A very brief and simple glimpse of 2 moments from a Saturday in Vienna. A protest in the university area and a folkloric band parade in front of city hall.
Tag Archives: demonstration
Clinical Protest
“…if you live in a state institution and you’re diagnosed with schizophrenia in the United States in the present day, the chances are exponentially greater that you are going to be in a prison than in a hospital…” – Jonathan Metzl on All in the Mind.
A recent edition of All in the Mind, ABC Radio National’s Mental Health radio program, looked at historical connections between protest and mental illness. One of the main points of the program is to point out that historically, those active in protest movements of various kinds, have often been said to be or officially diagnosed as mentally ill. In this way their goals or grievances with social structures and practices are seen as not worthy of being taken seriously, as they are brought on by a sickness.
The main interviewee on the program was Associate Professor Jonathan Metzl, author of the book The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia became a Black Disease, published by Beacon Books. Through his work Metzl explains a long list of cases where black people active in the civil rights struggle in the US were in incarcerated and while in prison diagnosed as schizophrenic or psychotic, then having their sentences extended and the array of treatments and medications expanded til the point that even if they had never been mentally ill before, they would become so.
From the era of slavery to the days of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, the discussion is a very interesting one that still has a big impact today in how we look at people in mental institutions, prison, and protest movements.
Highly recommended listening, full transcript is also available.
bmtv106 Student Revolt in the US
After the mass student uprising all across Europe in late 2009, the movement has awoken all across the United States this month. Students, faculty, and staff began walking out of their classes and holding marches and rallies at University campuses across the nation. With the lack of support and resources from the federal government, tuition hikes, staff layoffs, and massive budget cuts from state governments, millions of people are making their voices heard and refusing to go about their business as if nothing is wrong.
I was particularly excited and proud to have seen video footage (included in this video entry) from the school I graduated from in 2001, William Paterson University of New Jersey. As you can see from the images, that spirit of resistance and dedication to a cause is alive and well at my alma mater. It is particularly wonderful to see the familiar faces and hear the passionate voices of faculty members who played and continue to play a big role in helping me find my voice and choose my path as an activist-journalist.
Brad Will, Compañero
Riding home from the train station today, feeling the cold wind of the sudden winter that has gripped Amsterdam, in my ears I’m listening to the cries of a friend who I never knew… he has been shot…he is dying. And I’m on my bike in Amsterdam, but I can see the barricade in my mind, I can feel Brad Will dying again…
Those cries were recorded one year ago in a place called Oaxaca. Brad Will was a journalist. There are many kinds of journalists in this world, some write blogs, some attend demonstrations and report about what is happening from remote parts of the world. Some do all of this and more. Brad Will dedicated his life to the cause of the forgotten, the voices that have been forced out of the mainstream, paved over, and declared marginal or unimportant. He did things with indymedia that directly or indirectly inspired many of us in this movement of global citizens committed to speaking out about events unfolding in our name.. injustice wherever it may be, no matter how many people would rather not pay attention.
I rode my bike and listening to those final moments of Brad’s life, as the shots rang out… I wondered which hit him. I wonder if the officer that shot him looked him in the eyes and realized what a ray of light he had just dimmed. And what was Brad thinking; could he have known that throughout the world, people like myself would be listening.. a year or even years later… carrying on his work and remembering his death..
Well today as I listened.. I remembered Brad Will’s life and death… and his spirit lives on.. throughout this world of ours.
From the Front Lines of Resistance
It has been quite difficult to get any of the many organizations involved in demonstrations at the G8 summit in Germany to talk to me. This could be because they are so busy with the never ending media requests they get (wouldn’t that be nice!). It could also be that things are so tense on the front lines of these demonstrations that the last thing you worry about is answering a phone.
Meanwhile, my brave friends Kiwi and Fabian just returned from Rostock where the first days of protests were held and some big confrontations with police took place. Here is a excerpt from Kiwi’s email to me: (note to the grammar police, she’s Estonian and above the laws of grammar)
The weekend was full of impressions. We are still dealing with some of the things that happened. As you know some conflicts escalated on saturday. It started already as the first protesters had just reached the destination of the strike (Rostock harbor). Me and Fabian were pretty much at the front but we didn’t see what happened. People from the Black Block just started running around everywhere. It turned out later
that the police had parked an empty car/bus in the very middle of the protest area + a helicopter was flying right above the main stage making any speech/concert impossible. The organizers repeatedly asked the police to move the helicopter but no action was taken. This was interpreted as pure provocation and some (I would say the BB mostly but thats a guess) tore up the sidewalk an started to throw pavment stones
at the police.
So this was pretty much at the beginning. An hour or two later the situation began to get worse. More and more police gathered at the scene of the protest. Me and a friend had just sat down on the sidewalk and Fabian was away to get st to drink as people just started to run away suddenly.
2 minutes later as we felt an uncomfortable burn in our eyes it became clear that the police had used tear gas to force people to back off. We were only a 100 meters away and I still don’t understand why drastic measures like these were necessary. In our oppinion the crowd was peaceful.
As Fabian came back we wanted to make a plan in case things got worse
but it was obviously to late. A car was burning and 3 fire engines followed by armored cars with water cannons drove into the crowd. Soon the whole place was full with tear gas and water cannons were used to scatter the protesters. The program on stage was disrupted and organizers tried to calm people down. They spoke to the police publicly
and told them to stop the provocation. In the mean time police were everywhere and people were running in all directions. Me and Fabian were cut off from our friend. Since we couldn’t see properly anymore and the situation began to get dangerous we tried to run into town but the police were blocking some of the streets so we felt really trapped.
Well these are just some of the weird ways the police acted. The rumor was actually that they tried to get as much of the riot on tape as possible so they could argue against further protests, get more freedom to act cruel or whatever. I must say it fits to the profile.
Anyway, the sad part is the way our beloved media is pulling the whole protest into dirt and not even mentioning the motives of “peaceful” protesters. There are so many great discussions – the people are doing an amazing job. But it is not in the interest of the system to let them be heard.
Real Coverage of the Peace Movement
Watching the movie Bobby got me thinking about the mass support the peace movement had during the vietnam era. Those images from the demonstrations, the marches, the leaders… I start to wonder how what is happening today across the United States might look similar.
Then my dear roomate mentioned how difficult she found it to locate any good reports about the mass demonstrations against the way that took place last week all across the US. She pointed to television and other big media who seemingly swept the story under the rug.
Myself I experienced the demonstration through what is quickly becoming the best way to see the world and events unfolding: video blogs.
Therefore on this beautiful weekend of trying to get my Amsterdam life in order, I give you a few links to excellent videos of the demonstrations in places like Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Washington DC.
Full credit and compliments to those excellent citizen reporters, especially as I’m too far away to properly participate in such beautiful actions.