May Day 2008 in Olympia Washington went down with a bang when a (fractional) faction of the protest turned violent. Members of the "Black Bloc" threw rocks at several windows on at least two different bank buildings. Bank employees and customers were inside the buildings when this happened.

I was there - the whole afternoon. Up until the broken windows, the protests were peaceful and nonviolent. Although some of the speeches made me uncomfortable, and some of the speakers made statements that I certainly wasn't in complete agreement with, I felt enough solidarity to stick with the protest even after the Capitol Building was defaced with graffiti.

In fact, I wasn't really uncomfortable with the demeanor of the protest (besides the graffiti on the Capitol Building) until about 10 minutes prior to the first rock throwing incident. I noticed feelings of discomfort in regard to the tone of the protest when a certain vocal group (identity unknown to me) decided to lead the march down a one-way street directionally opposed to the flow of traffic. This move seemed somewhat unsafe, and it also seemed antagonistic toward drivers on 4th Ave, who had varying degrees of understanding about, and appreciation for, the protesters who were marching. I would have felt more comfortable and would have preferred, for example, to take State Ave. West, instead of marching in opposition to the one-way flow of traffic, and then to do a loop back toward the East on 4th Ave. My discomfort makes me curious; I wonder if anyone else was made uncomfortable by this decision to march against the flow of traffic. I was also additionally uncomfortable with the antagonistic and hostile chanting (yelling) of the slogan "Tear it down". Does that slogan possibly scare people and does it turn people off to the movement?

Here are a few videos and photos from yesterday's May Day Events:

In case the above video player doesn't work, here's a link.

link to photoset

There were 13 of us gathered at the Northwest corner of Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia, Washington yesterday in order to bear vigilant witness to the crimes and human rights abuses that are being committed by members of the Government of the USA.

Participants gathered, also, to bear a message of hope and peace, that the problems of the world, the violence and ecological/environmental degradation, the greed and exploitation, etc. - these problems and others - can be solved. There is a better way.

Father Ray Bourgeois is a Roman Catholic Priest and the founder of the human rights organization, School of Americas Watch [4/10/2008 update: SOA Watch website currently blocked, apparently by Google]. You have several opportunities to visit with Father Bourgeois today, April 10th, in Olympia.
From the SOA Watch website:

SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas, under whatever name it is called, through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work.

On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her teenage daughter were massacred in El Salvador. A U.S. Congressional Task Force reported that those responsible were trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

In 1990 SOA Watch began in a tiny apartment outside the main gate of Ft. Benning. While starting with a small group, SOA Watch quickly drew upon the knowledge and experience of many in the U.S. who had worked with the people of Latin America in the 1970's and 80's.

Marylea and I were blessed yesterday to be invited to a meeting to discuss organizing, coordinating, planning events for the weekend of March 16th.

March 16th will be five years since Rachel Corrie's passing and the group would like to keep an underlying theme of remembering Rachel for all the events that weekend.  The Choral Society already has their War and Hope concert planned  for Sunday, March 16th at 7 pm. We will approach that group and invite them to openly connect their event with the other events that will be happening and remembering Rachel. 

The Olympia Friends Monthly Meeting - Friends/Quakers - will be welcoming our friend Adrien Niyongabo back to Olympia on that weekend.  We have an event planned for Adrien at the Longhouse at TESC for Sunday.  

Adrien is a survivor of the unimaginable violence in Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s and he currently works with the African Great Lakes Initiative on surviving trauma, alternatives to violence, reintegrating communities where tribal/ethnic violence has riven the communities. 

I recommend the film Hotel Rwanda if you want to know more about what happened in Rwanda and Burundi in the early 1990s and if you can stand the subject matter. I also recommend the Frontline film Ghosts of Rwanda if you want to see a less glamorized version of the story.