To Jennifer Smith of Philadelphia, things did not seem all that different at first standing on 16th Street in Columbia Heights on Friday night. “It seems like all the same kids,” Smith remarked, “the same sort of response, the same tactics.” But things were certainly not as they were supposed to be. In anticipation of last weekend’s scheduled meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, anti-globalization activists had planned massive protests. D.C. Metropolitan police had been preparing for an estimated 100,000 protesters taking to the streets to demonstrate on a wide variety of political and social issues related to the negative affects of globalization and American foreign policy.
But in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the meetings were canceled, and the impetus for the protests was quickly lost. Many felt that the traditionally disruptive format of anti-globalization protest would be inappropriate given the tragedy. The threat of war also helped mute sense of urgency most anti-globalization activists feel about fighting for their cause. And yet the protests would go on, with a smaller turnout and a change of focus from anti-globalization to anti-war.
Smith did note some changes.
“I haven’t seen anyone blocked up yet [referring to the masks protesters often wear at demonstrations] . . . that might be in respect to a lot of the other people here who are here as just anti-war activists. People are being a little bit more respectful of each other’s space.”
Education and planning
Despite the anticlimax, the weekend’s events required a great deal of planning and build-up. Even with the downscaled protests, Georgetown students took a central role in that work.
Georgetown Solidarity Committee, a labor-rights group formed on campus in the mid-’90s, had planned on extensive activities surrounding the original demonstrations. The cancellation of the meetings caused them to lessen the scope of their plans. However, GSC still organized several teach-ins on issues related to global economic policy, staged a demonstration in Red Square and found housing for more than 80 visiting demonstrators. Demonstrators began to arrive Thursday night and stayed as late as Sunday.
Meanwhile, educational sessions were well underway across the District. By Friday afternoon, the People’s Summit was already in its second day at Luther Place Memorial Church at Thomas Circle. The Summit was a teach-in and workshop session organized by the Mobilization for Global Justice, an umbrella organization for anti-globalization activism. As cliques of protesters wandered in and out from all directions, guest speakers held court on a variety of topics.
One discussion focused on the historical development of private corporations. The classroom was crowded with a diverse bunch; those present included a representative of the Green Party of Kansas, a group of college students from Ohio and several D.C. social workers. All expressed interest in learning more about the topic. The speaker, a former attourney who left his job to give talks on globalization’s affects, explained the history of corporations’ efforts to exploit the third world, beginning with the chartering of corporations like the Dutch East Indies Company in the 17th century with the express purpose of promoting colonization. Almost everyone took notes, and the crowd grew as the talk progressed.
Up several flights of stairs, another talk focused on American foreign policy. One speaker, a Jewish woman, explained her views on how Jewish intellectuals had attempted to tie anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism in hopes of furthering popular approval for Israeli state policy. She suggested to the audience that opposition to Israel had never been allowed to become a valid part of the public debate on foreign affairs. The anti-globalization movement is quite concerned with Palestinian rights, which it generally perceives as having been forced to the back burner in favor of the United States’ foreign policy.
Georgetown Professor Mark Lance worked Thursday and Friday at Luther Place as a press contact for the People’s Summit. He described the workshops’ purpose as “tackling the underlying causes of injustice and violence.”
Outside the church on a stoop across N Street sat a group of visiting activists. A woman from Ohio, who identified herself only as “Mum,” would not have come to D.C. for the original demonstrations. “I came because it was for peace,” she said.
Damien Smith, a D.C.-area representative of the International Socialist Organization, was also at the People’s Summit. He expressed his view that the events of Sept. 11th and the campaign against global capitalism are fundamentally linked.
“We’re seeing these things laid to bare,” Smith said in reference to the affects of globalization. He also offered his own solution to the challenge of stopping terrorism.
“It is going to take a significant change in the way business is conducted on this planet,” Smith said.
The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, a self-described “coalition of anti-capitalists who are organizing direct action against the Fall meetings of the World Bank and IMF,” used the Wilson Center at 15th and Irving Streets in Northwest D.C. to welcome visiting demonstrators. The center was open to all communists, anarchists and other anti-capitalists every day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the week proceeding the protests.
Friday night, protesters from across the nation gathered there in anticipation of the weekend’s events. At the front desk, ACC organizers dining on vegan fare served on stainless-steel military surplus trays welcomed protesters as they arrived. A variety of literature espousing Marxism, anarchism and other causes was available for the taking, along with more practical information on what to do if arrested in the District of Columbia.
