Lead, Follow or Get the Hell out of the Way: Enough is Enough

I’m not going to waste a lot of time on my own words here: suffice it to say that I have truly, truly had enough. And whether or not it does any good, whether or not I am joined by an army of zero or an army of one: I am hitting the streets. I challenge the rest of you to do the same–and if you sincerely cannot (because you have some physical impediment), then at least spread the word.

For many months, I have made excuses for myself, contending “there’s no point,” the “media will ignore us,” “it’s a waste of time.” Blahfuckingblah.

But when I finally did get up off my ass and attend the Cindy Sheehan vigils in August, a funny thing happened: the AP picked up a picture of me at the vigil and, by dint of sheer coincidence,  printed it  in my hometown newspaper. I didn’t hear about that until many months later, when I got a letter (with newspaper clipping) from an 80-plus year old former professor. Ironically, I had just been `preaching’ to my undergraduate class about getting out and protesting, told them, “well, I’m really too old for that kind of political involvement–you guys need to do that part–believe me, I spend a lot of time writing letters to Congress and the Press!”

My former prof had sent the AP picture to another former prof, also  in his 80s, and what he said was: “Lilly is still out there fighting the good fight! She’s always out front, isn’t she? If she can do it, we can do it, too. All of us really need to be out there on the streets.”

Ha. My former professors unwittingly called Bullshit on me.  Mind you, these are not peace-lovin’-hippy-type profs–they never were. They were always just plain-old-mom-and-pop types, doing their jobs, having their kids, teaching to put bread on the table.

I was certainly moved by the letter–at a loss for words, actually–because these professors, back in the day, also stood on the frontlines with us. They attended the demonstrations we organized–to protest the nuclear arms build-up, to protest project ELF in northern Wisconsin, to protest Rape and Violence against women–they signed my petitions to make our city a Nuclear Free Zone and accepted “I was speaking at a protest” as a valid excuse for missing class. What a sad state of affairs to see that nowadays, students are being reprimanded for this level of political involvement!  This more than anything, perhaps, inspires my utter dismay at the MIND ROT that has set in and paralyzed this entire country–nowadays, a written statement from your employer stating that you had to WORK is an excuse for missing class–organizing a protest will get you suspended!  Certainly can’t fault anyone for making money, now, can you–but when they start making WAVES, time to whack em on the back of the hand with a ruler!

Right now, I am ashamed of most of my colleagues–fellow professors and public intellectuals–who apparently have their heads stuck so far up their asses they can see the backs of their teeth without looking in the mirror. I will NOT share their shame.

I will not let Feingold stand alone (stand: two feet planted firmly on the street, not keester at the keyboard!)

I will not let Conyers stand alone.

Signing their petitions, emailing, faxing and phoning in support is not enough.

In my day, we were rewarded for taking a stand, not decried as starkravinglunaticradical , peace-loving hippy types: and if someone called you a part of the “women’s studies crowd” that was a badge of HONOR, not an INSULT.  My, how times have changed.

World Can’t Wait

March 13, 2006

The massive protest that brought the Loop to a stop on Friday was organized to oppose the Sensenbrenner bill which, if passed by the Senate, will make it a felony to help illegal immigrants in any way (even providing water), and make undocumented workers into felons. Not only was this protest the largest ever held in Chicago, but the crowd (consisting mostly of Latinos and other immigrants) by and large took off from work to come, shutting down many businesses and risking their jobs. At a time when the Bush regime increasingly criminalizes and brings about new suffering to immigrants, and right-wing vigilantes like the Minutemen hunt them down with government encouragement, this resistance by many of the very people facing such attacks is extremely important and an example we all need to follow.

