Why the immigration rally in NYC blew the antiwar protest away (PHOTOS)

[RagingInMiami]

NYC antiwar protest photo thread

NYC immigration rally photo thread

Young people. Thousands of young people. Most of them Latino. Most of them speaking perfect English. Most of them of voting age or very close to it.

And music. Continuous music, rhythmic chants and a steady beat that kept your hips moving.

And the flags. Yes, the foreign flags. And the American flags. The colors of all those flags waving in the air and filling the Manhattan sky.

The pride. The passion. The power of the people.

The immigration rally had soul while the antiwar protest, for the most part, seemed to only go through the motions. The immigration rally had youth and vigor while the antiwar protest had age and wisdom.

God bless the Raging Grannies, the Granny Jailbirds and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but where the hell were the teens and twentysomethings whose peers are dying in an unjust war? The NYC antiwar protest lacked the energy and intensity of the antiwar protest in DC last year.

Perhaps the antiwar movement is growing weary. Perhaps it is taking comfort in the fact that Bush and his entourage are self-destructing on their own. Perhaps it has not felt the desperation of the immigrants and their family members.

If it weren’t for the women groups at the antiwar protest, it would almost look as if it were a funeral procession. A very long, but scattered funeral procession.

I know many of you who attended the antiwar protest would disagree with me, but keep in mind that I am comparing it to the immigration rally two days later and the antiwar protest in DC last September.

There were moments of pure brilliance at the antiwar protest: The National Organization for Women; Code Pink; and the two guys playing "When the Saints Come Marching In" were amazing. I could watch them all day and not get bored.

After photographing the two rallies in NYC last weekend, I’ve come to the conclusion that the simmering revolution in this country will come from the minorities, including women, homosexuals, Blacks, Latinos and other ethnic groups. These are groups who are finding unity in their causes despite the continuing divisive tactics used by the republicans.

In the antiwar protest photo thread, you will see a scattering of young, white men, including two lone men walking with very blunt signs; "Fuck your war" and "Fuck you Bush". As if they had left their friends at the sports bar to vent their rage on the streets.

Meanwhile, their wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers and grandmothers have become a well-oiled machine that is inspiring and beautiful to watch. They've perfected the art of call and response. "Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!"

And if you look at the photos from the immigration rally, you will see hundreds of young men and women marching, singing, dancing and chanting for democracy. "Si se puede." (Yes, we can)

And trust me, most of them, like me, are American citizens who just happen to have immigrant parents. They might not have been so politically involved in previous years, but they have become extremely political because of this immigration issue.

And they will be lining up to vote soon. And that, my friends, is what democracy looks like.


NYC antiwar protest photo thread

NYC immigration rally photo thread

[noamnety]

1. some random thoughts

First, I wish I'd known you were in NYC, I would have loved to have said hi.

Second, I was at the anti-war one, and I understand why parts of it felt solemn. I felt solemn. I was carrying a sign that had some meaning to me, without going into a lot of details on that. I was walking next to the beginning of the long long line of strung together pages that had the faces and names of those who were killed in Iraq. I was right at the start of that for much of the march, at Alabama (they were sorted by state). So I was watching the faces of the people lining the sidewalks, as they watched the parade with anticipation, then those sheets caught their eye. I saw person after person look at them with the smile of a person watching a spectacle on the streets, then saw their face change as they realized from the names these were soldiers, then the more serious look as they realised they were the DEAD soldiers, and then their jaw dropping and them covering their mouths in shock, as their eyes followed the string of posters and realized how long those strands of dead faces were. One soldier per page = a half mile, roughly. Even the faces of the police that I saw went through those same stages.

My section wasn't going through the motions because we were weary; my section was overwhelmed with the tragedy of what we were trying to convey. A funeral procession is a good description. There's no other way to describe the procession of the dead faces I was marching along side of, and I think the solemnity of our section was more appropriate for making the impact it had on the people I was watching. It's a difficult thing to be throwing a party in the shadow of all those faces. I don't think it's fair to look at combat vets who have lost their comrades, or been through what they've seen, and atrribute it to them not knowing the same amount of desperation as the immigrants. Believe me, they know.

Having marched along the gulf coast with many of the same people, I can tell you that the mood changed from day to day, and each mood had its purpose. The day the police were hostile was the hardest, the tension of their incessant loudspeakers threatening to arrest us as we were walking through the rubble was one of the most striking images in my mind, second only to visiting the Vietnam memorial. And that was followed by the jazz band the next day, the day we danced down the street in celebration of hope and truth. Catch us on the next protest, and you might see something totally different.

