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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
sorry
by nick
Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2003 at 4:50 PM
At the confrotation at CMU I got so mad I didn't realize the march had kept going and I was disapointed that more people hadn't stuck around to be confrontational, which was dumb, looking back. I think I might have said something like "where's the anarchists now, that's what I'd like to know." That was ignorant and divisive and I'm sorry for doubting anyone's determination. Thanks to everyone who was at the front of the march and kept things going while I and others got bogged down.
thanks
by q
Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2003 at 6:15 PM
i dont know if i drank any wa-wa you bought but thanks none the less for thinking of the group!
Yeah
by Evan N
Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2003 at 10:28 PM
As the days get hotter, at marches and rallies it is definately important to have water and stuff. Maybe at the april convergence or even march 30th something can be organized where a few people would be like medics but just hand out water, i know water is heavy and it costs money and the organizations organizing these things dont have as much money as they would like, but yes sunstroke and dehydration are as real as this war. Or if toting around water is too much, maybe at some point the march could swing by a predetermined location where there would be tons of water waiting at some tables and stuff? that wouldnt cost TOO much and would be relatively easy to organize
Water
by Daniel Papasian
Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2003 at 2:10 AM
The best thing to do about water is carry around a nice, eco-friendly reusable water bottle made out of one of those fancy hi-tech plastics that never seem to break. I own two of the brand Nalgene that I was lucky enough to get for free, one is like 650ml the other is 1 liter. I carried the smaller one with me on the 16th, and I didn't run out until pretty late into the march. There was a kind fellow who gave me a little more water at that point, but if there wasn't I'm sure I could have just filled up quickly next time we neared a university or similar.
Water fountains are great. Water is great. If I brought my 1L bottle, it probably would have lasted the entire time (I filled it up right before we started the march) - and if everyone had theirs, water distribution would be far less of a problem.
Goggles, handercheifs, bandaids- according to many these are all good things to bring, but water is certainly far more useful. Because you *will* need it.
Water for Antiwar Protests
by Troy Shelley
Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2003 at 11:13 AM
axelfear@yahoo.com
Q,
I am sorry my fiance and I didn't get to you. Those 6 gallons went a long way, but not far enough. Had I had more cash or more people to help we would have it set up beforehand.
I propose a plan for someone to ride in the center and/or back of the march to drive a bike with a small trailer on it containing bottles of water and A FIRST AID KIT. Said person could slow down to allow the march to proced ahead, so as to get water to the back of the march.
Please contact me, all who are interested in starting a water brigade :O) and we will do our part by hydrating the dedicated protesters.
Love All
Troy
www.geocities.com/axelfear/axel_fear
yeah, me too!
by nerdette
Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2003 at 11:36 AM
i tried to get everyone to chant "frat boys for the draft!" but some guy grabbed my arm and said, come on, we've wasted enough time here. in retrospect, it may have been a good thing we left quickly, those guys were very angry and i had a feeling they wouldnt hesitate to lump us up good if the opportunity arose.
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