Petition for Protest (1/14/03)
by Dean Hartwell
I
attended the recent peace march in downtown Los
Angeles. Protesting the Bush Administration’s
deployment of troops in the Persian Gulf for possible
war made me feel good, especially around thousands of
people who see the issue the same way I do.
We all had the same message to President Bush: don’t go
to war with Iraq. But, in hindsight, I have another
message. This one is for the organizers.
For one, the march took too long to complete. It took
two of my friends and me about two hours to walk
approximately ten blocks. By the time we got there, all
of us felt exhausted and not able to completely enjoy
the rest of the festivities, which included speakers and
a rock and roll band.
Why did it take us so long? Several groups of people,
including a group of dancers whose connection to the
cause appeared dubious, frequently stopped in front of
us. We had no choice but to march in place since we had
no alternative route to walk. Next time, the organizers
should bag the dancers and anyone else who impedes the
crowd.
Another problem was the high number of speakers and the
shortness of time. This problem stems from the first
one. We lost time because of the plethora of speakers
whose topics ranged from the plight of the Palestinians
to a story about a conscientious objector to the Gulf
War against Iraq in the early 1990s.
I commend the organizers for bringing interesting
speakers to us. But the more speakers who went up to
the microphone, the less time for the speaker who helped
attract the crowd to begin with – in this case, Martin
Sheen of the West Wing. Next time, the organizers
should put the main speaker on before the crowd starts
to disperse.
Lastly, this march deposited its walkers in an
intersection without adequate seating. Some people sat
on the road. Others camped out in buildings up the
block from the event. Still others, like us, found a
bench that encircled what appeared to be an air
conditioning outlet.
The organizers had alternatives to the intersection.
Why not rent Staples Center or the Los Angeles
Convention Center for a few hours? At the least, they
should have found a more open area where the marchers
could see and hear the speakers.
Thousands of people took time away from their personal
life and joined with like-minded people to express a
point of view on a timely subject. This sacrifice of
time showed that our civic duty to petition our leaders
survives in this area.
But we can do better. Following these simple rules,
organizers of peace activities can attract more
participants, make the time spent more enjoyable and,
perhaps, convince the leaders that the protesters are
unified for their cause.