MADISON, Wis. - Sara Lam spent Saturday night sleeping in a tent outside the Capitol here. A lot of the other people camping out in "Walkerville" that night were surprised that she was there among them. Lam is 30 weeks pregnant. "To me it was not even a question," said Lam. "This (Gov. Walker's) budget is going to negatively impact the health and wellness of thousands of Wisconsinites. One night outside was not an issue."
On Saturday, June 4, as dusk slowly gave way to nightfall over this city, the first residents of Walkerville began to arrive, erecting their tents. Hundreds more, union workers and students among them, arrived as the evening and then the weekend wore on, bringing with them sleeping bags, more tents, pillows, children and even their dogs. They've started still another massive protest in the continuous chain of protests taking place here ever since the state's Republican governor introduced a budget last February that cut social services and killed the collective bargaining rights of public workers. They say that they say will remain at the Capitol until the Walker budget is passed, not allowing the governor to sneak it through.
Like the workers who built "Hooverville" tent cities in the Depression of the 1920s, protestors are dramatizing their opposition to Republicans' economic policies.Each night the tent city residents are treated to music and entertainment provided by local performers and artists. During the day Walkerville residents visit the small businesses that fill the downtown Madison area surrounding the Capitol, telling the store owners about why they protest. Some shops display signs in support and others help out with food and refreshments. "We are fighting for working families, small businesses and better communities in Wisconsin," said Peter Rickman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison law student and Teaching Assistants Association member who spoke to the first groups as they arrived Saturday night.
"Since locking down the Capitol to the people of Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers are planning to pass their radical budget in the dead of night with no citizen participation," said a statement from the Wisconsin AFL-CIO as the protest began. "Without witnesses they are gutting our schools, crippling our communities and eliminating programs for the poor and elderly. This action will continue indefinitely until the budget is passed."
keep reading at:
http://www.peoplesworld.org/walkerville-tent-city-grows-in-wisconsin/
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