“We like the planet, we like the animals, we support the ELF, free political prisoners!”
< 1 minute read
December 15, 2007, 11:04 PM
As promised, here are the movies from the December 8 environmental march.
This was early on in the march, right after we left Farragut Square.
Continue reading…Categories: Activism
It may have been small, but we certainly did have a blast…
4 minute read
December 9, 2007, 11:08 AM
I attended a relatively small protest march on Saturday in DC – a march reminding all of the FBI’s roundup of alleged environmental and animal rights activists two years ago, and how we cannot let such actions continue. We marched from Farragut Square to the FBI building via the White House in our “Resist the Greenscare” march.
It was a small march, with only ten people in attendance, but we were a dedicated bunch. In the regular DC crowd, we had Jeff, Luke, Olga, Dylan (Olga’s guy), Isis, and myself, as well as four others. We were expecting more, but we believed that the weather and lackluster promotion kept some people at home. Plus the people we did get mostly came later, as Metro was doing track work on all five lines this particular day, and a number of people got tied up in that. But with the group we had, we may have been small, but we were dedicated.
And as you can see, we had green and black flags at our march, as well as a banner.
Categories: Activism
And here we are…
< 1 minute read
October 21, 2007, 1:30 PM
And here we are, RCDC, on October 20 in Franklin Square:
Photo: Mike Flugennock
In this photo, I’m second from the right, next to Maddy. You may recognize the outfit I’ve got on – yes, it’s the same one that I wore last halloween. The other people in the group loved it. So finally, my radical cheer outfit has seen an actual protest. Score!
Categories: World Bank
“Loosen the bra that binds you! Take it off if you feel like it!”
2 minute read
October 21, 2007, 11:28 AM
Let’s just say that it was a great march on October 20. The Georgetown march the day before went well aside from one incident where a bystander was struck by a projectile, but this one had no such incidents. The cheer group did its thing, and we were awesome. We cheered at the main rally, we cheered along the march route, and we cheered at the World Bank itself.
What really surprised me about Saturday’s march, though, is what happened once we got there, when a number of women began taking their clothes off en masse, shouting, “World Bank out! Skin is in!” while also encouraging other people to do likewise. I was quite literally speechless, as I couldn’t believe people were stripping in the streets. I, in fact, didn’t even take photos of the scene at first, until Maddy finally basically said, “Don’t be such a prude.” But yeah, some women stripped down to their bra and panties, some just took their shirts off and left the bra intact, while others went completely topless. No one went totally naked. The guys who participated just took their shirts off. Some of the photos will probably end up in the photo set, but I’m still trying to figure out how to display those photos without being explicit about it. They’re going to go up on the site for the sake of completeness, but as Mom and others look at the site, I’m going to clean the photos up a little bit to keep the site at a certain caliber. After all, this isn’t a porn site – this is Schumin Web.
Then after the protest, I went home, changed out of my cheer outfit and into more normal clothes, hopped in the Sable, and rode out to Dulles, where Mom had some teacher convention this weekend. According to her, it went swimmingly. Mom and I had dinner at this little Italian restaurant called “Pomodoro Pizza Pasta & More”, which was kind of like, as Mom described it, the McDonald’s of Italian restaurants. You ordered your food at the counter, and you got your own drink out of the fountain, and they gave you your order on a giant tray to take to your table. However, unlike a fast food restaurant, where everything is disposable, they served you your food on real plates, you had real silverware, and real cups. And the food was good, too. Mom and I both enjoyed it.
So all in all, not a bad day. There’s going to be a new photo set called “October Rebellion” in Life and Times, and what a weekend it was…
Categories: World Bank
And we’re on the flip side of the “rowdy” march…
< 1 minute read
October 20, 2007, 8:09 AM
Just as an update, I made it to the flip side of the rowdy march. That was something, with everyone in full black bloc going through Georgetown on a very wet night. But most people got out unscathed, and to my knowledge, no pepper spray was used on anyone. But that was an intense little march.
But we made it through. We were soaked, mind you, but we made it through. Now today is the permitted rally. This should be pretty tame, but draw a bigger crowd.
Remember – the cheer group meets at 10:30 at Tenleytown Metro and then will ride down together, and the main rally is at 12:30 at Franklin Square.
Categories: Black bloc, World Bank
It’s short notice from me, but…
< 1 minute read
October 19, 2007, 12:04 PM
World Bank protests this weekend in DC! Friday night (as in TONIGHT) at 9:00 PM at Washington Circle kicks off the “rowdy” march through Georgetown. Who knows how long that will run, but I’m bringing goggles, if that gives you any idea about what kind of march I’m anticipating this to be.
Meanwhile, Saturday at 12:30 at Franklin Square is the march that I’m really looking forward to. That’s the one where we’re cheering! Anyone who wants to cheer should meet at Tenleytown-AU Metro station at 10:30 AM tomorrow on the side where the AU shuttle picks up. That would be the entrance that’s not in front of Best Buy (Hollywood Video and Whole Foods are on that side). We’ve got a whole new cheer going on, and it’s going to be a real hit, about third-world debt. And I’m going to be dressed in my complete radical cheerleading outfit. Look for it. It’s going to be fun.
Categories: World Bank
I remember this day from three years ago like it was yesterday…
2 minute read
October 17, 2007, 2:32 PM
It’s 2:30 PM on October 17, 2007. Three years ago today, possibly down to the minute, I was running around with Teapot and crew looking for the guy in the hot dog suit and the chicken suit. Then right after that, I met Jess for the first time.
Yes, the Million Worker March was three years ago today. Three years ago today, I was in DC, and supporting the labor movement. Three years ago today, I was in front of the Hotel Washington, supporting the workers. Three years ago today, I visited the Infoshop for the first time. What a great find that turned out to be. Three years. Wow.
