An Open Letter to Peace Action of Milwaukee

Taylor, 11.07.2006 23:07

"That is a shame because I really feel deeply for your cause and the things you do in Milwaukee."
________________________________________

A protestor banned from future "Peace Action" protests

[31 responses...]

Peace Action of Milwaukee-

This letter is to inform you I will no longer be supporting your movement. That is a shame because I really feel deeply for your cause and the things you do in Milwaukee.
On July 11th, 2006 I attended an anti-Bush protest on the corner of 6th and Wisconsin. The group ended up marching down Wisconsin Ave but decided to stop at red lights. My friends and I were confused by this and wanted to show people that the police would not mind if we crossed the street at any time. When my friends and I got people to cross the street at a red light not one police officer told any of us to stop. My friends and I were happy that we got a few people to not be afraid of the cops or any law enforcement for that matter.

As I rode home on my bike after the march I was cornered by a Peace Action member who was also on his bike. He asked me whether I was one of the people “making trouble” at the protest. I said I was. He then proceeded to inform me that my friends and I caused too much trouble at a Peace Action sponsored protest. We were giving the Peace Action movement a bad name…but all we were doing was trying to show people that you can walk when the light is red!

Since when are protests sponsored and CONTROLLED by organizations? I am baffled that if I choose to attend a protest I must obey certain behavioral laws set up by some organization. I have my own politics, but I respect yours. Your organization made me feel very unwelcome to a protest I have EVERY right to be in. The man who cornered me on my bike also handed me the flyer for the protest a few days ago. I would have appreciated a run down of the rules and behavior expectations set-up by your group. I have to admit your group is almost as controlling as the administration you were protesting on July 11th.

I am a pacifist first and foremost. I am an educator, a student, and a strong believer in peace. But I was told by your fellow Peace Action member that my friends and I are not welcome to any protest your group is a part of. How peaceful is that? We were not violent. We were having fun and educating people. But I am sorry-- my friends and I will be attending protests in the future. You have no right to police people.

Although this Peace Action member said we are an embarrassment to the peace movement, I am afraid this man was your biggest embarrassment of the night. I am a member of many political organizations and am heavily involved in the media. His attack on me has only helped to ruin your image. You’ve done it to yourself. I hope you are happy and I anticipate a reply. You really should talk to your members on how to deal with people. Your fellow member attacked me without knowing anything about me. That is risky and foolish.


