Rhode Island Anti-War Actions
(Photo: Mike Da Cruz / Providence SDS)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SDS) — Providence SDS organized a week of action, March 18-March 20, to target and protest against different aspects of the Iraq War.
Tuesday night, sixty Providence SDSers took to downtown Providence to Funk the War and rally community support. For two hours, students passed out handbills while dancing to a homemade speaker system powered by a car battery (stylishly located in a shopping cart). High points include the rousing speech given by two Sopehya Lambertsan of Brown SDS (’11) and Kat Poe of RISD SDS (’10) as well as the draping of a war memorial with a banner saying “Resist U.S. Empire.” For the past five years, the tone of the anti-war campaign has been largely somber. In acting in a more light-hearted manner, we hoped to raise awareness and extend ourselves to the community using different tactics.
Amidst Providence’s famous wintry mix, students from Providence SDS joined other Providence anti-war organizations to march through the streets Wednesday afternoon and rally in front of the Rhode Island State House. Protesters numbered two hundred people. Several students represented Providence SDS, delivering two of the speeches, one of which called for a move to more militant direct in opposition to the war and another of which examined the issues of race as they play out in the US occupation of Iraq.
Our culminating event was a direct action targeting the National Guard Recruitment Center. While twenty students chanted and demonstrated on the sidewalk, eight SDSers occupied the center by blocking the door. After a little over an hour, all eight were arrested.
(Photo: Mike Da Cruz / Providence SDS)
We were protesting the role of the military in U.S. society and foreign policy. In shutting the center down, we wanted to disrupt the systemically deceitful and oppressive recruitment process, attack the center’s symbolic position as the public’s interface with the military, and challenge the increasing militarization of our communities. The military is an economically motivated organization, and we will not stand for its racist, classist at homophoic practices that come at the expense of those marginalized in our society. Its fundamental flaws and the place it holds in our society are particularly troublesome as we enter the 6th year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. We oppose the crimes against humanity perpetrated by our government in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are increasingly frustrated with an unresponsive democratic process. We feel that taking the streets is no longer adequate action. For five years, we, anti-war communities, have been writing letters, speaking with congressmen, holding vigils and marching in the streets but the politicians aren’t listening. Their lack of accountability forces us to take more drastic action.
Providence SDS, formed in the summer of 2007, is composed of students from Rhode Island School of Design, Brown, Providence Area High Schools, Rhode Island College and other students and youth from the greater Providence area.
Original post by Carly Devlin and reposted by Radical Blogs
