protests

"defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and the oppressed." -psalm 82:3

some people mislabel me as a protester. but contrary to popular belief, i'm no protester. sure, i've attended my fair share of protests over the years but usually i find myself quite disenchanted by the whole event.

my first protest was downtown grand rapids. the whole world, or at least my circle of friends and those across the country who thought just like me, were up in arms about the world trade organization. large groups were gathered in large cities all over the nation protesting the wto meeting in seattle. oh...how i longed to be in that city, part of that crowd, holding my sign, hearing my own voice rise up with the voices of others who were out to change to world. because i couldn't make it to seattle, i decided to join the small group gathered downtown here in grand rapids. i hitched my modest sign over my shoulder and began to march through the city streets. about an hour in, meltdown. the protesters stopped cooperating and the police started to get rough. people were shoving and shouting. words were exchanged. and soon some of my acquaintances started getting arrested, handcuffs and everything. hats started being passed around to collect money for their bail. i had no idea what this had to do with the world trade organization. suddenly i felt quite the fool. anyone who happened to be passing through the downtown area that day probably thought to themselves, "those crazy hippy kids." they did not learn one thing about the evils of the WTO. i did not fork over any bail money. instead, i left my sign on the street and walked home.

my next big protest was in Washington DC. i finally made it to the big time. actually, i was in DC visiting a friend but happened to get caught up in a protesting crowd. it seemed exciting so i joined in. i didn't even know what i was protesting. turns out these people were trying to legalize marijuana. you know, if you like to smoke the big doobie once in awhile more power to you. but some reporter snapped my picture and i, for one, was terrified that my dad would see it. i'm high on life dad! i was out of there!

ironically, a few years later i found myself back in DC. this time i had made the trip specifically to protest. i was there to march for immigrant rights. i stayed in a hotel where a lot of other protesters were staying. there were thousands of people there ready to march the hill. it was all very organized. we were all herded onto different colour-coded buses and shipped to different parts of the city. i thought it was great until we started RAIDING office buildings. hundreds of us would rush past the security, chanting and waving signs. we demanded to talk to the "man in charge." honestly, to this day, i have no idea who we were actually talking to. i just kind of got pushed along by the crowd. i will say that it was touching to hear an immigrant woman speak her mind to this white man of so-called power. she pleaded for her children. she just wanted to educate them. the man seemed to be listening to her and it seemed like our protest was working! but secretly that man had somehow called the police. they zoomed up to the building and we could see them storming in. everyone started making a run for it! it was crazy. it was TOO crazy. again i thought to myself "what does this have to do with immigrants? now they are all going to get arrested and probably deported for trespassing. shoot...I'M going to get arrested for trespassing!" again, i was out of there! i managed to find my bus amongst all of the chaos and was relieved to be going back to the hotel. but instead, that bus drove me to some senators mansion where we were to continue our protest, hundreds of us on this man's lawn. now, how on earth would raiding this man's private home advance our cause?

later that weekend i was able to accompany a young girl into the office of a michigan rep at capital hill. she spoke quietly and politely. she said that all she wanted to do was go to college. she said that she didn't want to live in poverty any longer. that was why i made the trip.

my most recent protest was last friday. i knew president bush was going to be speaking in E. Grand Rapids near my home. i left work early to study for my finals, but i had had this nagging feeling in my gut all week. i felt like i had to go. but once i was there i again felt myself becoming disenchanted with the protesters around me. tell me, how do signs like, "Real men know when to PULL OUT" advance anything? first of all young man with the sign, your message makes absolutely no sense. while it is a clever play on words, real men do not ever have to "pull out" because they are married. your sign simply gave proof that you are, in fact, a very young man. and then there was the guy who started to argue with a bush supporter. i heard the end of their conversation and it went a little something like this: "well, ok then you son of pat robertson. you just go on believing what you believe you son of pat robertson." now c'mon dude. that is just lame. i found that guy later and told him i had overheard his conversation. i politely told him i was on his side. i do not support bush or this war. but i reminded him that words were powerful, just as powerful as any bomb. i told him that he did nothing to advance peace. and finally, those chants...they are always the same. don't you protesters think that GW has heard them all? come up with some new material!!

now you may be wondering why i even go to protests at all. i seem to despise them so much. and i really don't know if protesting even works. but i go because it is my right and my freedom to go. many, many people do not have that freedom. if they are being wronged, then it is up to me to plead their case, right? often times i feel quite powerless against injustice but at least i know i can go and physically turn my back on it. i'm no hippy kid. i don't have to agree with the signs or the chants. i just have to be a body, a presence, a back turned.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD." -Jeremiah 22:16