New York - Feb. 15, 2003 - by Suzy

We missed the departure of the carnival people from the library after we talked to Myshele on the cell phone, so we went with another group. I am not sure if it was a spefic 'organized' group though. We were a little ahead of the GLAM group, and we kept getting mixed in with one different group or another on our way, it was really cool! We were at 53rd (or 52nd, I am not sure now) and 2nd when the police were making arrests and filling 2 paddywagons, mounted police were involved with this business too. We kept getting sent further and further away down 2nd Ave, it was so frustrating! And sadly we kept meeting groups of protesters going the opposite direction who were discouraged and dropping out because of this. But we kept on. We were held behind barricades standing in a crushed together crowd at a standstill many times. And penned like cattle, too. It was such a helpless, frustrating, degrading experience -- so much for Constitutional rights, huh?

But it was fun to be with so many people with a common goal, marching, and waving signs. It was fun chanting and reading the other folks signs, and costumes. We saw the Glam cheerleaders doing their songs, the stick puppets, the Free Palestine mock coffin, the Papier Mache mask actors doing Bush and Cheney et al, and the Raging Grannies! On our way back we fell in with a College group that was great at doing chants; "No Blood For Oil', What do we want? PEACE! When do we want it? NOW! and Whose Steets? OUR STREETS! We were not able to achieve Times Square, but we got very close, and then there were those Mounted Police and foot Police with riot gear again! I am still trying to get an organized handle on the whole experience so that I can Journal it.

It was a good experience for me, absolutely! I had a good time, and it was certainly an education!

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