Funferal

The world still says no…

Saturday 20th, as people gathered around the world to confirm that ‘the world still says no to war’ I was in Chicago. Some of you will remember that last year’s demonstration finished with hundreds of protesters corralled on Lake Shore Drive – one of the main thoroughfares in the city – with many of them arrested. This year’s protest again promised confrontation, with Mayor Daley refusing to issue a permit for a march along Michigan avenue, citing the disruption to business.A compromise was, however, reached, and the march went primarily along a sidestreet before culminating in a rally in Federal Plaza. The confrontation proved to be all in the minds of those who arranged for the hundreds of police (not dozens as reported by the BBC). Clad in riot gear and body armour, there were at least 50 police at the front of the parade, with hundreds more walking on either side of the marchers. Many of them looked bored or disinterested, but some were fondling their night sticks in a worrying manner.We (Sabryna, Dylaan and myself) joined the march en route, watching most of it pass us and then joining in near the tail end. While there were no major props there were some interesting Bush/Pinnochio puppets along with the usual array of banners. I took the opportunity to collect as much literature from the various groups as possible, though I didn’t manage to get hold of everyone I saw distributing or selling newsletters.Once we arrived at Federal Plaza we listened for a short while to the speeches (though we had missed Jesse Jackson, and the sound system wasn’t the best) before discovering the stands selling stickers, badges and books). I picked up some interesting ones, though I’m still looking for a replacement for my ‘Dissent is not a crime’ one, which went mysteriously missing some time ago!My own personal estimate was for two to four thousand marchers, with an unknown number just attending the rally in the Plaza. Organiser estimates were for 10,000 total, with police claiming 5,000.