Jan 12

January 9, 2013 – Week #4

Group at WagainstWI was nervous today. Yesterday, Global TV said they wanted to come to my house to film me preparing for my protest and then outside the shipyard with my signs. I didn’t want to be alone. So, I emailed all my peace email lists to ask people to come and join me.

I was so pleased that Lucia, Carolyn, Brian, and my husband Ben came! Sarah stopped for a few minutes while out on her jog and I gave her some of the “Stop Harper’s Crimes: Climate, Militarism, Mining, Palestine” stickers to pass out. It was so nice to have a lot of help to hold up all the signs including the banner “Sink the Ship Strategy! Green Jobs, Not War Jobs.”

Global TV came at 12:15 pm and filmed the protest and interviewed all of us. I could overhear what Carolyn said in her interview as she was helping me hold up the banner, “I’m a retired school teacher. I used to tell my students that democracy is more than voting. It is taking a public stand about the things that you care about.”  Unfortunately her statement got cut in the clip that aired later on the 6 o’clock news, but it is such an important point to remember.

Carolyn’s comment reminded me of what great US historian and social activist Howard Zinn said many years ago, “Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.” We were only five people outside the shipyard, but we were taking direction action against the warships and we got 8 honks of support!

You can watch the Global TV clip here