[RagingInMiami]

10. Yes, I wish I would have had a chance to meet you as well

I remember that long line of photos. I remember it from the DC protest as well. Both times, it gave me the same feeling you described above. A solemn reminder of why we are protesting.

And I wasn't referring specifically to the combat veterans or their family members when I said that perhaps the antiwar movement had not reached the same desperation as the immigrants. If anything, they have had it worse because so far, the immigration issue has only been a threat to criminalize illegal immigrants and their families. The war is well beyond its threat stages.

I was referring to those Americans who oppose the war, but apparently don't give it much thought other than sharing their opinion with pollsters. I was referring to high school and college-age Americans who apparently are too caught up with their own lives to take an active stance against the war.

I also noticed that in NYC, the long string of photos was cut into several shorter sections. If I remember correctly, the string of photos in DC (having not yet reached 2,000 deaths)was less fragmented. I do understand that NYPD was trying to keep a steady flow of traffic, so this was probably impossible in NYC.

In DC, the streets were all blocked off to allow the demonstration to proceed without interruption. It also seems as if the immigration rally was allowed to proceed without having to stop for traffic, but I could be wrong.

I do realize that this particular part of the march was not a cause for celebration and I surely do not expect dancing. But a steady military drum beat would have made this strong message even stronger, in my opinion. But please don't take that as nitpicking because as I said before, my criticism was not directed towards the veterans or their families.

It was directed toward the rest of us.


From NYC 4-29-06


From DC 9-24-05

[noamnety]

19. I like the military drum beat idea

I get what you're saying about the street theatre aspect of it, and I can see that drums in our section could take advantage of additional senses beyond just sight to create whatever kind of mood we are trying to convey.

Our local monthly marches have a lone drummer at the front, and it does help to set the atmosphere, absolutely. I'll pass that along as feedback.

Having said that, I had some pathetically unfortunate experiences being the lone bass drum person in basic training (toppling over into ditches and such), so I will have to pass it on in an anonymous way that can't possibly be interpreted as me volunteering for drum duty. Given one drum and a slipped pair of glasses, I could singlehandedly derail a million man march.

As for the other people, the college ones, I agree, and I understand why they aren't as emotionally involved - this war is designed not to affect them, not to affect any of us. Images from the war are wiped from the media, and the talking point we hear again and again if something bad happens to a soldier in Iraq is "They knew what they were signing up for." In other words, they agreed to be cannon fodder. It's a sterile little war we're having.

I don't take the criticism of us as nitpicking, incidentally. It's all just food for thought. It set me off on some good pondering this morning as to whether we (the vets) aren't as well suited to celebrating or being in your face during an antiwar protest because we carry some amount of guilt on our shoulders; we know this is something we each contributed to in our own way. And yet, like I said, in Slidell, we danced. I'm not sure what to make of that. Behind the scenes we've had some discussions as well, particularly over where to march (red state, blue state).

So, yes, critique away. Even if I seem defensive about your comments, it all gets filed away in my head and tossed around later.

[RagingInMiami]

20. The drums are a huge part of a protest

As I have learned this past year where I've been photographing protests any chance I get. It really sets the tone. There is something very powerful and captivating about it.

And the call and response chants are also very powerful.

The military has been using both for years during their marches.

I don't know but I've been told! (fill in the blank) is mighty cold!

They're not necessarily to entertain but to keep the momentum of the marchers at a high level. It also helps them move and speak in sync as one group rather than marching as a loose band of individuals.

But the drums and the chants also attract attention in a very spellbounding manner. It's almost impossible to not get caught up in the emotion.

Hell, I would even recommend having someone playing taps on a bugle while leading the group holding the string of photos.

I really don't see it as street theatrics, but I guess it is. I guess all protests are a form of street theatrics. But I think that term cheapens the message and may dissuade people from using those methods.

But let's face it, an antiwar protest is about calling attention to the injustice of the war. It's not about being subtle.

[neoblues]

2. So, perhaps that's what it will take...

For our immigrant population to remind complacent, thoroughly conditioned, long-time citizens what Democracy and unity are all about. Show us once again how to do it, set an example. Then again, who knows if anything will penetrate our self-absorbed, fear filled fog of imagined helplessness.

[laheina]

4. An added bonus!

And one that I hadn't even considered.