Sincerely,

Your newest anti-member

e-mail:: police.me@gmail.com

hooray for the peace movment 11.07.2006 - 23:45 Wow, nice job Peace Action. This isn't the first I've heard of Peace Action types being overly controlling of "their" events. I wonder if there is a connection between this kind of behavior and the fact that the peace "movement" doesn't even register on most people's radar. bucky> Peace or Action? 12.07.2006 - 00:19 It's the oppressive confines of "what democracy looks like". Democracy is Pacifism? Democracy is Conformity? Democracy is ONE IDEA of righteousness? No wonder democracy doesn't work... TheAndichrist> lol 12.07.2006 - 00:40 apparently what "democracy looks like" is a herd of people protesting the president 45 minutes after he leaves, and marching 4 blocks. nice work peace action. i hope you all pat yourselves on the back for that one. ranxxerox> dude i dont know about that. 12.07.2006 - 03:01 wasnt peace action down with kerry and like previously all about nader? im not too sure its cool to diss organizations fighting for REAL change. love me im a liberal> Obey the law 12.07.2006 - 07:33 Its a slippery slope, man! If we let people cross while the light is red, next thing you know it'll be anarchy! Kale Borroka> please make sense 12.07.2006 - 14:22 to 'love me im a liberal' you say "im not too sure its cool to diss organizations fighting for REAL change." what is wrong with dissing organizations fighting for REAL change? just because the goal of a group is 'real' means they can't be criticized? and what exactly is the 'real' change being fought for? and when you say 'fighting' what does that mean? A tame little rally and march ON THE SIDEWALK is not a fight. bucky> to bucky 12.07.2006 - 18:36 read the lyrics to love me im a liberal by phil ochs or the updated version by evan greer. also learn sarcasm. love me im a liberal> Peace Action/Love Me I'm a Liberal 13.07.2006 - 14:23 Regarding Peace Action, had I known it was "their" event, I wouldn't even bother to show up. They set themselves up as the voice of authority on protests, and clamp down on anyone who isn't following their particular line. If anyone remembers when the KKK/WCotC/Nazis came to town a few years ago, peace action had "peace police" with white armbands telling the police who to grab. All of ARA were targeted as "embarassing troublemakers," etc. Also, to the three kids trying to black bloc: black blocing is a tactic, and can be an effective one, but it isn't mandatory. Look at the crowd with whom you are marching and attempting to galvanize to action. When it's mostly elderly and standard issue democrats, you aren't going to accomplish anything. As for Love Me I'm a Liberal: Don't forget, sarcasm doesn't always come across in text. Not that guy, the other one.> ;) 13.07.2006 - 17:23 Gosh bucky, learn how to read tone of voice over text and start knowing every song! TheAndichrist> Steal peace action ; end peace action 13.07.2006 - 18:40 I disagree with avoiding peace action events. Peace Action is the most useless organization ever, however they do put a lot of stuff together. What needs to happen is more people need to go to peace action events (you should be doing everything within your power to support your causes anyway), and inform people that being controlled by the enemy is not how you defeat it. We gotta break people free from that sick peace action mind grip. TheAndichrist> you're right 14.07.2006 - 12:13 i'm sure peace action will be very disappointed to have lost the 5 total people involved in your "movement." maybe they should cater more to elite student hipsters than average working people. you build a very convincing case! keep up the great work, and critical thought! stevie wonder> in response to blocing 14.07.2006 - 13:12 "Also, to the three kids trying to black bloc: black blocing is a tactic, and can be an effective one, but it isn't mandatory. Look at the crowd with whom you are marching and attempting to galvanize to action." Ahem, children we are not. Also we were actually trying to have FUN-- not a real attempt at a tactic. My major argument with the guy on the bike was: Standing on a corner isn't doing anything just as much as us trying to run around and have fun and lessen the tension between police and marchers. Well in fact I think we accomplished a bit more than Peace Action that day. If we got a few kids excited about "misbehaving" in front of the cops then we did a fine job for the situation. And I wasn't even in bloc wear, so I can't really say there was much of a bloc present. :) taylor> More Bloc 14.07.2006 - 15:22 "Also we were actually trying to have FUN-- not a real attempt at a tactic. ... Well in fact I think we accomplished a bit more than Peace Action that day. If we got a few kids excited about "misbehaving" in front of the cops then we did a fine job for the situation. And I wasn't even in bloc wear, so I can't really say there was much of a bloc present. :)" Well, then I'm not talking about *you*, nor the reckless acts of mirthful jaywalking. But there were three or four kids (I say that as a 25 year old kid myself) bloced up and looking like that wanted to try to escalate. In the end they did nothing but look like ninjas, really. Not that guy, the other one.