That demonstration produced a lot of memorable images, too…
Radical cheerleaders…
Categories: Activism
This is looking like it’s going to be a fun weekend…
2 minute read
October 16, 2007, 11:36 PM
It’s looking like it’s going to be a fun weekend coming up, with the protests surrounding the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. And I’m psyched about it, considering it’s been a year and a half since the last time we protested this organization. Friday, I’m partaking in a “rowdy” march through Georgetown, and then Saturday, I’m participating in a more conventional march.
Friday’s “rowdy” march meets at 9:00 PM (yes, 9:00 at night) in Washington Circle. Hope to see you there. Considering the unspecified “rowdy” nature of the march, I’m going in full black bloc, and probably bringing goggles as well, just in case. Can’t be too careful, after all.
Then Saturday’s march starts at Franklin Square (i.e. take Metro to McPherson Square). For that march, I’m planning on getting together with RCDC, where I’ll be doing some radical cheerleading. So yeah, my radical cheerleading costume from last halloween is finally going to see the sun at an actual protest. I can’t wait. Then I have cheerleading practice for Saturday on Thursday night. This way I can get the moves down pat, because on September 15, the last time I was with RCDC, I didn’t have the moves down, and so you could see a “learning curve” as the day progressed. By the way, if this whole thing of my being affiliated with a local radical cheerleading group is coming as news to you, that’s okay. It goes with the Life and Times set for the September 15 protest, which has not yet been released.
Categories: World Bank
Would you believe it’s been two years already?
2 minute read
September 25, 2007, 2:42 PM
Categories: Anti-war, Black bloc
Score!
< 1 minute read
September 21, 2007, 2:53 PM
Look at this…
Categories: Schumin Web meta, World Bank
Which leaves you more winded?
2 minute read
September 17, 2007, 2:23 PM
Which leaves you more winded? An anti-war protest, or the Dupont Circle escalator? The escalator. This morning, coming out of the Metro on my way to work, the “up” escalator was not running at Dupont Circle. So I had to climb up rather than ride it up. And for those not familiar, Dupont Circle is a DEEP station. So that’s a lot of steps. And stopping is not an option, either, as you have a whole bunch of my fellow morning commuters right behind me, already cranky for having to climb the equivalent of several stories’ worth of stairs to get to work, before the day’s first cup of coffee. So that was no fun.
And out of three escalators, the only working escalator was going down. But hey, I got my cardio workout for the day.
Meanwhile, since I mention it, I did go to the September 15 protest, and what a great time I had. I went with Maddy, Olga, and Jeff, and went with the Radical Cheerleading DC group. What an awesome time. I also ran into Isis, whom I’d first met in June. And I also spent some time with SDS. It was awesome!
Meanwhile, the movies…
< 1 minute read
August 7, 2007, 8:01 PM
Remember the protest from two weeks ago at the El Salvador Embassy? Here are the movies, courtesy of the GoodFoodnH2O channel on YouTube:
Categories: Activism
What an awesome day at work!
< 1 minute read
July 24, 2007, 7:22 PM
What an awesome day I had at work today! First of all, there was a protest outside our building at noon in support of detained water activists in El Salvador. It was at our building because the Chancery office of the Embassy of El Salvador is in our building. About half the office went down to join in. I was there with Big Mavica taking photos of the event for our office.
Then later, I was part of the group that went in and actually met with the ambassador to deliver a letter. I met His Excellency Rene Antonio León Rodríguez and got to shake his hand. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. Don’t ask me what was discussed at the meeting because most of it was in Spanish, and it has been a good ten years since I took Spanish class, and I have unfortunately lost most of it. I’m sure that if you dropped me in the middle of Barcelona or somewhere, it would all come back, but not at the moment.
That’s one thing I really like about my job with Food & Water Watch. You get to meet some very well-known and/or powerful people. I got to meet Ralph Nader back in June. I got to shake his hand, too.
The people we were counter-protesting didn’t even show up…
3 minute read
July 4, 2007, 10:14 PM
Today, this Fourth of July, I went down to the National Mall and once again stood up for a cause with my regular protest buddies. This time, we were staging a counter-protest, rather than being the main demonstration. The event we would be counter-protesting was a Nazi rally planned for the Washington Monument. We would be counter-protesting them from the area around the World War II Memorial. The idea was to tell those people that racism is not welcome in DC. Our counter-rally was advertised on DC Indymedia here and here.
We showed up, and what do you know – they didn’t. And just as well. I think a friend of mine and I weren’t the only ones with visions of The Blues Brothers dancing in our heads, where Jake and Elwood ran the Illinois Nazis off a bridge and into a river.
Also, here’s something you don’t see every day – DC’s anarchist crowd showing up to a protest and doing it “straight”, as I call it – no masks, no black bloc.
“GOODEVENING HBO…”
2 minute read
June 28, 2007, 10:29 PM
A number of you have seen an away message that I’ve used somewhat frequently on AIM as of late, and have questioned me about it. I might as well explain. The away message was:
GOODEVENING HBO
FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT
$12.95/MONTH ?
NO WAY !
[SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!]
It’s actually a little homage to a video pirate from the 1980s. On April 27, 1986 at 12:32 AM, John R. MacDougall engaged in direct action against HBO, protesting subscription fees for HBO that were considered overly high at that time. He had the perfect opportunity to do it, too. Along with his job as a satellite television dealer, he also worked for a company that provided uplink services for satellites. Coincidentally, the transmitter, when in its storage position, pointed directly at the Galaxy I satellite, which at that time carried HBO. So MacDougall launched his protest against HBO’s subscription fees by overriding the signal from HBO’s satellite transmitter. So during a playing of The Falcon and the Snowman on HBO, all of a sudden, HBO viewers saw this:
Categories: Activism, Television