Learning to Roar

There wasn’t enough about bikes on Indymedia

NYC’s Critical Mass enjoyed its own glorious coming-out party lastnight. After being largely ignored by the mainstream press for most of its existence, the New York Times, NPR, local tabloid rags (the NY Post and Daily News) and radio stations and newspapers from across the country gave prominent coverage of New York’s largest Mass in history. The official police estimate was 5,000.

And of course what brings all of this attention? Perhaps it was the arrests, or perhaps it was the reality that we owned the streets for two hours taking over Time’s Square and peacefully riding past Madison Square Garden. During the last week official police communiques were filled with threats and fear-mongering in an attempt to keep people from showing-up, but their intentions only encouraged the community to defend the action.

Clearly the police hoped to strike at our spirit, but talk to anyone in the streets lastnight, outside of St. Mark’s Church, with police helicopters and their surreal spotlightights shining through the trees, the cheers of the crowd, the battle for the streets and the bands that played late into the night we know what happened. We owned the streets and overwhelmed their macho posturing with our own defiant celebration. The tone was set and it was set by us. The experience is held in our hearts. That can never be taken away.

The resistance has begun, but there is really so much more. Today and Tuesday we were in the streets, without permits, reclaiming public space. Check NYC Indymedia for the real scoop.

Radio webcasts begin tonight, Friday 8/27 at 7pm in time for Critical Mass. I am hoping to be able to call-in with an update from the streets. The Cops are making moves to try and intimidate people from showing up, but i still expect the largest turn out in NYC history.

Much of the last 48 hours has been spent launching a counter-attack within the media on the NYPD’s arbitrary harrassment of Critical Mass. Check the stories below:

New York Post
New York Newsday
NY Times (Critical Mass is mentioned towards the end.)

Tomorrow morning I will be on Democracy Now! and Rise Up Radio, both on WBAI locally. I’ll be talking about the Bike National Convention and Critical Mass.

Getting accupuncture today has really helped ground me. I feel more prepared.

I did a good job of sleeping lastnight, but didn’t do so good on eating during the day. Tomorrow i go to accupuncture. A couple of days ago i got a great email from a fellow-organizer and friend (he’s been calling me “Spider” since the New York magazine article came out). I’ve been trying to follow his advice. It reads:

spider
take a breath.
eat
sleep
hydrate
filter email
rescue remedy
valerian or kava kava
multivitamin
im trying these all myself
talk soon?
jamie

I have been made scared, filled with moments of fear by the classic propoganda tools of the police and mainstream media:

NY Times on “Anarchists”
NY Times on the Police Preparations (p.r. to instill fear)
ABC News details the plan for 56.

A friend pointed out that “protesters” are blatantly being treated as domestic terrorists. The story of the FBI interviewing protesters was huge earlier in the week. Ashcroft has since responded…

It makes me quite sad to see how the corporate media so easily takes-up the myth of violent protest and helps to create a climate of fear. This continued succesful PR stunt on the part of the police always succeeds in legitimazing their use of violence in the streets. I still don’t understand how as a society we have opted to declare some forms of violence better and more acceptable than others. For whatever reason we make it ok for some people to hurt other people. Who benefits from this arrangement?

We take to the steets with dv cameras these days so we can call their bluff and still the media lies, refers to seattle as a riot all the while downplaying and skewing our message.

I gave one of my best interviews to a woman from Voice of America and she took a single sound bite speaking about my experience getting shot in Miami. In doing so she edited out everything that matters, distilling my presence–my resistance–to an anecdote about violence. And there is little context that makes clear the reality that the cops and city will eventually have to settle out of court for what they did in Miami. Anyone that was there knows. Too often we learn to carry these truths in silence, unable to stop the lies of corporate media and folks continue to get hurt as a result.

i have been feeling this way a lot lately–tired and worn out. when there’s not meetings, there’s email, when there’s not email, there’s interviews, when there’s not interviews there’s helping at the bike space. the list goes on and cycles around, swirling and spitting new tasks, things to do and follow-up on.

we are running low on bikes at the space, but today we got a miracle delivery of 20 odd bikes and parts. in two days we should be picking-up 50 more from this crazy guy in long island that has been dumpstering bikes and parts for ten years. he lives with his parents and i spoke to his mom at length about his long-term obsession. she told me she wanted her backyard back (it’s filled with bikes). she didn’t waste time calling the arrangement a miracle: we get the bikes for our lending library and she gets her backyard back.

i am getting better at asking for help in this process. it is amazing to experience so many different lessons taught and learned.

I just finished answering emails i had been neglecting since Thursday. I have to be careful with such lapses in communications as so many folks are clearly in need of good info, especially when they are coming from out of town.

Lately i have felt part of the large organism that is the RNC resistance. As a part of this ball of energy and people i often serve as a conduit, taking-in information and queries and pumping it out to relevant people and groups.

As a human-being in this process i am amazed at the incredible escalation of interest and my concurrent abilty to keep-up with the whole thing. I can only move forward because i know it will all be over in three weeks and now is not the time to be slacking. Most of my fellow organizers share an incredible sense of responsibilty to our email InBoxes, while expressing exasperation at the sheer volume and breadth of communiques.

The RNC resistance is beginning to manifest itself in physical form. I am in awe.

photos courtesy of Fred Askew

Hungry March Band kicks great vibes at our Party

The opening party was awesome. Hungry March Band (HMB) played two sets. Dancing in the middle of a brass band, bumping into the musicians–their music hits you hard down to your shoes. They helped channel a lot of good energy into the space and if you visit now you can still feel it. Check ‘em out at http://hungrymarchband.com/

The party seems far off though, now we stare down three weeks to the RNC, taking care of loose ends and tirelessly promoting it all. Trying to bring more folks into the fold, bikes into the streets.

There is something alive on Houston between Mott and Mulberry….

HMB in action