> hee-haw 14.07.2006 - 19:47 Sadly, the actions of the Peace Action volunteer the other day are not untypical of Peace Action events. People are continually alienated by this organization which can't bring out more than 300 people to a peace protest in Milwaukee (at the height of the protests), a city of over half a million (by contrast, 70,000 people showed up to protest racist immigration legislation in Milwaukee; while this is obviously a different protest with far different conditions, the sheer difference in numbers indicates how out of touch Peace Action is. And it sure isn't black bloc tactics which is keeping people away--PA rallies don't get enough press for that.). How arrogant! I think PA needs us far more than the other way around. This is, of course, only the beginning of Peace Action's problems. They've always worked closely with the police. All "civil disobediences" are staged in advance, purely symbolic and therefore useless gestures when attempting to create real change. Well, not exactly useless: they allow liberals to feel like they've done something "radical," made a "sacrifice" to thier cause, and allow them to sleep at night while real people elsewhere actually fight the empire. Here, Peace Action works with police to coordinate these activities, keeps other protesters in thier place, and so forth. Actually, this also accomplishes something far more dangerous: it provides the illusion of the ability to make constructive change with free speech, while the participants actually do no damage whatsoever to the monster, thereby reaffirming the very system we are attempting to change! Thanks Peace Action! And of course, anyone who uses stratagies outside of this rubric (including stratagies that actually work) can now be safetly destroyed, imprisoned, etc by the state because they've already been isolated by the support they should have been getting from thier own movement. Groups like PA do an excellent job of ensuring the framework of the debate is always controlled by the institutions which are creating the fucking problems in the first place. Hee-haw PA! For all the actions of Peace Action, International ANSWER, United for Peace and Justice, etc, including some of the most massive worldwide protests ever, so little was accomplished. Sure, we can boo George Bush we he calls protestors "focus groups," but it doesn't change the fact that, as far as our ability to stop war is concerned, these organizations are probably less important than a focus group. Iraq was still decimated, Afghanistan is descimated, the neo-con, neo-liberal agenda is as strong as ever. The massive protests were a string of glamorized failures. At the Midwest Social Forum, George Martin of PA got cheers and applause whenever he entered the lunchroom. Aside from this incident being straight up disgusting, it is fully exemplery of how willing liberals are to pat themselves on the back while conditions of the world continue to deteriorate--and how oblivious they are to the severe limitations of thier tactics. If we are serious about taking on the empire, we need to turn OUR tactics up a notch. ...> hmmm 15.07.2006 - 00:19 hey stevie wonder - was that sarcasm? (i think it was.) anyway, help me out b/c i'm still working on being able to identify it. (its tough! but i'm getting better at it...) oh, and many students actually work while they are in school and/or take out major loans to pay their way. bucky> ... 15.07.2006 - 23:00 When it comes down to it, Peace Action will never be worthwhile for the simple reason that none of their events leave the participants feeling empowered. -When you ask police, a racist arm of the very governmment you're protesting, for PERMISSION to assert your voice... you are not asserting your voice. -When you hold mass-produced signs with slogans other people made up... you are, again, not asserting your voice (obviously). -When you subject yourself to being buried at the bottom of a hierarchical organization that doesn't give a shit about you... and their restrictive rules and unearned authority... you are not asserting your voice. If Peace Action had their way, you'd be subject to their coercion instead of our government's. Sounds kinda familiar... it's no surprise that a Young Communist spoke at the March 18th rally. kilgore trout> FUCK PEACE ACTION 16.07.2006 - 08:30 Peace action is the only game in town, AND THEY DO NOTHING. They are for disillusioned old people, and children too young to know better. If we are fighting for anarchy and to destroy the KKKapitalist DemonCracy that we live in then why are we paying 2 or 3 bucks a button??? Peace Action is a crappy excuse for a bunch old wanna be revolutionaries who are past their prime or too uneducated to know any better. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE IN THE LAST 3 years that means anything? Did they support Kerry??? That only makes them a little better then the Klansmen we are fighting! Fighting for Change and not part of... (violence)Peace(in)Action> re: stevie wonder 16.07.2006 - 16:46 Stevie Wonder- I wouldn't be so concerned about us 5 rich kids STILL coming to protests whether PA "claims" the protests or not... I'd worry about us smearing PA to our friends, and very rich family members who actually think PA is a worthwhile organization. The word WILL get out to those who actually support you. Thanks! Taylor> Show Love You Hateful S.O.B's 17.07.2006 - 00:28 How dare any of you talk crap about peace action. without it, wihtout the people who have been organized together by them, our little progressive movement wouldn't be nearly as far as it is. There is still A LOT of work that must be done, and it's aggrevating to know that these politicians are all either incompetent or just crooked, but don't hate on someone who maybe doesn't do as much as you or does things differently. They're still doing something. Unlike a lot of other people. And Taylor, you should really just think about what you're doing. Because one, just one person made a pissy comment about what you did, you are going to competely base your expectations of what the organization is all about? How do you not know that what you've done might actually be a push forward for them? nicholas.granado> Homepage:: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=80891022 how do i not know? 17.07.2006 - 01:51 it isn't a push forward for them...? because that person that said all that horrible crap to me said: they don't want us at "their" protests anymore!!! which is what got me so outraged in the first place. they are elitist "peace making" money hungry people. taylor> myspace guy 17.07.2006 - 01:54 Um, didn't that one guy make his assumptions based off one "guy" re: taylor. So why can't taylor do the same? Plus OBVIOUSLY this isn't the first time PA has done something like this...read the above comments. mcd's> Myspace Guy wants to be a cop. 17.07.2006 - 18:16 You may as well go to Iraq. TheAndichrist> .... 