anarchist_nomad (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anarchist_nomad) wrote2008-09-04 12:35 pm
anarchist_nomad) wrote2008-09-04 12:35 pm
Entry tags:
It Was A Time I'll Always Remember, Because I Could Never Forget
As most know, the Republican National Convention has been going on in Minnesota this week. By coincidence, it is being held at virtually the same time that it was in New York City four years ago[*].
As a result, it was virtually inevitable that the convention and its timing would get me thinking about the previous RNC and my involvement in the demonstrations against it. During the part of my activism that involved street protests[**], I participated in quite a few major activist demonstrations. Besides the Republican National Convention, I have taken to the streets to speak out against the likes of the World Economic Forum, the World Bank / International Monetary Fund, and the G8[***].
The RNC was different, though, for one major reason. It was there that I was unjustly arrested and held as a political prisoner for two days. It was there that I experienced "Guantanamo-on-the Hudson", the violation of my habeas corpus "rights", and the inside of the New York City "criminal justice" system.
Overall, I consider the experience to have been a good one. I learned a lot and it made a strong impression on me -- one of the strongest impressions of any experience in my adult life. I learned not only about the workings of political repression -- I also learned about power relationships and I learned about how I respond in such a virtually powerless situation.
Of course, most of the experience was unpleasant: Having my wrists cuffed behind me for three and a half hours, spending two days with virtually no sleep, laying down in the oily chemical muck that coated the floor of "Guantanamo-on-the-Hudson", getting threatened (while cuffed again!) by a "corrections" officer, watching a man that I was cuffed to in a "daisy chain" desperately try to get water before he passed out from dehydration, not being able to brush my teeth for two days (yuck!), and more. Probably the worst part of it all came from within, though. After nearly thirty hours in jail -- with nearly no sleep and very little food -- my own spirits, which I had tried to keep high from the beginning, finally cracked. When I realised that I was going to spend a second night in jail, and it seemed like nearly everybody else had already been released[****], I sunk into a bit of a depression for quite a few hours. Interestingly enough, the worst part came from within, not without. One of the lessons learned: Had I been stronger and more resolved, I could have avoided the worst part of the experience.
Being a political prisoner was not entirely unpleasant -- no thanks to the NYC Police or Corrections Departments! I actually do have many happy memories from my incarceration: Walking down a long corridor of cells upon my arrival at "Guantanamo-on-the-Hudson" whilst being cheered and applauded by hundreds of my fellow demonstrators, singing Wobbly songs in the transport vehicle whilst being moved from Guantanamo to the Tombs, making a checker set out of toilet paper and paper cups to give us something to do in our cell that involved using our brains (winning all my checker games didn't hurt, either!), calming down high tensions amongst my comrades and being told that I was "the biggest mother-f**king optimist" one of them had ever met. Not surprisingly, the best moments were near the end -- I will never forget the moment when a phone call to the People's Law Collective brought the knowledge that the National Lawyers Guild had gotten New York State Supreme Court Justice Cataldo to issue a release for all prisoners held for more than twenty-four hours. The energy change in our cell was quick and palpable! I shot out of my gloomy depression, called to an officer, and demanded to be released from the cell. It did not work, of course... but suddenly I felt a measure of power because I knew that we had to be released, and soon! Similarly, I will always remember my first moment of "freedom" upon leaving the courthouse. Thousands were gathered outside to welcome [a very tired, grungy, and dehydrated] me back with cheers. My friend Matches was in front of it all and jumped into my arms for an enormous hug! Despite my exhaustion, I stayed for several more hours to do jail support and give my emerging comrades the same fabulous reception that I have received.
Definitely a very intense experience[*****]. After five years as an activist, I put that career on hold about two years ago for various reasons. I do expect to return to it someday -- it just does not feel right to let others fight the battle for a better world without me. Right now, though, I do wish that I were in St. Paul and on the streets for the current Republican Convention...
[*] As opposed to the Democratic National Convention, which was held much later this year than it was in the previous election cycle.
[**] Which I consider just one tool in the kit to use in the goal of, as we like to put it, "smashing the State." While I have certainly done my share of street protests, I have also been active in food & clothing re-distribution, boycotts, industrial union organising, political prisoner support, copwatching, books to prisoners programmes, and more.
[***] Sadly, I was in Argentina in 2003 during the demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americans meeting in Miami. To this day, I still harbor a bit of guilt and disappointment that I was not able to stand with my comrades -- particularly the incredible![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
resourceress -- as they faced off against the brutal police oppression there. I realise that just about everyone I have ever spoken to about this thinks that I am nuts for wanting to have been amongst the rubber bullets and tear gas... but it feels like a betrayal to have let my comrades face these things without me.
[****] This was an incorrect conclusion, but there were reasons for believing it at the time from the evidence available to me.
