Rocky | 24.01.2005 10:23

And the police were afraid! For the first time in over three decades I saw fear in the face of police as they confronted demonstrators - and it smelled good. The anti-inaguaration activities of January 20th was the tale of two marches: one staid, predictable; the other; spontaneous, pulsating, youthful energy that shifted beyond the politics of protest.

And the police were afraid! For the first time in
over three decades I saw fear in the face of police as
they confronted demonstrators - and it smelled good.
The anti-inaguaration activities of January 20th was
the tale of two marches: one staid, predictable; the
other; spontaneous, pulsating, youthful energy that
shifted beyond the politics of protest. The 4:30 p.m.
rally at Horton Plaza was familiar, comfortable. How
many times had we, the usual suspects, gathered here
in the last few years. Most of our cherished leaders
were here: Carol Jhankow of the Peace Resource Center;
Martin Edder of Activist San Diego; Bob McCubbin, the
International Action Center, Ben Wienstien, La
Resistencia; collectively over a hundred years of
struggle on behalf of justice and peace. The rest of
us; yuppies and aging hippies, Quakers and Unitarians,
Greens and socialists, housewives of conscience and
long-time activists, who could not ignore the insanity
of putting that twisted, sick puppy back in the White
House. We did what we do best. We came together to
protest, carry our signs of wisdom and challenge that
are ignored in the corporate owned press and march
down the agreed upon blocks; our rite of purification
that shakes off the dust of complicity in the madness
of militarized capitalism.
Some folks can travel half way across the globe and
never change, totally unaware of the cultural nuances.
Others can march up and down the streets of a hundred
cities and never change a damn thing. Yes, it's a
dangerous business, Bilbo Baggins, going out your
front door! Because, one night, one demonstration, one
march, might impact us so greatly that it may
challenge the very nature of our politics and action.
After the first march, some of us oldies began
drifting off; even the police lines grew slimmer. But,
gradually, young people began arriving; City
College/UCSD students and youthful political
activists. Then, slowly, the complexion of the group
changed as the banging pots, music and shouting
intensified. Dressed in black, with red bandanas (the
new uniform of today's freedom fighters) they grouped
in the middle of us meandering, fragmented protesters;
an energized core alive with purpose. They came to
denounce not only this fucking, idiot President but
the very foundation of the mess we have made of
society.
The banging of pots, the dancing, shouting and
singing, the every increasing creshindo of noise
seemed to draw them inward and outward at the same
time. Like bees on the nector of the flower, they grew
stronger just being there, participating. As the noise
reverberated up Broadway, bouncing off the Grant
Hotel, they met one another, hugged, recognized the
strength in one anothers eyes and became legion. One
young lady, flittered around, dusting them all with
glitter. The sparkling reflections as the
multi-colored police lights bounced off the glitter
was spectatcular. The police sensed the raw energy of
the "new" crowd and they called for more back-up. The
police horses arrived but they, too, were spooked by
the pulsating force and noise of 200 liberated egos.
The horses were pulled back and never used again
during the evening.
Then, suddenly, the crowd took off from Horton
Plaza down Fifth Avenue
and the police raced to appear in control. Only one
march had been announced and they were caught off
guard. At 5th and Market, the pulsating mass tried to
veer left, while the first march had turned right on
Market Street and officers had redeployed roadblocks
quickly over that route.
Police began brutally grabbing several youth who
were on the fringes of the march, knocking them to the
ground, to re-esetablish their power; men and women
with weapons. And, the stand-off began. The police
were frightened. Not since 1969, when I was with a
group of radicals who had broken off from the main
demostration in Washington, D.C., broke out the
windows of the Justice Building and overturned police
cars and set them on fire, have I seen such fear in
the eyes of police.
At the corner of 5th and Market Street there was a
tetonic shift in our movement, at least in San Diego.
Every dancing youthful spirit there saw the fear in
police eyes - and they will remember.
For over an hour, we held Market Street, between
5th and 4th. It was liberated from the American empire
- and, these youths will remember.
The police knew that if they let the crowd go, they
would march in smaller groups up and down city streets
creating havoc with traffic and gaining increased
personal power by overcoming state power. They also
knew that they did not have the body count to wade
into this unified crowd, that San Diego would have its
first full-scale riot in over a hundred years. Even I
was prepared to join these kids in resisting and I had
a hot date scheduled later that evening.
For over an hour, police officials hovered around
the crowd. Radio calls were made, sargents, then
captains arrived. Finally, deputy chiefs,
showed up in evening dress, pulled from fancy
restuarants.
In the meantime, in our liberated zone; young
people danced in the streets, ideological and
political foes embraced, a few of us "aged" activits
fell in love with a "new" generation, and, more
importantly, every participant sensed the weakness of
this police force, this society -and they will
remember.
Finally, the police wisely allowed us to march
triumpantly back to Horton Plaza where the event wound
down. As I boarded a bus at 12th and Broadway, I was
still excited about the strength of these several
hundred youth; as I watched them feed on the energy of
each other and the moment. They will create a
collective force, nourished by that energy, that will
pull all of us with a collective conscience for peace
and justice within their sphere. These young people
must never march alone again, they need all of us
there - to share, to feed on our integrity and to
liberate us from our tired old politics of protest.
They begin the possibility of a new culture. Do we
have the courage to respond?
As I rode the bus toward City Heights, a couple of
young people boarded, carring a sign that said "Bush:
Wanted for Murder." "You can't bring that sign on the
bus," the driver spat at them. "You wanna bet" they
replied and headed for the back of the bus.
It has begun!

