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SEATTLE 1999
BY LOIS MORFORD
I participated for six days in the protest against the
World Trade Organization in Seattle, and I would like to share
some of my experiences with you Please remember I was only
one among many thousands and saw only a few of the events
taking place I arrived on Sunday, November 28, and connected
with my friend Ruth Shendan. age 81. who had flown down from
Anchorage to meet me We have previously done social justice
work together in the refugee camps in Central America
Our first stop was the warehouse that Direct Action
Network (DAN) had rented, vtfiich I learned of from NPR while
driving up Many young people were congregated outside, some
on stilts or making parade puppets and signs. The lobby walls
were covered with posters and large maps of Seattle indicating
march routes and times. Literature tables circled the room, with
information from many labor, environmental and international
groups about the WTO We signed in, and the first question was,
"Have you had non-violence training?" In a back room, draped
with black plastic for darkness, several people slept Food was
available for the hungry — rice, beans, tofu, veggies, bread
Directions were posted for bus or car transport to a place for
protesters to stay for $10 a night In another room, people were
role-playing in their nonviolence and consensus decision making
training. The place was buzzing with high energy and organiza
tion. My excitement began
Our next stop was to an afternoon session at Plymouth
Congregational Church, featunng prominent U.S and Canadian
disarmament groups on 'WTO & The Global War System', wrfiich
explained how the WTO drives the arms race and uses military
power to defend corporate interests around the world. There was
standing room only — we had to squeeze in. An enthusiastic
crowd gave standing ovations after almost every presentation,
vsdiich became the standard for the week
We reached our next event half an hour early, but it was
already packed It was an Ecumenical Worship & Prayer Service
at St. James Cathedral focusing on Jubilee 2000. part of a world
wide movement to cancel the crushing debt owed by the poorest
countries of the world Jim Wallis of Sojourner’s magazine gave
the sermon The Bible verse was Leviticus 25 Read it
A competing event we could have attended was at the
Museum for Science & Industry, a welcoming for activists called
'Celebrate & Resist', featuring reggae, hip-hop, hardcore, and
subversive theater: Activists free: all others $10
On Monday we attended another packed forum at
the Methodist Church on Environmental & Health issues of the
WTO At noon, as part of the Seattle Tea Party, we all marched
to the convention center to hear speakers on a variety of envir
onmental and animal issues.
At dusk, we attended an Interfaith Gathering & Rally
in support of Jubilee 2000, followed by a march to link the arms
of 10,000 people around the convention center. The interfaith
service was like nothing I have ever experienced The prayers
were from Native Amencans with drumming and singing; a
Rabbi blowing a ram's hom, a Unitanan, a Moslem reading from
The Koran about justice: a Buddhist who had us stand, breathe,
om, and chant; a Hindu with a prayer service of bowing with
candles: and finally a Christian — a tiny, energetic Asian woman
who urged us on.'Sweet Honey In The Rock' sang for us. George
Sweeney, president of the AFL/CIO introduced Maxine Waters
from California who gave a rousing speech The church was
packed, hundreds more watched on video downstairs and out
side, and thousands waited on the street for us to finish. Then,
10,000 strong, we marched to nonviolently link arms around
the convention center. The organizers calculated it would take
10,000 to complete the circle, as the police had erected rent-a-
fences several blocks away We not only completed the circle,
in some places we were tw and three deep It was raining, and
we chanted, "We're cold, we're wet, cancel the debt'." and "Feed
the needy not the greedy'." as well as the standard, "Hey hey,
ho ho, the WTO has got to go'." On a signal we all released our
arms, symbolizing breaking the chain of debt It was a powerful
experience.
What to do now? A hundred or so of us walked around
to try to get a little closer to the convention center We found a
place vtfiere we could look through the rent-a-fence to see the
delegates arriving in their stretch limousines and formal attire for
the opening dinner about tw blocks away. Seeing us arrive, the
police responded A row of fifteen or so. looking like spacemen
in their new SWAT gear, came to face us across the flimsy
fence It was sort of a Keystone Kops maneuver They planned
to march out, then turn in a jump to face us with their weapons.
But they had not rehearsed enough. Some jumped one way,
some the other, some not at all They looked at each other in
confusion Soon they were reinforced by contingents of police
on motorcycles, on bicycles, on horses, and even in an armored
vehicle which faced us off We began chanting to them, as far-
off delegates could not hear us. "Protect the needy, not the
greedy' " "Turn the other way'." (They were facing us, with the
WTO behind them.) "We wont pay your overtime'." Finally,
"We like your boots'." That made some of them smile The
feeling was light-hearted Both protesters and police were
completely disciplined Then we all broke off and left to find a
way home This was a completely nonviolent, prayerful march
of over 10,000 people Did you hear anything about that?
