(no subject)

notes from the anti-war protest in nyc this weekend:

lau made anti-valentine's day armbands that doubled as peace armbands for the rally. (you can see i'm sporting mine in the new icon for this entry. it conveniently matches my mittens, made by marissa.) when we all lined up to take a photo showing off our armbands, a woman asked "who are you all?" and rana replied "lovers." <3

we spent the whole time stuck on third ave. trying to get across was impossible. i was kind of weirded out that the focus seemed to shift from anti-war to anti-cop & "whose streets our streets" type stuff. it seemed almost like a diversionary tactic that worked too perfectly. but at the same time i know these things are all connected, so.

i just cannot get behind most chants. i'm sorry.

i also cannot get behind any signs or slogans involving the play on words that connects bush (as in g.w.) with "bush" (as in anatomy). like, no, okay? no. god.

we saw very little police violence where we were. mostly just a lot of cops & the very frightening sight of several police vans/busses lined up along sidewalks.

i felt really inspired to be in the midst of it all but simultaneously kept questioning what my purpose was, how activism is being defined, etc. i'm not sure it really has made me feel anymore hopeful than i was before i left for nyc, which is to say not very. there were various things that i found really energizing, like how yumi (who had the sole radio in our group) reported that rosie perez defined the "axis of evil" as racism, sexism, classism & homophobia. or the person on the subway who helped me attach my armband on the way there. or the queer resistance contingent with their stunning pink & black matching flags. but i was annoyed by simplistic rhetoric (in the form of chants/signs), irritated by the "patriots for peace" phrase that kept getting thrown around, & generally dejected that so many thousands of us were blocked from even reaching the protest site. i dunno.

signs i liked a lot:
resistance is fertile.
france! help!
bake cookies not people.

overheard: "just follow the lesbians, they know what they're doing."