seattle indymedia center

 http://www.commonlanguageproject.net/flash/protest2007_0127

Is the correct link...must have mistyped something.

Thanks a lot for posting these. Based on my own experience, these photos are a pretty accurate account of the event.

Thank you!

In one of pictures on the slideshow there is a picture of the Army Office 'hours of operation' sign. It is only open M-F, they are always closed on Saturdays and Sundays. So did you actually close it, or just show up on a day it was never open?

you may want to look at the image more carefully. It reads "An Army F [sic] One, Hrs. 9-7." There is no specification as to the days of the week the center is open.

Good report. I think it's very evident from the comments of the people in this story and based on the my own personal experience that people are starting to wake up and realize that it's going to take a lot more than protest as usual to stop and reverse the Bush and Neocon Agenda but will it be in time and will it be enough?

The general question still remains why are YOU still waiting for others to organize Civil Disobedience and Direct Action? Stop waiting and do it already! What are you waiting for? Are you too comfortable? are you just afraid? What's stopping you from taking action?

There is such a thing as too late. Think about it.

Lectures and speeches are okay. Watada is cool (even Brave). More people need to follow his example and start taking ACTION. how many "meaningful movies" can you attend? books can you read? how many more Abu Ghraibs and Guantanmos are you willing to abide? How many more people have to die before you stop turning a blind eye?

Those who have postions of privilige need to start taking risks for those who cannot i.e. the vulnerable populations who if they protest get deported and imprisoned. If this were just the beginning I would say this is a good start but it's NOT. We are FOUR YEARS into this WAR! and this is the best we can do?
Seattle and all the liberal activists in it are a disgrace.

Keep going at the rate you're going and we'll see you all in the camps. All is needed is ONE more catstophic event ala 911 before emergecny powers are claimed and granted. It's real and the legal foundation is already in place....

Time to check your intestinal fortitude and get real about what time it is yall.

Original article is at
 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/12/22/18339699.php
Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
by repost Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006 at 2:39 AM

If you do read soemthing read Ward Churchills Pacifism as Pathology


Review: In this book, and pulling no punches, Churchill lays out his case against white progressives-to be precise the liberal/social democratic complacent legions of mostly well-educated midlle and upper middle class activists-who are delusional not only in the ineffectual tactics and strategies they pursue (which the ruling elites are only too happy to accommodate as per a well-scripted minuet), but in the belief that they are actually performing revolutionary acts...So, like it or not, Churchill is correct in pointing out that these liberals will do everything except assume actual risk in opposing the system..and that, being mostly interested in practicing "comfort zone" politics, they will almost invariably indulge in essentially worthless "cathartic" posturizing instead of solid opposition

The last two comments are very annoying. What are YOU, comment writers, doing that is so much better or more effective than this protest? The people who organized and attended this event should be congratulated, not disparaged, especially given the complacency afflicting so many Americans these days.

If you don't like this action, organize something of your own, but please stop the ridiculous sectarian back-biting against people who are organizing AGAINST the war and police state measures! And spare the rest of us the condescending lectures -- we can see what's going on in front of us.

I guess you only want to see comments that are in total agreement with your viewpoint. Whether you like or agree with previous comments is irrelevant. be annoyed all you want, that's your right and you can afford it because you're probably not directly affected by these policies in the same way others are.

The "organize something of your own" ploy is tired. I and many others HAVE orgnaized actions and been arrested probably just like you. The point being made here is that this action while a little victory its just that ...little. If this were Decmeber 2002 I'd say good start but again the hour is LATE! YOU jean like so many other over priviliged and docile liberals need to wake up and realize that what you are doing isn't working, the only value it has is the totality of all the small actions natiowide combined keep some pressure on bush and company but it's not enough. We are still in danger of losing it all. So I don't think you can really see what's in front of us.

These madmen aren't listening or slowing down for you or me, there agenda moves forward. So it's time to use some imagination and do something other than take a walk on a Saturday.

It's real easy to convince yourself that making flyers, and having meetings and sending emails and protesting like you do are enough. One of the problems with Seattle is that you can't have an honest and albeit difficult conversation about the state of the movement. Everybody wants to "keep it positive", don't scare people. What you're really saying is don't speak the unvarnished truth. Well that's fine if you're not one of the people paying the price.

Is this a call for radical violence? NO! what I'm saying is that it's time for a different type of Protest tied with actual resistance.

