked for "Health Care for All of Oregon" and saw how much money the pharmaceutical industry poured in against his cause. He said that using satire was an effective way of communicating with people. "It hits them from a different angle," he explained. "That's why The Daily Show and The Onion are so popular. People connect with humor." Getting connected Despite general fears that there would be division and conflict among the protesters and questions about whether "the anarchists" would create a bad media image of the "left," the prevailing feeling at the protest was one of connection. At the Progressive Tourist Bureau, a center for protest information and networking, sat Laura Stein, 23, who was promoting "Kerry Village." Kerry Village is a grassroots group that works to gather and organize Kerry supporters by hosting house parties and distributing information. Stein felt that the protests brought people together. "New Yorkers are usually self-absorbed and closed off. People are talking in the streets now. I love New York right now." Many of the protesters expressed similar familial sentiments about the gatherings. Ruth Von Antwerp, a middle-aged woman with a happy, relaxed manner, flew all the way from Ukiah, Calif., to join the protests. A schoolteacher who claims she "never takes time off," she set up her classroom on Monday and took the rest of the week off to go to New York. "My colleagues were supportive," she said. When asked if she was here alone, she waved her hand across the crowd of protesters gathering on Sixth Street. "No! I'm with all of them!" Expressing anger A sense of controlled anger permeated some of the protests. Stein, from Kerry Village, felt that anger was valuable for creating change. "You need an impetus to give up your free time," she explained. Anger could be felt most palatably at the "Stop the Detention!" march, an unpermitted gathering that proceeded from Columbus Park to the Federal building past sidewalk shops stacked with discount flip-flops and colorful watches. About two hundred protesters shouted "No one is illegal!" and carried signs. They were mainly speaking out against the Bureau of Immigrant and Customs Enforcement for what they perceived as illegal and racist detention of immigrants, but were also addressing abuses of all kinds. When they reached the federal plaza, several of the protesters crouched on the ground with their heads covered with black cloth and their hands tied in protest of the abuses at the Abu Gharib. The protest was dedicated to the memory of Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian human rights activist who died last July after being detained without explanation for 718 days, 250 of which were spent in solitary confinement. Abdel-Muhti's attorney Shayana Kadidal, stood calmly by as the protest grew rowdier. He said it was "encouraging to see that this many people are out here for the rights of immigrants." He cited immigrants as being "a vital connection from the U.S. to the rest of the world that might not think much of us." A 69-year old Manhattan man who called himself Jerry seemed particularly inflamed during the "Stop the Detention!" protest, calling out the chants extra-loud. "I have to control my anger and keep my passion," he admitted. "Passion is what we need." But then he added: "We need more righteous indignation among the masses." Rather than the chaotic din that was anticipated, the city of New York seemed to run normally during the Republican National Convention. Traffic moved in its peculiar crazed way, and people continued to have their morning coffee at their favorite cafes. Although the major media outlets might convey a different impression, the overall mood of the RNC protests was peaceful and upbeat. The adjectives that people used to describe the protests attest to this: "exhilarating," "jubilant," "wonderful," and "inspirational" are among them. 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