I think that you are right in that our lazy asses need to be dragged out of our complacency,and I think that this is the beginning of that *starting* to happen. We do have a good way to go, however.

[walldude]

3. Young people will start to come when the draft notices start

going out... check out this thread, the voice of experience.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1122312

[laheina]

5. Wow! That is some powerful stuff.

When taken with the news coming out of Iraq that the soldiers are being given contaminated water and aren't getting three meals a day, these words are very prophetic.

[mogster]

6. You have nailed it

Where has core liberalism gone hiding? It never was about politics, youth usually don't like politics.
Mainstream youth, that is.
And it is the huge mainstream mood swing we want, no?

Politics is too complex, too confusing to 'sell' widely in the youth camp, even the 'yes' or 'no' to a war is obfuscated because of the rather lax mass media.

Youth define themselves through music. It is very easy to forget when you get into your thirties and life experience has mellowed out that revolutionary feeling.

[Hekate]

7. Raging -- being at the local immigrant march gave me such joy

I've participated in many of the anti-war marches in my town, at this one blew them all away.

Well-organized. Peaceful. Highly energized. And enormous -- apparently the biggest march here since the Vietnam War.

I keep saying it: THESE folks still believe in the promise of this country, and they are holding us to it. Like I said, it gave me joy. And hope.

As to what can be done about the missing younger generation in the anti-war marches -- honestly, I think it will take a draft. Too many think it doesn't affect them, that the "volunteer" army somehow gets what it deserves. Until that time, we just have to keep reaching out.

Hekate

[MelissaB]

8. These photos are great!

Thanks so much for posting them. I was suprised to see Jackson and Sharpston leadint the immigration parade, too!

[iconoclastNYC]

9. What we need is the GOP to try to felonize anti-war protesters

Then maybe we can match the Immigration rallies.

Lets look at what's stake here. Immigrants are turning out because they face being turned into felons with a stroke of a pen.

[radio4progressives]

11. Excellent post - kicking and rating up!

and i haven't even checked out the photos yet!! beautifully stated summary says it all for me... :hi:

[CC]

12. Very good and

informative post, and great pics.

[Terran1212]

13. I think the immigrant protest was bigger and better BUT

The corporate media gave it way more coverage because they could be sensationalist about it; covering the antiwar movement just isn't pivotal or profitable to them (even though it's VERY important to our nation).

[RagingInMiami]

15. The only way for an antiwar protest to get decent coverage in this country

is if there is mass civil disobedience, something I do NOT oppose. Otherwise, we are just going through the motions.

This articles sums it up pretty well.

April 29, New York City. The sun was shining. It was cool but not cold. You might say it was a picture perfect day for a demonstration. We were at Broadway and 22nd Street.

The plan was to proceed down Broadway to Foley Square in lower Manhattan for a "peace and justice festival." All the usual suspects were there: some with costumes, some with signs, some with musical instruments, some with video cameras, and a few with "stop bitchin' and start the revolution" T-shirts. For over an hour we waited in place.

Then slowly, peacefully, between metal police barricades we began to make our way downtown. When we reached Houston Street in Greenwich Village an officer with red cheeks, white hair, a policeman's paunch, a bullhorn and a New York accent instructed us to stop so he could let traffic pass through our line. We did as he instructed.

"Thank you folks for your cooperation," he bellowed moments later. "Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather. Isn't it a great day to be out in the sun?"


http://www.counterpunch.org/cantor05062006.html

[ConsAreLiars]

24. All too true - With the WTO actions in Seattle we got plenty of

of airtime. Mostly negative, of course, since it was essentially anti-corporatist. But hard to ignore since large areas of Seattle were declared to be prohibited to people who carried any sort of message. A mere harbinger of things to come, where free speech, instead of being excluded from a few area was to be permitted in only a fenced off area. But the city was shut down by the mayor's emergency declarations and the widespread resistance to fascist police tactics. The action, and the over-reaction, plus the unprecedented solidarity between union members, environmentalists, peace and justice advocates, churches, and people of good will from all walks of life, made it happen. Too bad that coalition faltered.

Great photos, both as art and documentation. Thank you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Did you see the video of Rev. Lowrey's speech at Camp Casey?

He talks about the importance of uniting our movements.

Second video on right
http://www.truthout.org/easterincrawford.shtml

[Terran1212]

17. I saw him speak in person in Atlanta April 1st 2006

Great speaker.

