Back From the SOA Demo...

Photos from the protest can be found HERE. 

Thursday:

In the car with me were a few activists from T.O, talking about sustainable this, Guatemala that... I didn't really pay much attention, as I was too busy either trying to keep the van ahead of me in sight, or trying not to slam into the back of it.

The boarder  was easy:
"Citizenship?"
"Canadian."
"Where you headed?"
"St. Anne's Church, for a spiritual retreat"
"What are you bringing across?"
"Just our luggage."
"...O.K, have a nice day."

When we got to the church there was some set up for dinner, the meal, announcements, some icebreakers, A primer on the SOA, some spectrum of violence discussion and a presentation about a trip El-Salvador.

I found my self feeling kind of cynical while all this was going on. Maybe it was because I was tired from the drive, or the prospect of sleeping on the cold floor in the basement of a church... but I just wasn't feeling the vibes and I wasn't too keen on participating.

When I came my turn during the go-around of introductions to say why I had made the trip, my response was something along the lines of "I've heard a lot of good stories from friends who have made the trip in the past. About the positive and creative energy... I've never seen non-violence on such a large scale. I think this is what I need right now..." I hope all that is still down the pipe...

-30-
Mike.

Friday:

Billboards of the day:
*"I enjoy distracting drivers.
                             -Billboard"
*"Who's Your Daddy DNA Testing"      
*"FIREWORKS!!!!!!!"
Product of the Day: "Starburst Slammer" Smoothie... *Stink in a bottle*

Today was a bit of a blur, Detroit to Atlanta.  Most of the day was spent staring through the windshield as we headed south through Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and half of Georgia. Most of the time I found myself thinking that 'It's not that different from home; just more run-down, more billboards and more Jesus''. A little bit north on Cincinnati, There was a giant statue of Jesus emerging from a pond, with his head tilted back, and his arms stretched towards the sky. I'm sure this was meant look as if he was embracing the love of his father or something, but It looks like he's trying to lunge at an unseen helicopter to drag it from the sky... Very menacing.     

Right now I'm just typing this while sitting on a cot at a Mennonite Church, with preparations for the demonstration going on around me; sign-making, names on crosses, etc. (what's a protest without some Rage lyrics on a placard? I mean really...). I've snapped about a roll of the preparations, and discovered that I forgot my light meter...  

-30-
Mike    

Saturday:
Words of the day:
"Powerful" and "Energy"

We finally reach Columbus and Fort Benning at around 10Am. I realised that we were there early, but I still expected to see a bit more to the site. Basically, the protest was to be held on the road leading to one of the gates to the base, with the gate blocked off, It formed a cull-de-sac. I thought the protest would be held along a larger section of the base's perimeter, sort of like the FTAA protests in Quebec City. Instead, it was more like a long protest pen... Out of site from passers by, not causing much disruption to the base its self and probably out of the minds of most Columbus residents.  In the area where the protest was being held, there was lots of info booths and booths for people selling various forms of progressive merch along the right hand side, A stage near the gate, people holding vigil at the fence blocking the gate, and people milling about or listening to speakers...

As the day progressed, the crowd grew. Monday was the 'Day of Celebration'. Around 4pm, the main event began. This was the march of the Puppetistas... Street theatre with giant puppets, stilt walkers, lots of drummers and dancers... after this was done, folks filtered out.

Later on people started gathering at the Columbus convention centre. There was a benefit show starting around 9pm, the group I was hanging with wasn't too concerned with showing up on time... my kind of people. When we rolled up, there was a group of people from the convention centre who had decided to march around the block. As we parked, they we're marching past and urging us to join in... we decided to have a beer in the van instead... by this point we were either half in the bag or getting there. (Again, my kind of people.) *edit* I should probably point out here that I wasen't driving, and my dirver wasen't dinking*edit*
The concert wrapped up and we took our corona back to our room and ended another day...

One interesting experience I had during the day came when I was coming back to the site after dropping some stuff off at my car.  Two guys in a  pick-up truck pulled up to me and asked about what was going on, saying "there's a lot of good looking girls here...".  It turned out that they were off duty soldiers from the base. I spent a few minuets explaining the purpose of the demonstration and we had a good chat while they waited for the light to change. It seemed that the pair were under the impression that the only foreign troops trained at the base were the "Canucks" (Fort Benning is also home to the United States Army Infantry School and the United States Army Airborne School which is a part of it, where the Canadian Forces sends trainees for its three parachute companies.). It's not like I swayed them to oppose the SOA, but maybe, at least they know a little bit more about what happens on their base.
 

-30-
Mike.     

Sunday-Monday

These to get a combined entry because there was no period of sleep that clearly defines or differentiates them... Holy fuck, that's a long day.

Found my Light meter!

We got up around 6:30am got up to get the vehicles packed and left for the site a bit later...

Sunday was the Day of Mourning.  Again, we got there early in the day before most people showed up.  Obviously, this being the day of mourning, it had a very different vibe then Saturday.  Solemn, rather then Joyous. The main event of the day was the Procession known as the 'The No Más, No More Litany' where the names of the dead and disappeared were read and thousands of crosses were raised to each name before being left on the fence. I spent most of this time shooting pictures in and around the crowd.

As the procession passed the fence, People started crossing the fence and being arrested. Last I checked about 13 people had gone onto the base.

Following the Litany, was the Ritual of Life, again, by the Puppetistas.

The day wound down with more music and speakers. While this was going on, a helocopter that had been circling the protest on and off for the past 2 days, flew in low and hovered over the crowd. Many, including myself, felt this was just a tactic to antagonise the crowd... What I don't understand is, why bother? why try to drown out speakers and annoy the crowd with a helocopter?...

Everything wrapped up and the group of us from London gathered at the vans before starting the trip home. I found myself considering breaking away from the group and taking a side trip west to New Orleans, but I concluded that even though there were spots in the vans for my passengers, It would probably be best to stick with the group and get people home.

It was one straight shot through the night from Columbus GA to home.  We ran into snow through the mountains in Tennessee and Kentucky...  The only real problem I had on the way home was a breakdown near Detroit, but that was taken care of in about an hour and a half and I was on my way home for some sleep. 

All in all, the trip was a great experience, but I found myself thinking about how different my experience in Columbus would be if I had travelled there when there was no demonstration going on... I've done a lot of travelling to different cities for various protests, but I can't help but think that I miss out on the true character of a city when I'm just there while a demonstration is going on.  As for the demonstration itself, I was impressed by the magnitude of it, although I didn't experience the intense emotions that other have related to me when recounting the weekend. I really appreciated the chance to speak with people from The Common Ground Collective out of New Orleans' 9th ward and their Rubarb Bike Project, and from Iraq Veterans Against War, and I look forward to finding out more about what they do. 

I shot about five rolls of photos over the two days, I'll try to get some up over the next couple of days...    

-30-
Mike