UPDATED: Half-Million at DC Protest? [VIDEO]

By Evan Derkacz
Posted on January 28, 2007, Printed on November 27, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers//47321/

On Saturday night, before reading any first-hand accounts of the DC protest, I wrote that, "In NY Times math 'tens of thousands' showed up, which means that anywhere from fifty to five-hundred thousand were there..."

According to a first-hand account from a close friend, the number was closer to 500,000.

Tikkun's Deb Kory wrote:

"The news media got this number from an unofficial, un-named police source..."

And that's the number they led with. Not the 400,000 estimate they received from UFPJ organizers quoted toward the bottom of the story. Not even a range. Not even an average. Kory continued: "We did not gather to protest the surge (though it was certainly one object of our protest); we gathered to protest the immorality of the Iraq War. We came to mourn the hundreds of thousands of lives lost to this meaningless war and to express our fears about being thrust against our will to the very brink of global chaos. We did not come to "march against Congress" as some of the media are claiming; we came to hold our elected officials accountable and to use the leverage we have in this so-called Democracy to try to correct for 5 years of political lunacy. We came to let our elected representatives know that if they press forward with their mandate to end the war, we will be here to support them. We came not only to protest, but to engage in dialogue with our elected officials (we will be "lobbying" on Capitol Hill on Monday). And, yes, we came to ask for a Presidential impeachment."

Danny Schechter, who supports protests as a part of a larger strategy, critiques the peace movement: "I think its kind of important to get this message out to the people through the media, and not just the message that there’s opposition to the war but that there’s a movement opposing it. We need to show activism in action as a way for citizens to try to hold politicians accountable and participate in the process. Did that double message get through?

This approach requires a media strategy--and a challenge to the media— beyond sending out press releases and getting on Pacifica radio outlets.

...

There needs to be some discipline too and a better presentation. Personally I think Dennis Kucinich has a strong message--but he shouldn't be given time on the program just to hype his campaign. That shows no respect for the movement. We need some independent journalists to really analyze this movement's strengths and we[a]knesses, a former peace movement organizer told me. In that sense the numbers issue is not necessarily the only issue even if it does deserve comment. Another criticism I heard was that indy media was not represented with no blogger speaking.

Another analyst spoke to the importance of protests: "the idea of building a movement around an issue -- connecting, mobilizing, feeling part of something bigger, not being alone for those who came from small communities, being encouraged by the hundreds and thousands of allies and colleagues... is a fundamental part of protest marches, especially for young people who go for the first time. And everyone of the marchers is connected to families, friends, co-workers, etc. who hear back. Elected officials do pay attention..."

UPDATE: Bob Herbert, NY Times columnist, adds: You can say what you want about the people opposed to this wretched war in Iraq, try to stereotype them any way you can. But you couldn’t walk among them for more than a few minutes on Saturday without realizing that they love their country as much as anyone ever has. They love it enough to try to save it.

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For more on the savvy new tactics at work, go HERE.

For more videos, go HERE.

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.

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