[RagingInMiami]

18. Unfortunately, I was able to see, but not hear the video

But he is right on about uniting our movements. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton know this. And Charles Steele, president of the Southern Leadership Christian Conference, the civil rights organization founded my MLK in the early 1960s, also knows this.

The only people who are talking about the immigrants taking jobs from blacks are white republicans, including the Minutemen, who have a fondness for Nazi and confederate flags.

Where the hell were the Minutemen when thousands of blacks were allowed to perish in New Orleans after Katrina?

Blacks in this country have been repressed and underpaid for decades. And immigration only started becoming a huge issue in the mid-1990s after NAFTA drove thousands of Mexican farmers out of business.

It wasn't as if blacks were enjoying the fruits of this country's success before then.
The real culprit is the corporate elite who despise any form of unification, including labor unions.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I'm sorry you can't hear him - he was so inspirational

and he certainly inspired me to work at uniting our movements. We definitely MUST come together as people who care about human rights and fight the war mongers, who Rev Lowry told us are also racists, sexists and homophobes.

I got this in an email just this evening and thought it was a great statement on this topic:

Wanted to share this with you, I wrote this in response to a friend (?) and all of her "right wing list" after I received from her one of the those "Mexican bashing" emails............I'm just sick of their narrow little minds!!!!


If you are so concerned about the "illegal aliens" in this country, why don't you get together and do something about this corrupt administration and their criminal corporate cronies that are exploiting all these illegal Mexicans by allowing them in so they can supply the demand for "cheap labor" to corporate America!

Or shall we call it what it really is..........."SLAVE Labor"!

If these same companies would pay a "living wage" to the average American worker and support our "American families" with health care and other needed benefits rather than only worrying about their CEO's salaries and bloated bonuses, the influx of these "dreaded invaders" from the south would dry up. But then, what would the wealthy do without.......Jose, Miguel and Consuela, et al
to their their yard and housework!? Gee, a day without Mexicans, this country would shut down!

I'm all for making entering this country a legal process, but let's be honest here and look at what the "real" cause is.........GREED! Hell, my ancestors came to this country at the turn of the century at a time when "cheap labor" was in demand as well, in the packing houses of the Midwest! Let's face it, what would this country do without exploiting the poor from other countries!?

Gosh, just think about it, the way things are going in the U.S........pretty soon we'll have to "export" over half of our population to other countries (China comes to mind) to be the "exploited poor" that supplies the demand for their need for "cheap labor"! Well then, I guess the Chinese, or whoever, can demand that we speak their language and certainly not sing their national anthems in English!

I can just picture it now, "Happy Illegal Alien Day" in Mandarin!!!!!

[Ms. Clio]

16. Very moving and I believe your analysis is spot on

It's what I've been seeing in other protests, like those in Dallas, too. Many of the participants are young people, American citizens, voters today and tomorrow, and I just hope the Democratic leadership knows it, if some people around here stubbornly fail to understand that fact.

[benny05]

21. Awesome photos!

:kick: & R ...I felt I was there and I could hear the music...so kewl.

[tomreedtoon]

23. The antiwar people are burned out.

The fact is that the antiwar protesters were reliving their youth. A time when they felt they had the power to challenge a government (and their parents). Most of them were never in any real danger of the draft; they were wealthy enough to get college deferments.

The people who really fought in Vietnam were, to a large extent, the same people that are fighting in Iraq today; blacks and rural whites who don't have much else in the way of jobs. They are now joined by people in the Rust Belt who have been downsized or who have no industry in their towns any more. Some of them still have that inbred patriotism from their parents, although it's worn pretty thin, but mostly they sign up because they don't have anything else.

And the reinstatement of the draft won't change things much. Rich white kids will still get deferments. Poor kids will simply go. Only difference is, those rich white kids won't feel any solidarity with the kids who actually fight, or even those foreigners being killed. They're products of the Me Generation, with no concern for anybody but themselves. So there won't even be domestic protests by young people. The campuses will be filled with non-protesting students...in fact, non-reading students, but that's another issue entirely.

Now the Hispanics...who feel a connection to each other as an extended family...THEY have the spirit to support protests and marches. They have a real pride in accomplishment, in overcoming the barriers put in their way. (Much as the immigrant Irish, Italians and Jews did at the turn of the 20th Century.) Some of them are conservative (ever hear of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce?) but many are open to progressive messages...if we have anyone willing to talk with them and listen, that is.