Both inside and outside, activists discussed what lay ahead for the weekend. Though the protests may have shifted focus since Sept. 11, to those gathered at the ACC Welcome Center that night, it was business as usual.
The atmosphere was not just one of anticipation, but also anxiety, even fear. Black-clad guards with two-way radios patrolled all corners of the building. When approached by strangers, many activists elected to remain anonymous, preferring pseudonyms to their given names. Many more wished not to be photographed, and scattered or donned masks rather than have their faces recorded on film. Paranoia perhaps, but rumors of FBI and police harassment of protest organizers were enough to justify such precautions to the ACC and protestors in general.
For security reasons, the ACC was especially concerned that their visitors have a minimal impact on the neighborhood. From the ACC web site (abolishthebank.org): “[The Wilson Center] is already a target of the authorities because of the politics of the ACC. We don’t want to increase the chances of a raid by having unneeded activity around the space.” Despite precautions, a Metro police cruiser was reported to have camped in front of the building earlier in the day. Later that night, reports of a shooting nearby prompted ACC organizers to call for the group of protesters gathered in front of the Wilson Center to disperse in anticipation of an increased police presence. The crowd thinned quickly in response.
Visitors to the Welcome Center spent the night debating protest plans and tactics. The general change of emphasis to an anti-war stance necessitated heavy discussion on the approach demonstrators should take the following day. In their modified “Call to Action,” posted on their website, the ACC stated: “We want to continue to mobilize, though we are all uncomfortable carrying forth in the way we planned. The tactics that were ideal to the original situation will not have the same effects at this time.”
In the interests of avoiding permit trouble, the Welcome Center had to be vacated by 10 p.m. In the final organizational meeting before Saturday’s march, most discussion revolved around practical needs: plans for child-care, cardboard for signs and food for the protestors. Plans for a “temporary autonomous zone” at Meridian Hill Park, a place for ACC protestors to gather after the marches, were finalized.
Meanwhile, about five blocks south, several hundred activists gathered at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for a discussion on “Globalizing Justice and Peace.” Rather than scruffy youth donning tattered jackets with revolutionary slogans and worn boots of radical social protest, many of those attending the forum wore clothing more representative of mainstream America?most participants seemed well into middle age. Barring the tables piled high with anti-globalization literature, the evening could have been any church meeting.
Jung Mai, who flew out to D.C. from Minneapolis, was at St. Stephen’s Friday night. She criticized her fellow protesters for harassing everyday citizens instead of informing them on the realities of globalization.
“That’s how [most people] have grown up, that’s what they know, that’s the clothes they buy, that’s what they do for a living,” she said. “Giving someone the finger for that doesn’t educate them at all and it’s a shitty thing to do.”
Saturday ? The national stage
Saturday’s demonstrations began with a 9 a.m. march, organized by ACC, from Union Station to the IMF and World Bank headquarters at Pennsylvania Avenue and 19th Street. The march was largely peaceful, as most protesters were only interested in showing their solidarity against any war effort by displaying banners and following in the occasional chant. A few scuffles occurred between protesters and police, resulting in over a dozen protesters being pepper-sprayed. Police Chief Charles Ramsey reportedly lost his left shoe, and Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer was accidentally pepper-sprayed by his own officers.
When the march arrived at a park across from World Bank and IMF headquarters, Chief Ramsey ordered his officers to surround the protesters until the group calmed down. The standoff continued for nearly 90 minutes. Eventually the police escorted the march to Freedom Plaza at Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street, where International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) was organizing another rally and a march to the capitol.
At Freedom Plaza, those present were loosely grouped by affiliate organization or city of origin. The demonstrators mostly looked like stereotypical college students, sporting hooded sweatshirts and unique hairstyles. Couples and families lounged on the grass, and a bandanna-masked group hovered near a fountain at the back of the rally. Most were from out of town, with especially large groups coming from New York City, Ohio and Washington. A huge diversity of causes was represented. While the demonstration was officially organized as an anti-war rally, those present showed their support of everything from ending racial profiling to Palestinian statehood. Dozens of small displays were set up providing information on a wide variety of foreign policy issues. Several Buddhist monks led a meditation exercise, and groups of drummers roamed the rally. An anti-war message, however, was still the unifying theme. At the east end of the Plaza a stage and podium were set up, backed by a large banner proclaiming, “War and Racism are Not the Answer.” By 2 p.m., several thousand demonstrators had arrived.