there in spirit 24.01.2005 13:12 rocky. thank you for your letter of support and for offering the use of your much needed photographs. but more importantly than that, thank you for sharing your account of the night. while in the holding area with janice, plastic handcuffs digging into my wrists, shoulders aching from being wrenched into place, i heard the call over the radio that marchers had reached 4th and market. moments later the radio reported that marchers had reached 5th and market - and my heart danced with them. i would have given anything to be there with them at that moment of celebration, liberation, and joy. together, they created a perfect, beautiful moment in time - where everything could be forgotten, if only just long enough to remember that we are human, alive, in this fight together and by far - not alone. la aymara rocky can be reached at 24.01.2005 13:28  rockyneptun@yahoo.com sdimc YES! The tide turned~ 24.01.2005 15:32 It was quite a surprise to have the group swell as it did, in front of horton plaza. We were kind of late arriving, but rather than diminish, the crowd grew, and the energy grew, and as if by brownian motion, began to move down 5th. Yes, it's clear the police were taken off guard - they began riding their 'hogs' (motorcycles) down the SIDEWALKS of 5th avenue at alarming speed.. I had never seen such disregard for public safety. I tried to work my way across the crowd to walk on the sidewalk, get in their way, slow them down, but the 'parade' had passed quickly. It later bacame clear they were racing to make the crowd turn right at Market street. When the time came to turn, I was suddenly cofronted by one fat, scared looking cop, helmet on, face shield down, holding his billy club on either end like a bar in front of him. My first notice of him was when he shoved me back with the club. I looked up at him, dumbfounded, and he reached out and shoved me back again, shouting something at me. Being a past middle aged pacifist, I just stepped back, pulled out my camera, and shot him a few times. That's when I saw his fear, and how his over-reaction and agressiveness was provoking other, younger men mostly, to engage in a shouting and pushing match. I must say the other police personnel were well behaved, and seemed to really be trying to help turn the crowd and control traffic for the good of all. I should mention there were many marchers that were also calming and helping maintain cooler heads. But the main point is not the near eruption into violence... the main point is the feeling that emerged within that crowd. The feeling that there was strength and energy. We all felt it, and felt it growing. And well beyond the 'usual protesters', this was a more diverse group, united in the fervent awareness of the road our national politics is on. This was a crowd that clearly did not want our nation to become an "Ownership Society", imposing our will on the rest of the world with our arrogant military industrial might. This felt like the harbringer of a turning of the tide. The beginning of a 'buyers remorse' at having re-corronated this administration. There are many parallels with Nixon's re-election in '72... which ended with that arrogant bastard being driven from office. The worm turns. Let's keep marching! Indy e-mail:: indy@fuegodiego.com Correction! 31.01.2005 11:47 Dear Rocky, We just read your essay, and realize your information about Thursday evening needs to be clarified. It sounds as if you weren't aware there were actually TWO separate events that took place after the sdcpj march and rally. It was directly after the first march that the second event of the evening began at 4th and Broadway: The CACEROLAZO. It was even announced in advance on this very site. That was why so many people had pots and pans with them -- and more and more continued to arrive. Hundreds, in fact. The CACEROLAZO was organized as a Mass Street Theater Action by Ground Zero Players, a guerilla theater group that has been performing in the streets of San Diego for 18 years. You'll be surprised to know the group includes activists of ALL ages from 20s to 40s to 60s! And it was a 63-year-old in GZP who did most of the strategizing for the event. Trying to divide us all by age becomes just that: devisive. There were old people, young people, families with children, all banging pots and pans and creating the great energy you described as "bouncing off the Grant Hotel and reverberating down Broadway." It took people of all ages to pull off that amazing scene, which had also been created and organized by people of all ages. The CACEROLAZO held it's position along Broadway until 7:15 when they turned the evening over, as planned, to the third event of the evening. The Reclaim the Streets group had gathered separately and began their event by winding their way through the CACEROLAZO to start their march down 4th. So here's to the vision and energy and spirit of us ALL! To the old as well as the young. To the organizers of all three events: CACEROLAZO, Reclaim the Streets, the Rally and March. Creating the world we want is going to take all of us TOGETHER! Ground Zero Players  gzplayers@aol.com gzp2 e-mail:: gzplayers@aol.com too little Cacelorazo coverage 03.02.2005 00:04 Yeah, I agree gzplayer. Unfortunately, we have way too little coverage, stories, photos, audio, video from the Cacelorazo, which was really one of the most impressive acts of the night. Without the Cacelorazo, the energy for the Reclaim the Streets would have probably been pretty low. I hope that next time, we can do more outreach for people to do some independent media for all events, and have people posting stories about multiple activities. I wish that in the future at least some people of a cacelorazo will get together beforehand and plan a couple of rhythms or beats. During the Reclaim the Streets, if the pot and pan bangers had a single beat, i think it would have been soooo incredible. A massive force of sound invading the streets, in tune, in step. It would have scared the police a lot more though. Whether thats a good thing or not, is up to you. But either way, it was fantastic. Thank you gzplayers. imcista e-mail:: imc-sd@lists.indymedia.org Homepage:: imc-sd@lists.indymedia.org