[*****] Ironically enough, this is the first time I have discussed my arrest in any detail within this journal, as it is only recently that the legal aftermath of my case -- first the criminal trial and, after being cleared of all charges, the subsequent suit for wrongful arrest -- has been concluded.
As a result, it was virtually inevitable that the convention and its timing would get me thinking about the previous RNC and my involvement in the demonstrations against it. During the part of my activism that involved street protests[**], I participated in quite a few major activist demonstrations. Besides the Republican National Convention, I have taken to the streets to speak out against the likes of the World Economic Forum, the World Bank / International Monetary Fund, and the G8[***].
The RNC was different, though, for one major reason. It was there that I was unjustly arrested and held as a political prisoner for two days. It was there that I experienced "Guantanamo-on-the Hudson", the violation of my habeas corpus "rights", and the inside of the New York City "criminal justice" system.
Overall, I consider the experience to have been a good one. I learned a lot and it made a strong impression on me -- one of the strongest impressions of any experience in my adult life. I learned not only about the workings of political repression -- I also learned about power relationships and I learned about how I respond in such a virtually powerless situation.
Of course, most of the experience was unpleasant: Having my wrists cuffed behind me for three and a half hours, spending two days with virtually no sleep, laying down in the oily chemical muck that coated the floor of "Guantanamo-on-the-Hudson", getting threatened (while cuffed again!) by a "corrections" officer, watching a man that I was cuffed to in a "daisy chain" desperately try to get water before he passed out from dehydration, not being able to brush my teeth for two days (yuck!), and more. Probably the worst part of it all came from within, though. After nearly thirty hours in jail -- with nearly no sleep and very little food -- my own spirits, which I had tried to keep high from the beginning, finally cracked. When I realised that I was going to spend a second night in jail, and it seemed like nearly everybody else had already been released[****], I sunk into a bit of a depression for quite a few hours. Interestingly enough, the worst part came from within, not without. One of the lessons learned: Had I been stronger and more resolved, I could have avoided the worst part of the experience.
Being a political prisoner was not entirely unpleasant -- no thanks to the NYC Police or Corrections Departments! I actually do have many happy memories from my incarceration: Walking down a long corridor of cells upon my arrival at "Guantanamo-on-the-Hudson" whilst being cheered and applauded by hundreds of my fellow demonstrators, singing Wobbly songs in the transport vehicle whilst being moved from Guantanamo to the Tombs, making a checker set out of toilet paper and paper cups to give us something to do in our cell that involved using our brains (winning all my checker games didn't hurt, either!), calming down high tensions amongst my comrades and being told that I was "the biggest mother-f**king optimist" one of them had ever met. Not surprisingly, the best moments were near the end -- I will never forget the moment when a phone call to the People's Law Collective brought the knowledge that the National Lawyers Guild had gotten New York State Supreme Court Justice Cataldo to issue a release for all prisoners held for more than twenty-four hours. The energy change in our cell was quick and palpable! I shot out of my gloomy depression, called to an officer, and demanded to be released from the cell. It did not work, of course... but suddenly I felt a measure of power because I knew that we had to be released, and soon! Similarly, I will always remember my first moment of "freedom" upon leaving the courthouse. Thousands were gathered outside to welcome [a very tired, grungy, and dehydrated] me back with cheers. My friend Matches was in front of it all and jumped into my arms for an enormous hug! Despite my exhaustion, I stayed for several more hours to do jail support and give my emerging comrades the same fabulous reception that I have received.
Definitely a very intense experience[*****]. After five years as an activist, I put that career on hold about two years ago for various reasons. I do expect to return to it someday -- it just does not feel right to let others fight the battle for a better world without me. Right now, though, I do wish that I were in St. Paul and on the streets for the current Republican Convention...
[*] As opposed to the Democratic National Convention, which was held much later this year than it was in the previous election cycle.
[**] Which I consider just one tool in the kit to use in the goal of, as we like to put it, "smashing the State." While I have certainly done my share of street protests, I have also been active in food & clothing re-distribution, boycotts, industrial union organising, political prisoner support, copwatching, books to prisoners programmes, and more.
[***] Sadly, I was in Argentina in 2003 during the demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americans meeting in Miami. To this day, I still harbor a bit of guilt and disappointment that I was not able to stand with my comrades -- particularly the incredible
resourceress -- as they faced off against the brutal police oppression there. I realise that just about everyone I have ever spoken to about this thinks that I am nuts for wanting to have been amongst the rubber bullets and tear gas... but it feels like a betrayal to have let my comrades face these things without me.[****] This was an incorrect conclusion, but there were reasons for believing it at the time from the evidence available to me.
[*****] Ironically enough, this is the first time I have discussed my arrest in any detail within this journal, as it is only recently that the legal aftermath of my case -- first the criminal trial and, after being cleared of all charges, the subsequent suit for wrongful arrest -- has been concluded.