Why don't you take your 2,000 + friends down to Tacoma and protest outside the Northwest Detention Center, there are people who have been locked up down there a long time.

and if you don't know where it is then SHAME ON YOU. YOU SHOULD.




 http://www.thegeogroupinc.com/northamerica.asp?fid=105
NORTHWEST DETENTION CENTER
1623 East J Street
Tacoma, Washington 98421
United States
Phone: 253-396-1611
Fax: 253-396-1250

Yes we have allowed the rollback of progress we made back in 99 with the battle of seattle and in 00 with the battle of la, but bitching at your fellow man that hes not man enough isnt gunna cut it either. while some of them are slow to come or see protests as little impact... they lift out spirits, I say if we have one major event a month thats semi good progress.

I say marking on police recruitment center is great, while its not the same as standing outside a jail its still progress in the right direction. But until you have the logistics to transport all those people from seattle to tacoma, that isnt that big of an option.

yes bush is moving ever closer to a war with iran and its something on everyones mine, but its a sense there is no unity or common cause among us. people are so quickly to go back to their programmed life pretending that the chains they hold arent there.

but i agree there is alot of issues and hidding behind postive vibes isnt going to get us anywhere and we will slowly loose what support we do have in the conflicts that go unresolved.

Joe, I'm with you that the movement has to go beyond where it is right now, and I also agree that many people in Seattle (and elsewhere) have a pretty difficult time discussing the actual state of the movement. There is this idea that any "negative" discussions will just scare people away. (And God forbid the masses actually see activists publicly disagreeing with one another! They'll just get so confused! Better leave it to the self-appointed "experts.") And, indeed, there are a whole lot of people who are "scared" away by this sort of talk. I do not think these sort of people represent the masses, rather they represent a section of the movement that's just not up to dealing with these issues at this time.

On the other hand, I can't see what you're actually contributing to the discussion. You haven't put forward a single coherent political criticism. You're just yelling at people. But people (lots of them) have been doing this for a very long time and very little has come of it. Perhaps it's time to re-evaluate that sort of approach.

To answer your rhetorical question about protesting at the NW Detention Center in Tacoma--why not? I'm all for it. One of the good things about this last protest is that it did actually have a pretty good and relevant route. I especially liked that we protested at the recruiting station, and I was happy to take part in the MASS defiance of the capitalist police at the recruiting station. It is unfortunate that some of the groups who organized the protest seemed a little split on what to do at that point, but that's another story. Maybe it's something to learn from. (Also, I think some people have gotten a little bit carried away with their enthusiasm and are sort of exaggerating what we actually accomplished there. But this, too, is another story.)

As far as logistics are concerned (re: rev exile) I don't think it's that much of a big deal. There are busses and people have cars. What's lacking is the political will and organization. But this isn't going to come from yelling at people on Indymedia. You have to engage the actual movement. You need to put forward some kind of a plan from how the movement is going to get from where it is now to where you'd like it to go. Most importantly, you have to organize people around a different sort of politics than what currently predominate in the movement. You can't just expect everyone to magically come to the conclusion that "what we really need is resistance!" (And, by the way, this "R"-word is thrown around so much that I hardly even know what people mean by it anymore.)

Now, I don't know what you have been doing to push things in this direction and, for all I know, this could be something that you've been working very hard on. I just hope your method of persuasion in person is a little bit different than the guilt-tripping you've been employing on this thread.

By the way, I had no idea where the NW Detention Center is and I still don't (because I don't know Tacoma very well), but thanks for the address.

Out of curiosity, what do you think we can do to popularize the idea of a protest at this place? I think this is the first step towards actually making it happen, and I'd like to help. I'm sure there are plenty of others who would, too.

busing it in isnt really an option as not too many people go from seattle to tacoma (not even sure a bus would goto the camp either) but then again i havnt looked it up yet. still the details would be a bit hard to work out

but im sure with enough notice none of this the day before crap. we could make it happen... hows march or april lookin :D

The People at Not In My County hold a vigile 2nd Saturday every month.

3-5pm, Sat. February 10th
Northwest Detention Center
1623 E. J Street - Tacoma, WA (Click HERE for driving directions.)

Join community and student groups from Bellingham, Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle in speaking up and exposing the existence of this oppressive institution in our midst. We will have several speakers to inspire us in this ongoing struggle for human and immigrant rights. Join us in protest of Immigration Control and Enforcement’s (I.C.E.) aggressive enforcement tactics and violations of our neighbors’ civil and human rights. Many of our friends, family and neighbors are being held in the privately-run Northwest Detention Center, we want to show them and our community that we do not condone I.C.E.’s terrorist actions against hard working immigrants.

Call 360-738-0893 or send an email to  notinmycounty@qwest.net for more information. Coffee and hot chocolate will be provided.