Video Find of the Day
KING5.com has a news story about the Nickelsville eviction which contains this sentence: "The event was a precision protest by homeless advocates, who insist the mayor has failed the city's most vulnerable citizens."
Now, I need to mention that Nickelsville has always been about survival first, and only secondarily a protest against the sweeps (that make it necessary by endangering survival.) It's like when someone tries to hit you, you might simultaneously duck and also yell "NO!" The ducking is the primary act, the yelling "NO" (the protest) is secondary. First you don't want to be hit. Only secondarily do you want to register your objection to being struck at in the first place.
Still, calling what went down "a precision protest" is pretty cool isn't it? It immediately called to mind Mission Impossible, and made me long for the theme song. And what do you know, some Mission Impossible fan with a VCR in the early 90s and a YouTube account today has edited together the intros to six episodes.
Mission: Impossible Opening Montage 1
Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Homeless in Seattle & Noa Noa
Last night I slept again in a tent on City Hall Plaza in protest of the inhumane sweeps of homeless encampments on public land. The lives of homeless people are endangered by the destruction of their survival gear, done in the name of "public safety" and "hygiene." This morning that protest was followed by a civil disobedience. Fifteen of the protestors obstructed a downtown street in Seattle, a street that just happens to lie precisely between the offices of the mayor and the county executive.
First, there was a memorial service conducted by Women In Black of Seattle. They read the names of 283 people who died on the streets in King County from 2000 to date.
Homeless remembrance Service, Seattle
In the Polynesian traditions a law (taboo) can be broken only if rituals are carefully followed. It's called Noa Noa in some places. Sometimes translated as Freeing, or Release, or, Declaration of Freeing. The rituals demand a statement of purpose, and the invocation of the god governing the taboo, petitioning for release from it. That's exactly what you see in the next video, plus initial arrests.
Stand Against the Sweeps
The rest of the arrests, including a scene in which Anitra, my woman, appearing in the role of a hooded gang banger, is processed for arrest outside of an SPD bus, while I explain to someone that her being arrested and me filming is all part of the plan. "Division of labor" as I call it. Her arrest was well planned by the Real Change Organizing Project, and was joined by participants from SHARE/WHEEL, Women in Black, and members of the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness, and others.
The Usual Suspects
First, there was a memorial service conducted by Women In Black of Seattle. They read the names of 283 people who died on the streets in King County from 2000 to date.
Homeless remembrance Service, Seattle
In the Polynesian traditions a law (taboo) can be broken only if rituals are carefully followed. It's called Noa Noa in some places. Sometimes translated as Freeing, or Release, or, Declaration of Freeing. The rituals demand a statement of purpose, and the invocation of the god governing the taboo, petitioning for release from it. That's exactly what you see in the next video, plus initial arrests.
Stand Against the Sweeps
The rest of the arrests, including a scene in which Anitra, my woman, appearing in the role of a hooded gang banger, is processed for arrest outside of an SPD bus, while I explain to someone that her being arrested and me filming is all part of the plan. "Division of labor" as I call it. Her arrest was well planned by the Real Change Organizing Project, and was joined by participants from SHARE/WHEEL, Women in Black, and members of the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness, and others.
The Usual Suspects
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