"no song has gone unsung here, and this joint is strung crazy tight"
okay, i said it was to be continued, here i go. it's hard to know where or how to begin, but i'll try.
i left omega on sunday night around 1 am with thirteen other people confined to three cars, all of us itching with anticipation, having no clue what was to come. at the time, i was not intending on getting arrested, i thought i would leave that up to izzy, our sixtysomething leader, aka "professor peacenik", and a couple other people who were more bold than i. the point of the whole protest was police resistance in opposition to the iraq war, but the majority of all of the groups participating were supporters, and in many ways they were just as important as the ones directly disobeying the police.
on monday afternoon, we attended a meeting on nonviolence training, which i left feeling extremely hyped and ready for the next day. my mind was changed and i wanted to be a part of what everyone was talking about; nearly everyone else at the meeting had already been arrested and it was no big deal, it was practically a hobby. mainly, there was a lack of fear, no wavering certainty about what they wanted to do. another thing is that except for most of our boisterous, musical omega group, everyone involved in the actions was middle-aged or older. to say it was disconcerting not to see any other college-age people is a bit of an understatement.
so then we ate dinner, talked about everything we had heard and learned, and promptly returned for the actual planning meeting. the room was a lot more crowded and everyone was keyed up and had plenty of questions and ideas about where to process, where to meet, what exactly to do once we arrived at the capitol lawn, etc. but first there was the legal briefing, and that is what almost threw me back to the place of fear, the place of i-can't-risk-doing this. izzy made sure to tell us afterward that it was the legal experts' job to tell us the absolute worst case scenarios just so we knew what we were getting ourselves into, but what they described almost never happens, especially in a demonstration as peaceful as ours was. then everyone who was considering or planning on arrest had to fill out a form with their name and email and support person information. hurray for support people! they were basically friends that pledged to back us up when we were arrested-- take down our names, be in charge of finding out where we were being held, holding any personal items we handed over, etc. they were amazing, and i'm beyond grateful to everyone in our group who supported us and showed so much love when we were released.
that night at the campground was fun, surprisingly. we were giggly and free and revelling around the fire and each other, more comfortable with each other after our circle sharing time and knowing where everyone was at, feelings-wise. omega's pretty cheesy like that, and we carried that vibe all the way down to dc, amazingly, and that definitely contributed to how successful the trip was for us as a group, and for everyone's feelings concerning the police action. oh yes, and i still wasn't sure whether or not i was going to be arrested (it was a decision that everyone had to make. no one who didn't want to be arrested was arrested. if you weren't planning on being taken away, there was plenty of time to retreat, after the police warnings). so i went to sleep monday night content with the support i had, whatever i decided to do, and eager to see how all the action would unfold the next day.
tuesday, action day! the first thing that happened was everyone (about 300 people, plus onlookers and tons of press camerapeople) gathering in upper senate park in the morning. there were the code pink ladies with their pink tee shirts spelling out P-E-A-C-E on each one, the various spiritual/religious leaders contributing to the inter-faith service for peace that kicked off the whole thing, and our little crazy group: izzy with his indiana jones hat and guitar, some of us wearing balloon hats, some with warrior paint on our faces, some with signs that said "hate or love?", "a new consciousness is percolating" among others, all of us various peace songs with joy. and the police were already there, telling the first among the group that they couldn't cross the street to get to the capitol building. some people up front, among the first willing to be arrested, were holding up a model of a coffin depicting the names and pictures of people that had died in iraq, and they wanted to place it on the capitol steps, but we all only got as far as the sidewalk in front of the path leading to the steps, because the police hightailed it over there and formed a line, linked arms and all. this was something we hadn't talked about in the planning meeting-- we had discussed *us* forming a line to block an entrance into the senate office building, but not getting past the police. so the leader of the coffin group, max, was trying to get through the line, shouting passionately about needing to end the violence and "this is what democracy looks like!" was among the chants that were started, with us singing right behind them. we were singing "this land is your land", "we shall overcome", and "this little light of mine", mostly. eventually there was a break and they got the coffin through, and immediately another police line was formed behind the first one. you could tell that the wanted to do everything they could to delay us, to delay arrests, to try and get us to listen. the captain was shouting first and second and third warnings that we weren't allowed to demonstrate, and we certainly weren't allowed up on the steps, which were roped off anyway, and then all of a sudden you saw them swarming in, handcuffing the group that had broken through the first line.
