portland independent media center  
images audio video
newswire article announcements portland metro

community building


"Change Your Ways, Change Them Now, Change Your Ways, Change Them Now!"
umm, no humor, no rhyming, repetitive ... 11.Nov.2004 02:41


... and sounds pedantic without having a specific meaning. People will wonder, change WHAT ways, and change them to WHAT. There are, I think, enough sucky chants out there. Now trying to think of a stolen election chant, or a petroleum consumption chant.

an invitation 11.Nov.2004 04:26

I, Cascadian

One of the most amazing things I have seen in various peoples movements was when the police and military drop their positions as state defenders to shift as part of the people. That amazing moment when those hired to defend the people realize they are ponds of the elite. That paradigm shift when a soldier realizs that all that training was to be for the people and has been used against the people for a very few greedy men (and women). We have witnessed this during the Velvet Revolutions of Eastern Europe. So my suggestion is we find common or shared interests as community members and speak to our brothers and sisters in uniform. The fascist have dressed them up in black armour to give them the illusion that they are separate from us. The illusion of black clad soldiers. Part of this illusion is the illusion of the mind. The Fascist clad them in illusions that seperate them from the people. The illusion paints them as non human defenders of order. "They" are not... they are our neighbors and even family members. They are human with feelings, loves, fears and memories like all of us. We all need to dispell this illusion that the "wizard of OZ" has protrayed as he cowards behind the curtains. We need to see that all of us are human. Appeal to their humanity. Talk of their children, of their neighbors, of their family. because we are those things. We are those neighbors and family members. Talk of their troubles and fears. I request we all do our homework and learn of eachother. What union concerns they have or what troubles them in our society? What do they think of veteran benfit cuts? What do they think of city budget cuts? Budget cuts for their children's schools? Of hire gas prices? Of assault guns being sold again thanks to Mr Bush. What of armour piercing bullets? How do they feel that overtime pay for protecting leaders who rob the people? Overtime pay that does not go to schools, parks, roads, social programs and other emergency services? Money that would have gone to service that would have made their lives easier. Invite them to lay down their weapons and shields and join us as brothers and sisters. Under the facade of those Fascist uniforms they are people.. so invite them back into the people. Invite them to shed the costumes and tools of the fascists and join us. Offer them flowers and praise for serving the public, for joining the public. Invite them to join our protest against election fraud. Invite them to join us in our support of our loved ones forced to fight injust holy wars for the fascist elite. Appeal ot their humanity. I have watched these officers and I see beyond their costumes. They are scared and just pumped up with adrenaline ... well offer them to join. Let them carry with us the banners and signs showing solidarity of the people. Next time you carry a sign to a protest on its flip side have statements that would concern the officers! Shout out for their protection too. They are trained to enforce law.. so show them where Mr Bush and Mr Cheney have broken the law. Invite the police into a dialogue and find common ground. Our enemy is not the police. The enemy are those that stoled democracy. Those that stoled Freedom. Those that stoled the lives of our sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, loved one and friends in wars for oil, greed and ego of a few meglomaniacs.

Create chants that ask them to join us! Chant of our common intersts! Chant an invitation to return to the people! Do not lets the fascist divide our people! The fascists have divided and conquered us too long. And when you see an officer greet them and thank them for serving the community. If you see them in a cafe say "hello" and "thank you for being there".

For those officers reading this. I know who you are and you know me. We are friends. We are family. We are strangers in a community that is shared. How many times have we talked? You see me everyday. I am the child that points at the horse you ride. I am the old man who looks at the police dog in your car which looks like my old dog. I am the father who dreamt of riding the motor cycle you ride. I am the mother who wanted to take community college classes in law enforcement. I am the little boy who wants to be a policeman. I am the neighbor who was glad you were their for me. I am the college kid who turned to you for help. I am the son who spoke to you after our house was broken into. I am the old woman that was concerned for my granddaughter. I am the veteran that looks to you with admiration of what I wanted to be before the war. I am the drug user lost because of social crisis. I am the small girl that dreams of being an officer. I am the homeless whose only luck seems to be bad luck. I am the runaway who fears being returned to abusive parents. I am the child who misses my father who has been sent to war. I am the store owner who can barely support my children through college. I am your sister. I am your brother. I am your neighbor's kid. I am your high school friend. I am the people you defend. When you line up in your blockade remember us. We will defend and honour you. The elite will not. Do you think Mr Bush really cared for those firemen and other rescue workers that breathed in the pollutates ofter 9/11? Or do you know like the rest of us that he is a politician looking only to inflate his ego. The fascists will use you like cannon fodder as they steal from your own family. You are the people so join us as our brothers and sisters.

hey ho 11.Nov.2004 10:40

king friday

I have only this to say: hey hey, ho ho, "hey hey ho ho" has got to go.
can that ridiculous rhyming game finally be retired?

k friday 11.Nov.2004 11:18


Now that there is a Ho CHi Minh City we don't need Hey Hey, Ho Ho

don't count on it working 11.Nov.2004 12:30

new yorker

In New York during the Republican Convention, after the cops let about 3,000 people march across Manhattan without a permit and the march went off totally peaceful, with no police harassment, protesters started chanting "Give the Cops a Raise."
A few blocks later, plainclothes cops started ramming motorscooters into the crowd.

or 11.Nov.2004 13:58


abandon chanting, abandon large ineffective public protests. Slash tires. Glue locks. Mess with the way things work.

The FBI is going to come to my house for this... crap.

(This all hypothetical, and I do not incourage anyone to actualy do the above mentioned activities)

Re: don't count on it working 11.Nov.2004 15:21

I, Cascadian

this must happen before any protest. We need to do our homework. And offering more money is not the idea. Address their issues.