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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
For most of the day, there was a carnival air in the streets. The crowd was almost as polyglot as New York itself. A man from the International Bolshevik Tendency marched beside a guy whose sign called for "More Dior, Less War." Christians Against the War held posters asking "Whose Taxes Would Jesus Cut?" An incredibly tight marching band from Seattle moved through the mass of people. There was a giant green papier-mache dragon, which later caused a few moments of chaos when it was set on fire outside Madison Square Garden. Clash songs blasted. It was a party.
It was also a rebuke. A great many New Yorkers are profoundly insulted by Bush's decision to use their city -- whose cosmopolitan values he's treated with utter contempt -- to bolster his reelection bid. "Our city's tragedy is being used for propaganda," said Bradley McCormick, a 35-year-old from Spanish Harlem. "I'm upset about the insult to New York City. I think it's going to backfire."
In the run up to the convention, there were fears that the protests would backfire, that swing voters would see middle American delegates besieged by angry urban radicals and blame it all on the Democrats. Some had worried that undercover agent provocateurs would try to spur violence, but that didn't happen. Indeed, the provocateurs made no effort to disguise themselves.
Protest Warriors, a Texas-based, right-wing group whose members have crashed lefty demonstrations carrying mocking signs like "Communism has only killed 100 million people. Let's Give it Another Chance," sent a contingent to march into the crowd. "We're about to have some fun," said Sergio Kadinsky, a 20-year-old Protest Warrior from City College of New York. At first, to their evident frustration, they were ignored or indulged. "They have the right to be here, but they're jerks," shrugged McCormick.
Soon enough, though, a group of outraged anarchists saw what was going on, tied their bandanas around their faces, and charged, yelling, "Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!" A brief fistfight ensued, during which several of the Protest Warriors' signs were broken. That was pretty much the extent of the day's violence.
Dan McKay, a 42-year-old protester from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was relieved. "Everybody behaved so well," he said. "I was worried, you know, that fights were going to break out and it would be all over Fox News. But it's looking good and we're going to take off and hopefully everybody will disperse."
His companion, Donna Blackburn, 38, was also thrilled with the march's passionate, peaceful vibe. "The energy was very positive, very good," she said. "I think everybody made their point, I don't think there was much violence. I am so proud of New York, you know? I am glad people stood up and were counted today."
"It sends a message to the rest of the world that we're all not pro-war and pro-empire," McKay added.
The mass march ended at Union Square, just a few blocks from where it began. There was no rally. United For Peace and Justice had wanted to gather people in Central Park after the march, but the mayor refused to grant them a permit, citing possible damage to newly planted grass. Without a place to gather afterwards, there was a sense of relief -- no dull droning speeches -- but also of anticlimax. People wanted to come together.
Thousands lingered in Union Square after the march, showing off their signs and checking out their fellow protesters in what felt like a lefty street fair. There was a wobbly George W. Bush blow-up doll that passers-by smacked as they moved through the park -- the doll careened to the side and then back again, waiting for another shove. A crowd gathered around the satirists Billionaires for Bush as they did their post-march shtick. Men in top hats and women in shawls and pearls carried signs reading, "Leave no billionaires behind" and "Tax wages not wealth." They cracked up their audience with right-wing twists on typical protest chants: "What do we want? Sweatshop labor! How do we want it? Cheap!" "No justice! No problem!" and "Whose Florida? Our Florida! Whose voting machines? Our voting machines!"