Jen Smith, who traveled with about 200 others from Oberlin College in Ohio, felt that the message she would have brought to the anti-IMF rally was all the more needed in light of the events of the 11th.
“I believe that the United States has a policy of corporate terrorism all over the world,” Smith said. “I am really upset that people had to die, but I do believe that the United States needs to look at itself and look at the policies that it’s writing.”
For some, however, the issue of peace was a unique call. Ryan Huss, a professor at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, had traveled to D.C. for the day to attend the rally. He did not originally plan on coming.
“I think you can be pro-capitalist all you want and still not be in favor of military action against Afghanistan,” Huss said.
Sheryl Williams, a New York City resident, was also present at the rally. She felt that proximity to the tragedy had given her and others a unique perspective. “I think New Yorkers have the advantage of understanding violence in a way that people around the country might not be able to . . . we feel more compassionate,” Williams said.
One of the more politically connected protesters was Ed McWilliams, a D.C.-area resident and a recent retiree from the State Department. His career there included work on Afghanistan.
“I’m afraid that actions we’re taking already have led to a lot of refugee movement, which means a lot of people are going to be in harm’s way,”
McWilliams said. “I am also concerned that we’re going to take sides in the civil war, working with the Northern Alliance against the Taliban, which would be a dreadful mistake. I think that we’re using the grief of the people for political and military ends, and I think that that’s a very serious mistake. We have to avoid that.”
Further down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the Navy Memorial, another demonstration was underway, organized by the conservative forum Free Republic. Several dozen people attended, mostly middle-aged males who had come in from the Washington suburbs, but the group also included people from all over the East coast. They milled about in small groups, and many had signs expressing support for the President. One legend read, “Welcome bin Laden Fan Club.”
Jack Walsh, of Springfield, Va., iterated the group’s purpose.
“What brings us to the capital is that we wanted to show that we are patriotic Americans and that we stand behind President Bush,” Walsh said.
Cindy Scott, from Woodbridge, Va., questioned the anti-war demonstrators.
“The thing that I would like to know is if everyone that is protesting down there is as well-informed about what is going on as the group right here,” Scott said. “I think a lot of them are there just to be there, and [are] not representing any cause whatsoever.”
The anti-war protest eventually moved down Pennsylvania Avenue, passing the counter-demonstration. The two groups hurled slogans and occasional insults at each other, but except for isolated spitting incidents, the encounter was relatively uneventful. The change in attitude was clear; a march originally designed to upset the city had become comparatively peaceful (although nowhere near as reserved as the counter-demonstration). Once the group arrived at a park behind the Capitol, speakers from campus groups announced how many people they had brought to the demonstrations.
Sunday ? Locals speak
Sunday morning, a different kind of protest took shape at Meridian Hill Park. The Community March and Gathering for Peace drew fewer protesters, yet retained a more local focus than the events of the previous day. Groups from across the Washington area united in protest against war, including the Washington Peace Center, D.C. Green Party and several groups from local universities including the Georgetown Solidarity Committee.
The rally featured speakers on a variety of subjects. Representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities both shared their pleas for peace. A message from Amber Amundson, the widow of Pentagon victim Craig Scott Amundson, encouraging the cause for peace was read to the crowd.
The centerpiece of the day’s events was a march through the streets of Northwest Washington. Leaving east from the park, the procession turned south on 14th Street and passed though some of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods?Adams-Morgan, Columbia Heights and Dupont Circle.
At the intersection of 14th and U Streets, Chief Ramsey and Assistant Chief Gainer strolled at the vanguard of the march as they had they day before. Compared to the events of the day prior, Sunday’s march was uniformly peaceful.
“Had it not been for some of the more radical groups yesterday,” Ramsey said, “yesterday would have been just fine.” There don’t seem to be any problems so far [today]. We just hope that everybody gets to where they want to get to have their rally and move on.”
The Aftermath
The objective of the weekend’s protests had certainly changed from their original intent. Travel difficulties and reservations about the appropriateness of a protest kept many from visiting the District. However, many came expressly to voice their opposition to war. And while the protests may have been more subdued than planned, anti-globalization activists were met in the streets with opposition, in the form of a pro-Bush administration rally.
The long-term effect last month’s attacks will have on the anti-globalization movement is not yet entirely clear. The People’s Summit’s slogan, “Another World is Possible,” seemed especially appropriate to Damien Smith. “In light of the events of Sept. 11th,” Smith said, “another world isn’t just possible. Another world is necessary.”
