NEW YORK CITY
Protests gear up to confront Republican Convention
By John Catalinotto
New York
The Republicans' choice of New York City as
their National Convention site is starting to look like a big
mistake. The idea that President George W. Bush could be
nominated to run for a second four-year term is attracting
possibly hundreds of thousands of people who want to put an end
to his time in office.
Opponents of the war and of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Anti-racists. Union ists tired of shrinking wages, persistent
unemployment and cuts in social services. AIDS activists
demanding better health care. Youth demanding more funds for
education. Civil libertarians defending constitutional rights.
Environ mentalists protesting Bush's compliance with corporate
polluters. Lesbian, gay, bi and trans people wanting the right
to same-sex marriage. Immi grants wanting asylum and the right
to a union. They'll all be here to confront Bush.
They will do it with mass protest marches, rallies, poetry
readings and musical evenings, bike rides, bell ringings and
satirical farce.
On Aug. 26, to begin the week of resistance, a war-crimes
tribunal organized by the International Action Center will be
held from 3-9 p.m. at Martin Luther King Auditorium, 65th
Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
Most of the news coverage of the protests has been about the
struggle to rally in Central Park, especially after the mass
march planned for Aug. 29 passes Madison Square Garden, where
the Republican National Convention is set to begin the next
day. City authorities have refused to give the organizers of
that march, United for Peace and Justice, a permit for the
park, and instead want them to lead the marchers to the West
Side Highway, all the way over by the Hudson River.
UFPJ spokespeople on Aug. 10 reopened their demands for
rally sites in Central Park. The city refused immediately and,
as of Aug. 17, has refused to reconsider.
In a related struggle, the national office of the anti-war
ANSWER Coalition and the National Council of Arab Americans
filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan saying that
they were unfairly denied a permit for an Aug. 28 rally on
Central Park's Great Lawn by the city Department of Parks and
Recreation.
On the afternoon of Aug. 14, a group organized by the
International Action Center picketed for an hour outside
Madison Square Garden, demanding the city allow the rallies to
take place in Central Park.
IAC's 'center of resistance'
From that protest, IAC co-director Sara Flounders told
Workers World that her group would turn its office in Manhattan
at 39 West 14th Street, Room 206, into a "center of resistance
for the week."
"Thousands are coming to struggle now. We are going to do
everything to make it as simple as possible for people to get
out to the streets and stay in the streets to take part in all
the dozens of protests during the Aug. 26-Sept. 2 days of
resistance. In our office we'll have a list of all activities,
how to get there, where to eat cheaply, even where to find
public rest rooms in midtown. We'll have a list of available
housing and will accept offers of housing.
"All this," said Flounders, "will be published as a sort of
'Field Guide' as part of a journal on the Iraq War Crimes
Tribunal.
"Most important, we want to make sure that the struggle
continues after this week. Our special effort will be to
promote the organizing of the Million Worker March set for Oct.
17 in Wash ington. We invite everyone to come by the office to
get material about this effort, a struggle that can prevent
everyone from being sucked into the dead-end of electoral
politics," Flounders added.
"On Aug. 29 the gathering site for the mass march is only
one block from our office. Thousands of people will pass right
by, and we hope many come in to get banners, posters, placards,
leaflets and all sorts of material to reach out with a clear
position to end the occupation of Iraq and struggle for the
working class here at home. "
A few of the many activities listed in the "Field Guide" are
an Aug. 27 Immigrant Workers Day of Action 4-10 p.m. at St.
Mark's Church at 131 E. 10th St.; an Aug. 28 Planned Parenthood
March for Women's Lives 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. across the Brooklyn
Bridge, assembling at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn; Still We Rise
march to Madison Square Garden on Aug. 30 at 12 noon,
assembling at Union Square; a Sept. 1 Central Labor Council
March to Stop Bush at 4 p.m. at 8th Avenue and 30th Street in
Man hattan; an Artists & Activists United for Peace March
and Rally at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 at the Harlem State Office
Building at 163 W. 125th St. & Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Blvd.; and, on the same day, a Demo nstration in Solidarity
with the People of Palestine, the Haitian People, and Others
Resisting U.S. Occupation, meeting at 5 p.m. at the Israeli
Mission to the UN at 43rd Street and 2nd Avenue, organized by
national ANSWER.
Editor's note: United for Peace and Justice filed a
lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan Aug. 18 seeking an
order that would stop the city from refusing the use of Central
Park for its rally Aug. 29.
Reprinted from the Aug. 26, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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