by Dyan M. Neary
Earth TimesFebruary 3, 2002
After months of preparation on the part of protesters and police, many of whom expected a Genoa-style bloodbath, the marches and rallies that took place Saturday were, for the most part, anti climactic. While up to 15,000 took to the streets, they did so by way of three distinct events, all of which were to converge outside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the world's elite was gathering for the third day of the World Economic Forum here in New York.
The International Action Committee held a permitted rally outside the hotel, while Another World is Possible rallied at Central Park, from which they would make their way to the Waldorf-Astoria for a rally with the protesters with Reclaim the Streets. This was perhaps the most eventful and certainly attracted the most numbers. Lacking a city permit, the crowd of about five to eight thousand left from Columbus Circle at 1 PM, after a pageant staged by puppetistas from Arts-in-Action's theater troupe with Reclaim the Streets.
Protesters marched peacefully for several hours, many bearing signs demanding "resistance to corporate colonialism," "death to the WEF," and "no more sweatshops." Many conveyed messages of individual dissent, but all seemed to center around issues of sweatshop labor, workers' rights, police brutality, animal rights, environmental degradation, and the failures of capitalistic approaches to basic needs, particularly of those in indigenous nations via corporate globalization.
Medics and legal personnel traversed the crowd, ready to come to the aid of the activists at any call, along with a communications team to alert fellow activists of significant occurrences throughout the march. Medics could be distinguished by their red and white clothing, many sporting vests with pockets stuffed with supplies and all with medical crosses on their arms made with red duct tape. The People's Law Collective documented arrests. Police told The Earth Times these had totaled 38, mainly for disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.
The demonstration included a 40-foot long orange dragon decorated with slogans, and a samba band which comprised drums, buckets, pots, pans and jugs from water coolers. Some of the more interesting samba instruments were made from big orange and white concrete blocks, and there was what appeared to be a bathtub cut in half.
The main part of the 30-piece band was at the head of the march, but there were many scattered throughout the crowd with similar instruments, all playing to the same beat and forming tight rhythms which could be heard from blocks away. Activists said the band was really the heart of the march, and indeed the music seemed to both carry and reflect the energy and spirit of the group. Musicians revealed that they had rehearsed for weeks with their makeshift instruments to come together in this way.
Scores of police cars were present at every turn, and all streets within the vicinity of the Waldorf were blocked off. By 5:00 pm, tension between protesters and police was far more prominent than any action against the WEF. Protesters remained blocked inside a small area between police barricades for two hours, unable to reach the Waldorf in spite of the permit they held for a rally there until 8:00 pm. Police argued that the protesters were within sight and sound of the hotel, and that they had orders not to allow them past this point.
One officer told The Earth Times he was not going to allow activists past the barricade because he smelled vinegar, which clued him in that "they were probably doing something wrong." Activists claimed they were soaking masks in vinegar to cover their faces because they feared police were going to spray tear gas. "They confiscated some of our goggles earlier," said Christina, 26, an anti-globalization activist from New York. "That's like firing a bullet and saying you can't duck."
The People's Law Collective settled the matter with police, and activists reconvened behind more barricades for chants, songs and samba, after which many began to disperse. Police conceded that it had been a "pretty successful day," in that arrests had been minimal and that all of the rallies lacked any real violence. Activists didn't seem as complacent. "If everything goes peaceful, the police get all the credit," one remarked. "If things turn violent, we get all the blame."
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