Taking It To The Streets

By Michael Blanding, AlterNet. Posted January 21, 2005.

While the limousines and marching bands were parading down Pennsylvania Avenue, death filled the streets of Washington on a chilly presidential Inauguration Day. In a half-dozen protests, more than 10,000 activists demonstrated the human cost of the Bush administration’s policies in dramatic and visceral terms. The women’s anti-war group, Code Pink, staged a funeral march from Dupont Circle, complete with a New Orleans-style horn band and cardboard coffins paying homage to the death of civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and other issues.

In a separate march from Malcom X Park, the D.C. Anti-War Network (DAWN) carried dozens of coffins draped in American flags and black fabric to represent the dead from both sides in the Iraq war. The two met in a spirited protest in McPherson Square, blocks from the White House, as some of its members staged a “die-in” in the middle of the street, and others infiltrated the parade route to carry signs directly to Bush’s motorcade.

“You have to take what is being hidden and bring it out into the light,” said Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink. “The war is really about people dying — our troops and the Iraqi people. Bush wants to sweep that under the covers.”

The temperature, at least, was reminiscent of the huge anti-war march two years ago, when an estimated half-million filled the National Mall on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. Yesterday, as then, a biting wind cut through the multiple layers worn by shivering protesters. The tenor, however, of the first major protest since Bush won re-election in November was both more somber and angrier than protests in years past.

Gone, for the most part, were colorful giant puppets and signs with clever puns on Bush and Dick. Instead, the most typical signs struck a defiant note that left little to the imagination. “Fuck Bush” and “Bush: Motherfucker” read the two biggest signs leading the DAWN march in foot-high fluorescent letters. Other signs were only slightly more kind: “He Dances, They Die,” “4 Moron Years,” “Worst President Ever,” and “Mandate, My Ass.”

While hope turned recent protests like those at the Republican National Convention in New York into raucous carnivals of dissent, the cold reality of another four years of Bush has hardened the resolve of those who disagree with his policies. Even the more creative forms of protest were tinged with the macabre. One street theater performance along the parade route depicted the “Abu Ghraib Fraternity,” with actors dressed as Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice and Rush Limbaugh dancing to “Shout” and “Louie, Louie,” while wearing sweatshirts reading “Torture U.”

As in the election, most of the protesters who took part in the demonstrations named the war as their main issue. When domestic and human rights issues were raised as well, it was usually in terms of the money spent on the war instead of more pressing social concerns, such as the sign that said “End the Occupation, not Social Security.”

“When I heard the death toll from the tsunami had reached 150,000, the same number as Iraqi civilians killed, to me it was ironic and sad that our country would respond in two different ways to these tragedies,” said Kristin Marrs, a dancer originally from Iowa.

Despite the lower turnout, the disappointment of losing last November hasn’t dimmed the passion of those who were energized in the lead up to the election. Just as many new activists came out to campaign on behalf of John Kerry last summer, many protesters for the inauguration said they were here for their very first demonstration. Others picked up where they left off last fall.

“I found out about this protest at the RNC,” said Mel Zimmerman, 78, carrying a black coffin down 16th Street on his way to McPherson Square. “Flyers said come on Inauguration Day no matter who wins, Bush or Kerry. I decided right then I was going to come.” Carrying the other side of his coffin was an acquaintance he made while canvassing votes for Kerry in Florida with America Coming Together.

Michael Blanding is a writer and editor for Boston Magazine.

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