18.07.2006 - 14:10 This is just more reason for us to organize more of our own shit and allow for as many people to be a part of that process. We can make our own actions as mischievious and radical as we want them to be. There are no leaders (or marshalls) in truely radical and anti-authoritarian movements. a herd of kittens> protest 24.07.2006 - 05:16 i lived in milwaukee for along time and know what you are talking about, this world is at war.. and not by our choice,,, and us, who sadly are few and far between, are the ones who have to deal with it,, when i lived there i dealt with so much judgement, i would love to mask up and make it so, in that wonderful,, history filled town, but only to be gassed by posers.. when do we draw the line,,, it sucks cuz so many of been drawn that its black,,, and not like race,,, all ye artists know what i mean,,, Its time to make a stand and not put up with all this bullshit anymore,,, all of us, and the earth and animals and the spirit of the future cant take it no more,,,, hey some of you "old timers" wake up.. you dont always know whats right,,, ' in love and respect,, d m hellquist d. hellquist> e-mail:: snakesandcharms@yahoo.com protest 24.07.2006 - 05:16 i lived in milwaukee for along time and know what you are talking about, this world is at war.. and not by our choice,,, and us, who sadly are few and far between, are the ones who have to deal with it,, when i lived there i dealt with so much judgement, i would love to mask up and make it so, in that wonderful,, history filled town, but only to be gassed by posers.. when do we draw the line,,, it sucks cuz so many of been drawn that its black,,, and not like race,,, all ye artists know what i mean,,, Its time to make a stand and not put up with all this bullshit anymore,,, all of us, and the earth and animals and the spirit of the future cant take it no more,,,, hey some of you "old timers" wake up.. you dont always know whats right,,, ' in love and respect,, d m hellquist d. hellquist> e-mail:: snakesandcharms@yahoo.com stupid 28.07.2006 - 18:52 u white assholes are stupid and rich and don't care about anyhting your lives hav been so great hta tyou never had to worrry about shit so you make someting to do. losers, peace action isthe best u got white people> Get real... 03.08.2006 - 01:49 I can not think of anything that peace action has accomplished. And if you wanna get together and compare how easy our lives are, let's do it. The only way to succeed in accomplishing your goals is by hard work. I've always worked my ass off and I still do and maybe I'll come out of debt in 9 months but it's from persistance. The only help I've had from my family was a place to stay for a couple months after completely running out of money. The only way I'm getting out of these situations is by tenacious perseverence and hard work, and I as a person am progressing. I also believe that hard work and tenacity is the only way to beat a corrupt government, and you fucking democrats are no better. Standing in the sidewalk for 45 minutes is not hard work... in fact it's boring. And when I'm bored at work chances are I'm not making any progress for the company, so when I'm bored at a demonstration chances are I'm making no difference. When I think of hard work I think of winning. When I think of peace action I think of waiting. When I think of organizing, sacrificing my own privacy and pesonal security, and pushing my capabilities to the limits to FIGHT for a cause, I think of HARD WORK. Peace Action stands no chance. It's barely noticed by democrats, It's the laughing stock of republicans, and it's the laughing stock of most interest groups. It's time for change, not for whining. Get the fuck up now. This isn't even about class placement anyway. Get over your sob story you pussy. You don't need money, you need power of numbers (of humans). That's what we'll have when all of you realize you're wasting your time, and just creating more and more ways to jam all opportunities to eliminate the corporate and church run corrupt political systems we have here as well as other countries. TheAndichrist> Indymedia?? 01.09.2006 - 02:17 Why is this a news article? I'm amazed at how shitty a job we do making our own media. I'm not at all a fan of peace action, but they would have written a better article than a letter about a mild and unimportant confrontation between two random protestors. E> e-mail:: emm2@uwm.edu re: indymedia not living up to MSM standards 08.09.2006 - 00:46 since when did indymedia have to follow mainstream media rules? everything that gets posted here has to be in the form of a news article? WHY? articles are boring to read. certainly an open letter would also be printed in a paper, just as well as the pictures on this site. i hear CNN writes some great media--check it out anderson cooper> the peace "movement" and news 08.09.2006 - 13:03 You decide what is the peace movement, just as you attempt to decide what is and what isn't news. If someone feels like sharing something, it's news. You could at least add to the debate, but there really is no debate is there. We need more youth to sacrifice at the alter of symbolic guilt therapy workshops AKA peace action protests. a herd of kittens> This is Crazy 14.09.2006 - 22:04 I was a volunteer for PA and the Greens for 3 years. I understand being disillusioned by the spinning wheels that PA can seemed to be. It's also easy to complain about George Martin and PA(I could write a book). Im 26, so I see where that whole contempt for the "old ways" comes from. They have a fear of confrontation as well as a clinging on to the old days mentality. Peace Action is also very out of touch and every "lets reach the youth" idea ive had has fallen on deaf ears. So I would agree that there needs to be a new approach. My questions is: What is a better solution? Is it to engage the cops? that doesn't stop or help anything. The bottom line is you have to come up with something better than a long winded "you suck Peace Action", it just doesn't mean anything. 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