The next day, Tuesday, was the humongous Labor
March for Fair Trade Ruth and I bused to Memorial Stadium, by
the Space Needle, to join 30,000 mostly unionists in a rally, then
a four mile march to downtown Other marches were forming in
other areas of the city; 20,000 here, 10,000 there. In all there
must have been 80.000 of us protesting in Seattle on Tuesday,
including the thousands who did not march but were forming
human barricades around the convention center and the hotels
where the WTO delegates were staying
The march was amazing Many thousands marched with
their unions, such as Steelworkers, Electricians, Public Employ
ees, the ILWU (which shut down all West Coast ports for the
day), and many many more. Many passed out literature about
their causes to other marchers. Many single-interest groups
were there an animal rights activist wlh a be'&utiiMi!3-D t)urt|prfly
on a pole stating "The WTO Kills Butterflies" fgenefi'cally-engin
eered com kills monarch butterflies), a woman with a sign adorn
ed with kale, cabbage and broccoli "Support Small Farmers —
Buy from Farmers' Markets", a woman with a sign taped on her
back "End the Daily U.S. Bombing of Iraq". During the march,
everyone was talking together, exchanging information, forming
alliances Ruth and I, after a mile or so. would sit out for awhile
and watch 3 or 4 blocks of protesters march by. then join in
with a new interesting group. For several blocks we marched
with French Unionists, chanting (in French) "All together all
together — hey hey'." The march seemed endless. I have never
participated in such a large protest, and neither had Ruth, in all
her 81 years It was thrilling for us both
We heard a rumor that after the march there was to be a
spontaneous protest at the downtown McDonald's I wauld have
much preferred to protest at their corporate headquarters, but
we went to see what was happening. There was a large crowd
of noisy, peaceful protesters. McDonald's had 2 plastic banners
strung up One said "Sundays & Wednesdays — 2 Burgers. 2
Fries, $2" The protesters pulled that banner down, to many
cheers. The other said "Now Hinng" I watched a young man
climb on the shoulders of another, expecting him to tear it down
also. Instead, he pulled out a pen and wrote "SLAVES", so the
sign now said "Now Hiring SLAVES" The crowd cheered. The
French Roquefort Cheese Farmers were there When the Euro
pean Union refused to accept hormone-raised beef from the
U.S., the WTO fined them and applied sanctions, specifically
against Roquefort cheese by name. The farmers were irate,
and were taking the WTO head-on One had driven his tractor
through a McDonald's in France They set up a table outside
the McDonald's, and were passing out Roquefort cheese and
crackers to all the protesters "The Cows Say No'" we chanted
The cheese was delicious Then several hoodlums arrived,
dressed all in black wth black masks and sticks, and started
beating the window No one knew who they were. We were all
shocked. People shouted "No violence" and "Hey, cool it," but
they trashed the window and ran away I got a good close-up
picture of them and was surprised they didn't harm my camera
This was the only incident of violence or vandalism I personally
witnessed during my six days in Seattle
We next encountered a barricade of protesters at the
Roosevelt Hotel, barring the entrance to WTO delegates They
had been there all day, while the march had passed around
, them, and were deciding whether to stay all night or re-group in
the morning They also discussed whether to let tvso reporters
from France through their barricade. I was very impressed with
the democratic process — the bullhorn was passed around, and
everyone had a chance to speak until consensus was achieved
I heard later that the police were instructed to arrest leaders, but
with this kind of decision making there were no leaders When
we finally made it home Tuesday evening, we were invigorated,
feeling the protest had been phenomenally successful
But Wednesday was a shocker We awake to the TV
news that the mayor had declared a no-protest zone over down
town Seattle At that moment protesters outside the zone were
being arrested and tear-gassed, and the zone had just been
extended to include their area The violence and vandalism and
confrontations between protesters and police the night before
were shown over and over on television. The buses weren't run
ning People were asked to stay home We managed to make
it to the Methodist Church forum, which was on how the WTO
impacts democracy, development and the lives of women We
heard powerful, angry, articulate wamen from all over the world
— Tanzania, Mexico, Philippines, St. Lucia Malaysia. Africa,
El Salvador, Canada A women's African drumming group ener
gized us, and the 'Raging Grannies' & Street Theater entertain
ed us. Ralph Nader addressed us We had permits for a legal,
nonviolent march at noon, and the consensus was we should go,
even if we faced tear-gas and arrest. It was a touchy situation
The church people negotiated with the city, and we got permis
sion to go if we absolutely went single-file on the sidewalk, with
no signs and no chants, and were not threatening So about
1,000 of us taped our mouths, held hands and walked in silence
to face the line of SWAT team-dressed police, with helmets,
pads and weapons It felt very powerful After awhile we hum
med We Shall Overcome", then returned to the church
Seattle on Wednesday reminded me of Central America
during the violence of the 1980s Police lines were everywhere,
and many intersections were blocked by police or protesters,
sometimes both A month before Christmas, there were few
others and no shoppers Many stores were boarded up Tear-
gassed protesters sought shelter in the church, and one man
from Global Exchange was hit in the face by a rubber bullet,
which penetrated his lower lip and knocked out some teeth
During the afternoon session we were asked to remain in the
church because of tear-gas outside and an impending curfew
The basement of the church had one room with literature tables,
and just about every peace, justice, environmental and faith
based group I've ever heard of, plus many unions, were distrib
uting literature and networking Jim Hightower, in his cowboy
Columbia View
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