For those of us who were there, it’s hard to find words for the exhilaration felt in the streets of Chicago that day. Official police figures put attendance at the march at 100,000 and here in Chicago, the rule of thumb is to double the police figure to get the real one. But the expanse of people was beyond our capacity to absorb! Grandmothers and toddlers in strollers, whole groups of workers and even owners from businesses marching in their work uniforms, mostly Latino but smaller contingents of Polish workers and Irish too–it was inspiring.
World Can’t Wait got to the park where the marchers assembled two hours ahead of time and we weren’t too early. What was going to be our meeting spot turned into a logistical station as people lined up to get our “Bush Step Down” posters as fast as they could be stapled onto picket sticks, many signing up to keep in touch and many more donating to our cause as well. And the whistles with green stickers in Spanish were very popular. Teams of teenagers we met there took leaflets and whistles to distribute in the crowd and brought back donations, then turned around and took more of everything to get out.

Our contingent of WCW organizers was small and we could never have distributed all 20,000 copies of the Call in Spanish that we brought without the efforts of many hundreds of people in the march we met on the spot. But we did, along with thousands of copies in English as well. Many sections of the march were dotted with our bright green Bush Step Down! posters and the chant of “Fuera Bush, Si se puede” was taken up by the crowd around us at several junctures. We marched for hours with our green “World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime” banner, arriving at the Federal Plaza with thousands of others after the rally had been prematurely ended by the police, who were anxious to get all these people out of the Loop before rush hour.

Many marchers thanked us for coming but we replied that this is our struggle too, about the kind of country we’re all going to live in. Some of us had talked before the march about whether it was up to Jews to fight anti-semitism under Hitler or whether all Germans had that responsibility. We are determined not to be good Germans! Frankly, there were very, very few non-immigrants apparent in the march so it wasn’t surprising that they might see our participation as an anomaly.

Passing out our Call, we agitated that the war is criminal, the regime is criminal, but immigrants are NOT criminals and it’s the regime that has to go. Fuera Bush! This was met with almost universal support, which shows the strong anti-war sentiment among the marchers as well. We urged people to come out next week too (March 18th anti-war march) as part of taking on the whole program of the Bush regime, not only “fighting Bush’s outrages one at a time.”

How did all this happen? There was certainly no word of this in the mainstream English-language media, although the Spanish dailies reported on the growing movement, including an Irish pub on the Northside that sponsored an Irish contingent. We heard many stories, such as a grocery store in a far south suburb of Chicago that shut down and paid for 10 buses to bring their workers and customers to the protest. But so many wanted to come that they ordered three more buses, people chipped in to pay for them, and there still wasn’t enough room for everyone. In many neighborhoods and suburbs, grandmothers opened their homes to take in children so their parents could participate. And many churches and schools brought their congregations and students en masse to the protest.

People under vicious threat by this government, facing their families being ripped apart by this new legislation if moms and dads without papers can be deported and their children left behind, took to the streets to fight for their rights. They realize that demonstrating does make a difference and that they must take responsibility for the direction their lives and this society are going to go. What if this had been the response to the murderous callousness of this regime after Katrina? And when will women who know the devastating impact of the loss of choice follow this example rather than the mis-leaders of the Democratic party and quit “putting our hopes and energies into ‘leaders’ who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics”?

World Can’t Wait must learn from and build on this inspiring new development, this “sleeping giant that has awakened” (as the Spanish news reported) to build a movement that can stop “the whole disastrous course of this Bush regime.”
Most immediately, this week will mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and important protests are planned around the country. We say, “3 Years of War & Occupation – The World Can’t Wait! End the War – Drive Out the Bush Regime!”

Join us on Saturday, March 18, at 3 PM in Union Park (Lake & Ashland) to rally to demand an end to the occupation and bring the troops home now.
Call everyone you know and urge them to come out too. World Can’t Wait contingents will be participating in feeder marches from the UIC campus, Humboldt Park, Evanston, Pilsen, and Senn High School that will converge on Union Park for the 3 PM rally. We will also have a “float” in the march down North Michigan Ave. that steps off at 7 PM Saturday evening. Meet us at Ogden School (on Walton) at 6 PM to be part of our contingent there down Michigan Ave. The World Can’t Wait – End the War – Drive Out the Bush Regime! Click here for feeder march information