In keeping with my policy of attempting to get all sides of the issue, I attended the Jan 18th antiwar demonstration in downtown Portland.
Despite the fact I graduated high school in 71,I have never been to a demonstration before. Sincethe last two here in Portland (Aug/Nov) both ended in teargas, police charges and arrests, I advised Sharon to not attend. "As if" she replied.
So I left the leather jackets at home, dressed in black with a grey sweatshirt and tried my best to not look like a thug or a cop. According to Sharon, the effort was wasted.
I took the MAX train downtown and arrived at about 11am. I walked to the North Park blocks where the anarchists, socialists and communists were going to meet. The Portland IndyMedia website proclaimed they didn't need no stinking permit to hold a march, and that all the right-minded folks would be in this 'feeder' march that would eventually merge with the 'approved' march at the South Park blocks.
It was a bright, sunny day, around 40 degrees. Out of the sun, with a 5-knot breeze, it was downright cold.
Hmm, at 11:30, an hour before the march was to leave the square, there were only ten people present. Four of them were street people. So, it being pretty cold, I camped out with a coffee in the Powell's Technical bookstore across the street, waiting for people to show.
People started arriving around noon, in groups of 3 or 4. There were plenty of signs and lots of handouts. The All-In-Black Brigade was heavily represented. There were at least four guys in full anarchist riot regalia: full eye protection, black knit cap, scarf over the nose, cammies and heavy black boots. Needless to say, I got quite a few funny looks as I wandered around picking up handouts.
Most of the handouts were straight socialist/communist screeds on the class war. These are always amusing when passed out by a guy riding an $1100 bike.
There were a few giving the "Top 10 Reasons to Not Invade Iraq".
Around 12:45 we left the square with about 500 people and about 30 cops. The cops had their plastic handcuffs and nightsticks, but nothing I would consider to be heavy-duty riot gear. Everybody appeared to be in a good mood. The "No War Drum Corps" had two bass drums and around six snare drums, so there was a good deal of noise. Many folks had empty 5-gallon water cooler jugs for drums, and a few had regular pans.
They marched up Broadway to Pioneer Square. The original flyers and the half page ad in the Metro section said the rally would be at the square. When we arrived, the fools who want to put a seasonal ice rink in the square had a huge white tent there, so the march went around the square and up two blocks to the South Park blocks. I estimated the 'feeder' crowd was up to a 1000 or so by then.
Whoa! When we got there, I could hear the loudspeakers, but couldn't understand the words very well. The feeder march had come in at the north end of the Park blocks, and the main crowd was to the south of that corner. I managed to make my way through the densely-packed crowd over to the Historical Society building, where I climbed an 8-foot wall to get a good look.
People covered two whole blocks (approximately 3/8ths of a mile) and about 300 yards across. I estimated it at 15-18,000 people. The news called it 20,000; the police called it 16,000; the organizers called it 30,000. Typical.
The people in the feeder march were much more radical-looking than the folks at the approved demonstration. The main crowd had a lot folks in the 20-35 age group, with about 5% of the crowd being people over the age of 50. Hundreds of bikes, strollers and dogs. You would be amazed at the number of organized canines: I saw at least twenty dogs with variations on "doggies/puppies for peace". One beautiful white Malemute had a blue ankh (peace symbol) spray-painted on his side.
There were about 12 handout tables set up in the main square, and a small bandstand. The PA system was first-rate, with three bands of speakers (JBLs) set out every hundred yards or so.
As has been noted by other observers, the causes are all over the map: no collective bargaining for transport workers; racial profiling; the new INS reporting requirements; the Israeli/Palestinian mess; no war -- spend our money at home instead, etc.
After about 5 speakers, they started the march around the city center, and promised when the crowd returned, there would be two more speakers and live music. I had to wait nearly 40 minutes for enough space to clear so I could get off the wall and down into the crowd. This time seemed considerably longer, since the small choir they had did nearly nine million verses of "We Shall Overcome". This was probably requested by the police, since it had the remarkable effect of making people leave the square faster.
I cut across the main crowd and joined the march at about five different places. The anarchists were using chalk to draw inane slogans on various walls; the police looked on and did nothing.
I saw exactly four people who were in favor of war, and/or deposing Saddam. One was a 60-something veteran, very large. I asked him if anyone was giving him a hard time, and he said "everyone". I shook his hand and told him he was not alone. He was quite grateful for the support.
Another anti-anti-war person was more interesting: a woman with a "Depose Saddam" poster. She was a political exile from Iraq, and had not seen or heard from her husband after he was taken away during the night by the Iraqi police in 1989.
When I returned to the square, the sun was going down, and a brisk day was turning downright chilly. The crowd never got any bigger than about 3000 after 3pm (the rally started at 1pm) and the promised last two speakers never appeared. The live music was absolutely awful -- four people with their own custom protest tunes trying in vain to get anyone to sing along. They gave up after half an hour.
Observations:
The crowd lacked passion. On numerous occasions, someone would start a chant, but I never saw more than 50 people join in -- it was usually 10-20. It just seemed like a big party.
People were in a generally good mood.
I did not see a single Muslim woman with a headscarf.
I saw about 3 men who looked to be Middle Eastern.
I talked to at least five different cops: they all pretty much agreed with me on the crowd size, and were all amazed at the lack of violence. According to reports, there were no arrests that day. There were less than 100 police present. KGW had a van with a camera on a thirty foot pole overlooking the square. There were helicopters around all day.
They passed the paint buckets for donations: from my perch up top, I could see into them -- I'd guess less than $500 in the one with the most cash in it.
Slogans/Posters (Humorous):
"Pre-Emption is for Losers"
"War is like, sooooo 20th century"
"War Does NOT Increase Penis Size"
"Who Would Jesus Bomb?"
"George Bush Likes to Kill People -- that's Fucked Up"
Picture of Barbara Bush -- "Stop It, George!"
Slogans/Posters (Say Wot?):
"If War Worked, We'd Have Peace Now"
"9/11: America's Reichstag Fire"
Slogans/Posters (X causes Y):
"Aggression Breeds Terrorism"
"War Creates Terrorists"
Impressions:
I was proud of my country and city after seeing this demonstration. A whole lot of people peacefully made their point, and no animals or children were killed in the doing. Others who disagreed with the majority were able to speak their minds, with no fear of physical abuse.
There was no attempt by the speakers to make any real points -- I guess that would be wasted in that sort of forum. However,the handouts contained nothing that hasn't been shredded in the blogoverse. Frankly, I was not impressed.
I was worried about the size/fervour of the crowd -- I've seen how violent protests can directly affect foreign policy. But I now agree with other observers -- this is not the same antiwar movement that drove Nixon from the White House. There is a noticeable lack of passion, evinced by the small amount of donations, inability to get chants going,and the fact it petered out after a 2-mile walk around the city.
I'll be at the next one, to see if a more imminent war brings passions to a boil.
So there you are. No pictures, though. Take a camera next time, Ken!
