PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Anecdotes from Activism
by Troy Shelley Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2003 at 1:36 PM
axelfear@yahoo.com Squirrel Hill

stories from the March 16th, 2003 AntiWar Rally and Protest...

After a really stirring speech at the rally, the mass of people gathered in Scheneley Park started to mill into a semi-organized line of protesters. The march proceeded from Schenely to Shadyside to Oakland to Schenely and then to Squirrel Hill.
When the march hit Oakland one thing was very apparent; there was a serious health risk involved here. We had been marching for an hour and a half, two hours, without water. The threat of dehydration and sun stroke was very real. So my fiance, a fellow protester, and I went to the close convenience and bought 6 gallons of spring water. As soon as we left the store we realized we had lost the crowd. I preceded to bolt down Fifth holding my drum, two gallons of water, and cups. As soon as I caught up with the back end of the march in front of the William Pitt Student Union i got ready to do my duty. In the middle of the chants of "Who's streets, Our Streets" and "Drop Bush, Not Bombs" I started yelling "Water!" at the top of my lungs, and holding the gallon jugs aloft. Automatically a few heads turned, and they rushed over to me. They didn't even had to say how grateful they were, their eyes told all. After taking care of the back of the march I proceeded up the middle chanting "Water!" over and over again, stopping every two minutes of so to give a cup of water to a group of people. While I was doing this my fiance and the guy with her were passing out seconds of water and getting the people who I missed their share of water. She was mostly concerned with the older generation that was present at the march. After 40 minutes of doing this we ran out of water and money. There was nothing greater the sense of rejuvenation in the march. The hydration of many tired individuals renewed their fiery spirit for protest.
Another interesting anecdote is the circumstances surrounding the choice at the intersection of Scheneley Park and the road to Squirrel Hill.
The mood of the crowd was one of determination and endurance. Most of them were all for marching to Squirrel Hill. But one of the protesters I knew personally brought up a good point; for the health reasons (i.e. sunstroke, and dehydration) we should stop and go back to Flagstaff Hill. So we came up with a solution and preceded to stop the momentum of the march. We then presented the resolution to the crowd of about 250 protesters:
" If you are ready to end the march and go back to your cars, go right! If you are hardcore and want to hit Squirrel Hill, go forward!"
I heard the murmur and yells of "Go forward!" echoed through the crowd. I smiled to myself and turned and started chanting again.
The group of about 80+ hardcore protesters march down Forbes toward the Shops of Squirrel Hill, after the intersection of Murray Avenue & Forbes.
One of the front runners of the protest march yelled "Head to Starbucks for water!" and the crowd loomed toward the Starbucks @ Shady Avenue, chanting the whole way, and frightening the old people (lol). As we arrived at our groups' destination we saw the manager of Starbucks walk up and lock the door of the shop. This infuriated me and the other members of the march. I told the crowd to pull out whatever paper money they had and hold it against the window of the store, to show how much business they were losing. The anarchists started chanting at the Starbucks. Because there were still about 50 people left we decided to keep marching down Shady Avenue. Halfway down the block, my fiance Shannin, approached me with a really good idea.
Her idea was to invite everyone left back to our house for spaghetti. I asked the crowd if they would like to come back with us and almost 95% of them agreed. We gathered up money from anyone willing to help monetarily for pasta and soda pop, etc. Fifteen people went with Shannin to the Giant Eagle, while the rest of them followed me to our house. We ended having a 58 people "Pasta and Pop for Peace" party for 3 hours at our house, complete with 2 drumming circle and loud music. :O)
Thanks to everyone who supported and donated money for this spur-of-the-moment event, completing a successful day of activism.
Much Love to my Punk, Goth, AntiWar, Socialist, Communist, and Anarchist Fellow Activists.
And to the NCAA, and Black & Red Flag Anarchists keep the fire alive.
-Troy

www.geocities.com/axelfear/axel_fear

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