Re: [Marxism] 300,000 demonstrators, stretching for 10 blocks, in NYC

[Greg Dunkel <gdunkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
...
> Phew, it wasn't as small as I feared it might be!  I bet the NYT will
> give bigger space to the infernal pro-war rally in DC on the 30th.

I was taking pictures for Workers World and Haiti-Progres and so watched
the whole march go past.

"Working Assets" had a preprinted sign saying "Out of Iraq, Into
Darfur."  About 30 people or so were carrying it  -- none of them Black.

Most of the dozen or so I talked to gave some excuse like "We have to do
something." They saw no contradiction between withdrawing US troops from
Iraq/Middle East to send them to Darfur/Africa.  I think that the Bush
gang are going to need more than a demonstration called by right-wing
evangelists and zionists to convince African Americans in the US that
sending troops to the eastern edge of the Sahara is a good idea.

Another point that the NYT missed is the huge labor contingent  --
between 15 and 20 thousand.  IBEW from Illinois must have had 200 people
there, SEIU1199 had hundreds;  Unite/Here, DC37 (AFSCME council for New
York City gov), PSC (AFT local in the City Univ of NY), TWU 100 (whose
president Roger Toussaint just got out of jail)

The political tendencies marching included:  ISO, Progressive Labor
(mostly Black youth), CP (Midwest chapters, Connecticut, NYC), Green
Party.  New SDS and Students against War had a few hundred very militant
and spirited youth at the end of the line of march.

Hope this captures the flavor of the march  -- I am not finished with
the pictures but will let the list know when I get them up.

/greg


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