i couldn't really sing anymore because by this time, i was crying. i looked around me and had never been in such a powerful scene in all my life: being videotaped and applauded, watching the first brave few being taken away, watching the police do their job because we didn't have a permit, my friends katie and steve and i all looking at each other, red-eyed and teary at the same time. i couldn't say really whether it was fear, or admiration, or just a sense of rightness, like what a fucking perfect place to be in, with all these people standing up and not letting anything get in their way. and the standout part was that we weren't causing anyone or anything harm, we weren't destoying anything, we were being kind to the cops (i've never seen a greater example of compassion begetting compassion), we were truly being peaceful and i couldn't help but see courage and determination in everyone's eyes.
there were about 12 people arrested right there, in front of the capitol building, all piled in to the pack of paddywagons and driven away, all being applauded and thanked by the crowd for their efforts. our group stayed back a bit, kind of taking it all in and singing the whole time. when everyone else but the press left, we were still singing and dancing, the police line still before us and most of them never cracking a smile. we talked to them, asked if we could take the coffin back (it was just lying on the ground behind them, waiting to be taken in as evidence), thanked them for doing their job and said we were just doing ours, and then ten or fifteen minutes later, they broke up and said we could go through. it was strange, but maybe it was because we were only 10, maybe because we had such a positive vibe, no yelling or anger, that they deemed us "safe". we thanked them again and cut through the lawn, walked right in front of the capitol, taking a shortcut to the senate office buildings. this was where the demonstration was continuing as planned, and we didn't want the action to be over. the plan was to assemble in the hart building, one of three office buildings in a row, because this one had an atrium with all the levels looking down and good acoustics. at this point, i knew i wanted to join those risking arrest but still felt uneasy about it. izzy and katie were the steadfast in their willingness, and i followed them when we were eventually "allowed" inside the hart building. the police were everywhere, more now than before, and they surrounded us as we all filed into the atrium, ready to pounce.
being inside the hart building was the next surreal, powerful-beyond-words experience. we formed a large circle, holding hands, and our supporters danced and chanted in and around us; on the second level above us, there were three men reading a list of names of some iraqi victims. the police captain once again interrupted us and gave us the three warnings ("this is your last warning, you will be arrested, you are not to demonstrate here", etc), and we turned and said goodbye to our friends, who we wanted out of harm's way. some of them had gone up a few levels to get some pictures from above and to wave and offer us smiles of comfort. i don't know what we were singing at this point, amazing grace or imagine or something, but then the police started the arrests. i had tears in my eyes and was hoping i wouldn't lose it-- who knows what to expect when they're about to be handcuffed? i didn't know where we would be taken or how long we would be held or how they would treat us or if i would have to deal with a court date...but i knew i wanted to stay. i kept looking at the faces surrounding me, so calm and sure and brave, and i began to feel that way, too. my nervousness faded away almost completely as i accepted whatever was going to happen, and then i laid down on the floor with everyone else to further resist the police. the sense of being a part of something bigger than myself intensified as i looked up and around me, seeing people everywhere watching, including our supporters and everyone who worked in that building. it was then that the feeling of community sank over me, and i began to realize that i *was* safe, we were all in this together and nothing could change that. there were about four cops that surrounded each person before moving on to the next, bending over us and actually asking if we were aware of what we were doing, if we were consenting to be arrested, and did we want that, were we sure. i said yes, they asked me again (i was the youngest one there and absolutely felt a sense of protection from everyone, cops included), and then they asked me to stand up. we had already discussed while lying there whether or not we would go limp, and katie and i didn't want them to apply any force, didn't want to make it any harder on them, so we obliged and got to our feet. some people were forced to roll over and didn't help the cops along at all with getting their arms behind their backs, but then again they were more experienced with the whole thing.
i was handcuffed and led out by a female cop, who had to do a brief patdown before we went out a side exit (this policewoman was so nice that she actually retied my sweatshirt around my waist for me). we were confronted by an unidentified cameraman on the way on to the bus, who asked us where we were from and what we would have told congress if we had the chance. i kind of wish i knew who he was representing before i talked to him, but oh well. we sat on th police coach bus for over an hour, the men on one side, women on the other, and we all introduced ourselves and congratulated each other for how well the whole demonstration had gone.
end, part 1!
work is calling, the "jail" part will come in no less than several hours, i promise.
yes, the lessons are all around us and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever