Re: Maorch of the Americas; my report
Bonnie Briggs (s248_1132@hotmail.com)
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:49:51 PST
General
Hi all,
As you know, I went down to New York on Hallowe'en weekend to join with
KWRU at the March of the Americas. Here is my report about that trip. I have
to do it this way because Hotmail won't allow me to send attachments.
March of the Americas
"I went down to the Mayor's (President's, Governor's) house and I took
what he stole from me, took back my dignity, took my humanity. I went down
to the Mayor's (President's, Governor's) house and I took back what he stole
from me. I took back my dignity, took back my humanity, now he's under my
feet, under my feet, under my feet, under my feet, ain't no system's going
to walk all over me." That was the theme song of the March of the Americas.
Over 300 people marched from Washington, D. C. to the UN in New York to
protest the crisis situation of homelessness in, not only the States, but
also in Canada and other countries. These 300 people walked 10 miles/day for
30 days in all kinds of weather, over all kinds of terrain, and through many
towns and cities to bring awareness to this violation of the UN Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. It was a spirited group of people from many countries,
with many abilities and a vision of a future without homelessness. It was a
very ambitious undertaking. This was the vision of Cheri Honkala and the
Kensington Welfare Rights Union who are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I went down to the march with some members of OCAP, This is my report of
that trip.
Our trip started on Friday, October 29/99 as we met at the OCAP office to
await our ride. The weather was warm and sunny; it felt more like Summer
than late Fall. One person dropped out, so it ended up just being the four
of us, one of whom was driving. We all climbed into our rented mini-van,
picked up some donuts at the local coffee shop and hit the road. We were in
high spirits, teasing each other and talking about the weekend to come. We
all hoped that the march would be successful and that it would have an
impact. We discussed the best route to take and made our way on to the
highway. We had good weather all the way down and for the whole weekend,
warm and sunny, not what you would expect for late Fall.
We arrived in Fort Lee, New Jersey at about 8:00 PM. This was the
starting point for the march the next day. We went to the Church of the Good
Shepherd, which was the gathering spot for the marchers. The marchers, at
that point, had been marching for almost 30 days and were two days away from
arriving at the UN, their ultimate destination. The church was crowded when
we arrived. The crowd spilled out into the front yard of the church. There
was a small drum circle outside where young people were drumming and
singing. We made our way inside to find out where we would be sleeping that
night. We found a big room filled with young people who were either sitting
or standing and singing. Up at the front, there was a line of people leading
the singing. Some of the marchers had formed a choir and they were now
leading people in song. We were greeted by one of the marshals of the march.
She directed us to the table off to the side where we could get some supper.
However, we had decided that we wanted to eat at a restaurant. So, we went
out to find a reasonably priced restaurant. We finally settled on a Greek
restaurant, which had really good food. When we got back to the church after
supper, they were arranging lodgings for the night. They wanted all the new
people to go over to another church nearby to sleep. Because we didn't know
where this other church was, we tried to get directions or someone to lead
us there. While we were doing this, an announcement was made that they
needed people to ferry people over to the other church. We decided to do
that as it would help us learn where the other church was and it would help
other people get to their sleeping assignments. Therefore, we volunteered to
take people over to the other church. We ended up helping a family from
Puerto Rico. The group consisted of a few adults, one in a wheelchair, and a
small child. It took a few trips and almost getting lost, but we finally
managed to get them over to the other church. We took the man in the
wheelchair over in the first trip and found that they were not equipped to
handle wheelchairs. The front door of the church was up a flight of stone
steps and was not wheelchair accessible. We wondered why the man in the
wheelchair was not allowed to stay at the first church since it was
wheelchair accessible. The people in the church had to carry the man in the
wheelchair up the steps to the church. This was our first indication that
this weekend was not going to go well. We finally got everyone over to the
second church and we went back to get our belongings. We went back to the
second church and settled in for the night. They put everyone in a big room
similar to a gym. There was one washroom for men and one for women. The room
was cold and noisy with people talking, coming, and going all night. Some
people left part way through the night and new people came long after we had
settled for the night. As well, the big overhead light came on partway
through the night.
Finally, it was 6:30 am and time to get up. After long line-ups for the
washrooms, we went over to the Church of the Good Shepherd for breakfast. We
got there to find an outdoor breakfast laid out. A couple of tables held
cereals, Pop Tarts, fruit and other breakfast items, and another table held
coffee, tea, juice, and hot chocolate. There was even a bag of bottles
containing vitamins. It was announced that there were T-shirts for sale for
us to wear during the march so we all went over to get our T-shirts. Soon,
it was time to leave for the march. The organizers gathered us all in a
circle to talk to us about the march. They told us that we would be marching
10 miles and that we would be crossing the George Washington Bridge. Then
they had a prayer for the march. Religion played an important part in this
weekend. They had prayers every day before they started. The organizers did
not seem to be sensitive to other people's beliefs or lack thereof. After a
stretching session, (which I stayed out of), we lined up behind the "sound
truck." This was a big flatbed truck. It was decorated with banners, flags,
and placards. On this truck were people who sang songs and played
instruments to keep the marchers singing and to keep their spirits up. The
truck started moving and we started on the march. As veterans of many OCAP
marches, we thought this march would run the same way. Wrong! Right away,
the marshals started rushing us with cries of "hurry up! Close up the gap!
Run!" We started running half-heartedly. I cannot run very fast so I tended
to hang back a bit. The other OCAP members hung back with me to keep me
company. We told the marshals several times that I couldn't run and to slow
down the front of the march, but they wouldn't do it. The marshals also kept
insisting that we march in single file. I have never been at a march where
you march in single file. We couldn't see the reason for this and when we
asked the marshals about it, they didn't know, they only knew it was "safe."
There were cops everywhere. They forced us on the sidewalk at one point,
but we eventually took the street again as we approached the bridge. As we
started across the George Washington Bridge, the cops held up the traffic,
which backed up behind them. Halfway across the George Washington Bridge is
the border between New Jersey and New York.
As we approached this border, the cops turned on their sirens full blast and
began to creep up on us. It was a deafening sound. I began to shake my two
shakers in defiance of their sirens. The closer we got to the other side of
the bridge, the closer the cops got to us until they were right beside us at
the other end of the bridge. I finally was fed up with all the noise, I
turned around to face the closest cruiser, shook my shakers at him, and he
finally turned off the siren, much to our relief. We continued with the
march, fighting with the marshals all the way. There was a man in front of
us who was older and they were making him run too. There were also young
children in the march who had to walk the whole way. By now, I was getting
pretty tired, but I was determined to finish the march on my feet, despite
the efforts of the marshals to try to get me into a van provided for people
who couldn't walk. At last, the march was over. I looked up and realized
that we had been marching in a circle. We ended up right across from the
George Washington Bridge! We finished the march at the Union Seminary where
we were to have lunch. Everyone filed into the courtyard and sat down. I was
never so glad to sit down as I was then. We were all pretty pissed off at
the way the marshals had treated us. I feel they treated us like children. I
kept thinking where was the string to tie us together? I also feel that the
march was very regimented, far more than it needed to be, and it was also
very rushed. OCAP marches are not that strictly regimented or rushed. If the
people in the back of the parade can't keep up, you slow down the front of
the march. You have to pace yourself in a long march and those marshals
would not allow us to pace ourselves. After an excellent lunch, we went
into another room to speak about OCAP and to hear about other groups from
other countries who were participating in the march. OCAP went first and
then we settled down to listen to the other groups. The group that really
struck me was a deaf group from Ohio. They included several adults and a
very eloquent 10-year-old boy who was celebrating his birthday that day. He
spoke about his experiences at a hearing school. He told of teachers holding
his hands and slapping them if he tried to sign. His family finally sent him
to a deaf school in Columbus where everyone signed. He was happy there, but
he missed his family and his friends at the other school. He finished by
saying that he wouldn't mind going to a hearing school if he had an
interpreter. He also said that he would like hearing and deaf children to be
integrated in one school so they could learn from each other. When everyone
in the deaf group finished speaking, we all sang Happy Birthday to the boy.
While we were having lunch, we had decided that we did not want to sleep
at a church again. It was just too uncomfortable, noisy, and cold. We were
invited to stay at the home of a friend of one of the people in our group.
We accepted the invitation gladly. We were now six; we had met another
friend from Wisconsin. So, we decided to stick together. This new friend
had to get her backpack out of the"Stuff Truck". This was a big Ryder truck
that the marchers were using to keep their stuff in when they were marching.
After a long wait to get her stuff, we got on a New York bus to go to our
new sleeping quarters for the night. We dropped off our stuff at the
apartment and went out for supper. While we ate, we discussed what we would
do for the evening. We decided to go to Greenwich Village for the
"Hallowe'en Parade." This isn't an official parade, people get dressed up in
costume and parade through Greenwich Village on Hallowe'en. We got on the
notorious New York Subway to go to Greenwich Village. I wanted to see the
subway because I had heard many stories about it. I had heard that the
trains were covered in graffiti and that the cars had a lot of garbage in
them. But, I found that not to be the case. The outsides of the trains were
clean and the inside, while a bit messy, was not as I had heard at all. They
even had buskers on the subway! Three black men sang on our car for money.
It was so cool. I wish we had that on our subways. Maybe people wouldn't
look so sad all the time.
We finally arrived at Greenwich Village. Well, let me tell you, Greenwich
Village on Hallowe'en is an experience not to be missed. It is literally a
moving sea of bodies as people attempt to make their way through Greenwich
Village. I saw some really awesome costumes there. I also saw tons of cops.
You couldn't turn around without running into a cop, either on foot or in a
car. I thought it was overkill, especially since the people weren't trying
to cause trouble. A few times, I saw the cops try to force people up on the
sidewalk, but they soon took the street again, which I was happy to see. At
last, it was time to go back to the apartment to get some sleep and prepare
for the next day. Back at the apartment, we sorted ourselves into the
various rooms and went to sleep. I took the couch. It was such a change from
the night before; it was quiet, comfortable and warm. I was able to get some
sleep for the first time in three days.
The next day, we all arose later than we had the day before when we were
at the church. Some of us had showers and most of us had coffee. I had tea.
Then, we discussed what we were going to do that day. We soon realized that
we were too late to go the UN. We decided to go to the rally afterwards at
the Community Church. So, we got a cab to go to the church. We rode in the
cab down New York's famous 5th Avenue, one of the most famous streets in New
York. We saw Central Park, Duke Ellington's Memorial, the Guggenheim Museum,
the Metropolitan Library, the infamous Donald Trump Towers, (God, those
towers are tall! This man doesn't have an ego, does he?), and the Warner and
the Disney stores. We arrived at the Community Church just before the march
arrived. As we were walking to meet the march, we saw the Empire State
Building. We met up with the march, marched the last few yards to the
Community Church, and filed in for the rally. The church was already full;
almost all the seats were taken. The night before, we had arranged for me to
speak at this rally with one other person from Toronto. I had to sit near
the front with the other speakers. One of our members looked all over for
the other Torontonian, but couldn't find her. Suddenly, we realized that she
was already on stage, so we went to see if I was supposed to be on stage. We
spoke to the Stage Manager and the marshals. But, neither of them knew that
I was supposed to speak. They spoke to Cheri and the other Toronto speaker
and neither of them knew that I was supposed to be a speaker. Finally, they
came to us and said that they couldn't do it, they couldn't allow me to
speak because they had the agenda all set and had many speakers. They just
didn't have the room for me. That was it, we walked out. One of our members
who had been advocating for me was really upset and said that he wanted to
leave. After all that we had been through for the previous two days, this
was the last straw. I vowed that I did not want to work with Kensington
Welfare Rights Union again. We got a cab back to where our van was parked
and came home to Toronto.
That's my report about my weekend in New York. Yes, it's critical of
KWRU, but I think my readers would want me to be honest. This weekend was
very hard on all of us. I felt that KWRU treated us like children. We got a
chance to speak at the educational on Sunday, but not at the final rally on
Monday. This march was for the poor of the world. I hope we can continue to
give them a voice. I didn't get to the UN, but from what I understand,
nothing much happened. A lot of the people didn't even see the UN, they just
had a picnic and left. Cheri Honkala met someone from the UN and that was
about the extent of it. That was a hell of a long way to come and a lot of
torture to go through just for a picnic. They could've stayed home and done
that. As I said before, it was a very ambitious undertaking with a grand
vision, but it just wasn't handled well. My husband stayed home and
monitored the media, not one word about the march at all. I didn't see any
media during the march and there was very little media at the rally. I think
there was some lessons to be learned here. Let's do better next time.
-30-
There it is, guys. There's my report. I hope you like it. Sorry if it
offends anyone. It wasn't meant to offend. I'm just sharing my honest views
about the weekend.
Bonnie
Hi all,
As you know, I went down to New York on Hallowe'en weekend to join with
KWRU at the March of the Americas. Here is my report about that trip. I have
to do it this way because Hotmail won't allow me to send attachments.
March of the Americas
"I went down to the Mayor's (President's, Governor's) house and I took what
he stole from me, took back my dignity, took my humanity. I went down to the
Mayor's (President's, Governor's) house and I took back what he stole from
me. I took back my dignity, took back my humanity, now he's under my feet,
under my feet, under my feet, under my feet, ain't no system's going to walk
all over me." That was the theme song of the March of the Americas. Over
300 people marched from Washington, D. C. to the UN in New York to protest
the crisis situation of homelessness in, not only the States, but also in
Canada and other countries. These 300 people walked 10 miles/day for 30 days
in all kinds of weather, over all kinds of terrain, and through many towns
and cities to bring awareness to this violation of the UN Charter of Rights
and Freedoms. It was a spirited group of people from many countries, with
many abilities and a vision of a future without homelessness. It was a very
ambitious undertaking. This was the vision of Cheri Honkala and the
Kensington Welfare Rights Union who are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I went down to the march with some members of OCAP, this is .my report of
that trip.
Our trip started on Friday, October 29/99 as we met at the OCAP office to
await our ride. The weather was warm and sunny; it felt more like Summer
than late Fall. One person dropped out, so it ended up just being the four
of us, one of whom was driving. We all climbed into our rented mini-van,
picked up some donuts at the local coffee shop and hit the road. We were in
high spirits, teasing each other and talking about the weekend to come. We
all hoped that the march would be successful and that it would have an
impact.
We discussed the best route to take and made our way on to the highway. We
had good weather all the way down and for the whole weekend, warm and sunny,
not what you would expect for late Fall.
We arrived in Fort Lee, New Jersey at about 8:00 PM. This was the starting
point for the march the next day. We went to the Church of the Good
Shepherd, which was the gathering spot for the marchers. The marchers, at
that point, had been marching for almost 30 days and were two days away from
arriving at the UN, their ultimate destination. The church was crowded when
we arrived. The crowd spilled out into the front yard of the church. There
was a small drum circle outside where young people were drumming and
singing. We made our way inside to find out where we would be sleeping that
night. We found a big room filled with young people who were either sitting
or standing and singing. Up at the front, there was a line of people leading
the singing. Some of the marchers had formed a choir and they were now
leading people in song. We were greeted by one of the marshals of the march.
She directed us to the table off to the side where we could get some supper.
However, we had decided that we wanted to eat at a restaurant. So, we went
out to find a reasonably priced restaurant. We finally settled on a Greek
restaurant, which had really good food. When we got back to the church after
supper, they were arranging lodgings for the night. They wanted all the new
people to go over to another church nearby to sleep. Because we didn't know
where this other church was, we tried to get directions or someone to lead
us there. While we were doing this, an announcement was made that they
needed people to ferry people over to the other church. We decided to do
that as it would help us learn where the other church was and it would help
other people get to their sleeping assignments. Therefore, we volunteered to
take people over to the other church. We ended up helping a family from
Puerto Rico. The group consisted of a few adults, one in a wheelchair, and a
small child. It took a few trips and almost getting lost, but we finally
managed to get them over to the other church. We took the man in the
wheelchair over in the first trip and found that they were not equipped to
handle wheelchairs. The front door of the church was up a flight of stone
steps and was not wheelchair accessible. We wondered why the man in the
wheelchair was not allowed to stay at the first church since it was
wheelchair accessible. The people in the church had to carry the man in the
wheelchair up the steps to the church. This was our first indication that
this weekend was not going to go well.
We finally got everyone over to the second church and we went back to get
our belongings. We went back to the second church and settled in for the
night. They put everyone in a big room similar to a gym. There was one
washroom for men and one for women. The room was cold and noisy with people
talking, coming, and going all night. Some people left part way through the
night and new people came long after we had settled for the night. As well,
the big overhead light came on partway through the night.
Finally, it was 6:30 am and time to get up. After long line-ups for the
washrooms, we went over to the Church of the Good Shepherd for breakfast. We
got there to find an outdoor breakfast laid out. A couple of tables held
cereals, Pop Tarts, fruit and other breakfast items, and another table held
coffee, tea, juice, and hot chocolate. There was even a bag of bottles
containing vitamins. It was announced that there were T-shirts for sale for
us to wear during the march so we all went over to get our T-shirts. Soon,
it was time to leave for the march. The organizers gathered us all in a
circle to talk to us about the march. They told us that we would be marching
10 miles and that we would be crossing the George Washington Bridge. Then
they had a prayer for the march. Religion played an important part in this
weekend. They had prayers every day before they started. The organizers did
not seem to be sensitive to other people's beliefs or lack thereof. After a
stretching session, (which I stayed out of), we lined up behind the "sound
truck." This was a big flatbed truck. It was decorated with banners, flags,
and placards. On this truck were people who sang songs and played
instruments to keep the marchers singing and to keep their spirits up. The
truck started moving and we started on the march. As veterans of many OCAP
marches, we thought this march would run the same way. Wrong! Right away,
the marshals started rushing us with cries of "hurry up! Close up the gap!
Run!" We started running half-heartedly. I cannot run very fast so I tended
to hang back a bit. The other OCAP members hung back with me to keep me
company. We told the marshals several times that I couldn't run and to slow
down the front of the march, but they wouldn't do it. The marshals also kept
insisting that we march in single file. I have never been at a march where
you march in single file. We couldn't see the reason for this and when we
asked the marshals about it, they didn't know, they only knew it was "safe."
There were cops everywhere. They forced us on the sidewalk at one point,
but we eventually took the street again as we approached the bridge. As we
started across the George Washington Bridge, the cops held up the traffic,
which backed up behind them. Halfway across the George Washington Bridge is
the border between New Jersey and New York.
As we approached this border, the cops turned on their sirens full blast and
began to creep up on us. It was a deafening sound. I began to shake my two
shakers in defiance of their sirens. The closer we got to the other side of
the bridge, the closer the cops got to us until they were right beside us at
the other end of the bridge. I finally was fed up with all the noise, I
turned around to face the closest cruiser, shook my shakers at him, and he
finally turned off the siren, much to our relief. We continued with the
march, fighting with the marshals all the way. There was a man in front of
us who was older and they were making him run too. There were also young
children in the march who had to walk the whole way. By now, I was getting
pretty tired, but I was determined to finish the march on my feet, despite
the efforts of the marshals to try to get me into a van provided for people
who couldn't walk. At last, the march was over. I looked up and realized
that we had been marching in a circle. We ended up right across from the
George Washington Bridge! We finished the march at the Union Seminary where
we were to have lunch. Everyone filed into the courtyard and sat down. I was
never so glad to sit down as I was then. We were all pretty pissed off at
the way the marshals had treated us. I feel they treated us like children. I
kept thinking where was the string to tie us together? I also feel that the
march was very regimented, far more than it needed to be, and it was also
very rushed. OCAP marches are not that strictly regimented or rushed. If the
people in the back of the parade can't keep up, you slow down the front of
the march. You have to pace yourself in a long march and those marshals
would not allow us to pace ourselves. After an excellent lunch, we went
into another room to speak about OCAP and to hear about other groups from
other countries who were participating in the march. OCAP went first and
then we settled down to listen to the other groups. The group that really
struck me was a deaf group from Ohio. They included several adults and a
very eloquent 10-year-old boy who was celebrating his birthday that day. He
spoke about his experiences at a hearing school. He told of teachers holding
his hands and slapping them if he tried to sign. His family finally sent him
to a deaf school in Columbus where everyone signed. He was happy there, but
he missed his family and his friends at the other school. He finished by
saying that he wouldn't mind going to a hearing school if he had an
interpreter. He also said that he would like hearing and deaf children to be
integrated in one school so they could learn from each other. When everyone
in the deaf group finished speaking, we all sang Happy Birthday to the boy.
While we were having lunch, we had decided that we did not want to sleep at
a church again. It was just too uncomfortable, noisy, and cold. We were
invited to stay at the home of a friend of one of the people in our group.
We accepted the invitation gladly. We were now six; we had met another
friend from Wisconsin. So, we decided to stick together. This new friend
had to get her backpack out of the"Stuff Truck". This was a big Ryder truck
that the marchers were using to keep their stuff in when they were marching.
After a long wait to get her stuff, we got on a New York bus to go to our
new sleeping quarters for the night. We dropped off our stuff at the
apartment and went out for supper. While we ate, we discussed what we would
do for the evening. We decided to go to Greenwich Village for the
"Hallowe'en Parade." This isn't an official parade, people get dressed up in
costume and parade through Greenwich Village on Hallowe'en. We got on the
notorious New York Subway to go to Greenwich Village. I wanted to see the
subway because I had heard many stories about it. I had heard that the
trains were covered in graffiti and that the cars had a lot of garbage in
them. But, I found that not to be the case. The outsides of the trains were
clean and the inside, while a bit messy, was not as I had heard at all. They
even had buskers on the subway! Three black men sang on our car for money.
It was so cool. I wish we had that on our subways. Maybe people wouldn't
look so sad all the time.
We finally arrived at Greenwich Village. Well, let me tell you, Greenwich
Village on Hallowe'en is an experience not to be missed. It is literally a
moving sea of bodies as people attempt to make their way through Greenwich
Village. I saw some really awesome costumes there. I also saw tons of cops.
You couldn't turn around without running into a cop, either on foot or in a
car. I thought it was overkill, especially since the people weren't trying
to cause trouble. A few times, I saw the cops try to force people up on the
sidewalk, but they soon took the street again, which I was happy to see. At
last, it was time to go back to the apartment to get some sleep and prepare
for the next day. Back at the apartment, we sorted ourselves into the
various rooms and went to sleep. I took the couch. It was such a change from
the night before; it was quiet, comfortable and warm. I was able to get some
sleep for the first time in three days.
The next day, we all arose later than we had the day before when we were at
the church. Some of us had showers and most of us had coffee. I had tea.
Then, we discussed what we were going to do that day. . We soon realized
that we were too late to go the UN. We decided to go to the rally afterwards
at the Community Church. So, we got a cab to go to the church. We rode in
the cab down New York's famous 5th Avenue, one of the most famous streets in
New York. We saw Central Park, Duke Ellington's Memorial, the Guggenheim
Museum, the Metropolitan Library, the infamous Donald Trump Towers, (God,
those towers are tall! This man doesn't have an ego, does he?), and the
Warner and the Disney stores. We arrived at the Community Church just before
the march arrived. As we were walking to meet the march, we saw the Empire
State Building. We met up with the march, marched the last few yards to the
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