My Experience at the TABD Protest
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
I haven't had much time for journals lately, but this is long enough to more than make up for that!
For the past few weeks I have been preparing for the protest against the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The TABD is a World Trade Organization-affiliated program, which consists of an annual meeting of the CEO's of large corporations from the United States and the European Union, including Ford Motor Company, Proctor and Gamble, Pfizer, Chiquita Banana, and more. The purpose of these meetings are to "liberalize trade". What this means is removing barriers to free trade, including minimum wage laws, environmental standards, labor unions, and pretty much anything that gives rights to the working class.
They are a self governing body, and they have the support of the US and EU governments, because they are "good for the economy". This is a phenomenon rooted in larger organizations such as the WTO, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They are responsible for the spreading and worsening of sweatshop labor and corporate environmental destruction. This process of "liberalizing trade" is often known by the euthanasia "harmonization". Harmonization means lowering the standards of all parties involved to the lowest level acceptable to the group. Under harmonization, if we were to let China into the WTO, (something that might happen soon), it would mean the US and EU would reduce their already questionable human rights standards to make them acceptable to a country whose response to peaceful protests is mass murder by tanks. It's a race to the bottom that is bad for everyone except corporate bigwigs and career stockholders. Meanwhile, rainforests are being cut down at a rate that defies human comprehension, and children are working 16 hours a day under slave conditions for 10 cents an hour.
An awakening was inevitable, and it finally happened last year in Seattle. The largest protest in the U.S. since the end of the Vietnam War marked the dawn of the new social movement. More protests followed, in Washington DC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, California, and now in Cincinnati, Ohio. With each step of the way the protestors have become more organized, more peaceful, more united in their goals, and all along the way, they picked up newcomers. I am one of the newcomers. This is my story:
I learned about a month ago that the TABD was meeting in Cincy this year, and that there was a caravan going there. I had recently joined several activist groups, including Amnesty International and Students for Eliminating Environmental Destruction (SEED), and I decided it was time for me to experience my first protest. People interested started meeting a week before, forming tight knit affinity groups, discussing what was and wasn't acceptable behavior, and planning for all scenarios. Organizers were very pleased at the level of planning in comparison to some of the previous protests. I became part of the Insane Falaffle Gang (IFG) affinity group, named after the meal we had together when we first met up to decide if we were compatible.
On Thursday, November 16th we headed down to Cincinnati. There were about 50 of us in the caravan, all from Kent State and Akron Universities. When we arrived we had a little trouble finding the home that was hosting us, but we finally found it. The whole neighborhood was so deteriorated. Old buildings that must have been beautiful at one time were reduced to filthy slums, covered in graffiti. The streets were lined with garbage and patrolled by drug dealers and prostitutes. Just across the river I could see the shining skyscrapers in the business district. Not too far away was the Omni-Nederland Hotel, a luxurious resort where the TABD was staying. Never before did I see so clearly the gap between rich and poor, and from that point on I knew why I had come. Our host was extremely generous, and she pretty much let us take over the apartment for the weekend.
That night I slept in a medium sized bedroom with about 15 people and at least one cat (there were rumors of a second one hiding somewhere in the room) which I was very allergic to. I managed to get some sleep anyway, and in the morning, we got ready and headed off. We stopped at a special building where we turned in emergency forms in case we were arrested. Then we walked to the convergence point where all the protestors were gathering to begin the march. Several bands and artists warmed us up and then we began the march through the city. There were about 3,000 of us, with signs, drums, banners, etc. We were chanting things like “T-A-B-D does not spell democracy!” and “People united will never be divided!”
I had never participated in anything like this before, and it was very emotional for me. Normally I am surrounded by apathetic people who don’t seem to care about anything that they can’t visibly see the effects of on their own lives. For once in my life, I was surrounded by people who gave a damn, people who had strong convictions, and acted on them. I can’t tell you how inspiring that was.
We finally stopped at the rally point. Some people from my group went off to the side to perform a street theatre act about the TABD and people power. Meanwhile we listened to several speakers from different walks of life as they rallied us into massive cheers. [paraphrasing] “Some people complain that we’re always protesting a different issue every time,” said one speaker. “Damn right, we have a lot of things to be upset about!”
There were several musical performances. The most memorable was by a group called the Black Bloc. They are protestors who wear all black and cover their faces with black bandanas, to represent the faceless people of the world who are being oppressed. A group of them were announced as the “New Kids on the Black Bloc” and they sang a parody of The New Kid’s on the Block’s hit song, “The Right Stuff”. I find it amazing how successful the media has been in villianifying a group of people that sang on stage “No-no-no-no-No WTO! No no no no! The Wrong Stuff!” complete with synchronized dancing.
After the rally it was time for the march back. Up until this point the protest had been completely legal and completely peaceful. But a massive blockade of mounted police in full riot gear brandishing guns and tear gas grenades, proved to provoke the crowd. The people in the front lifted up a road block and continued to march with it while the crowd angrily chanted “Who’s streets? Our streets!” My group decided to split in two, the people who wanted to continue marching and the people who wanted to get out. I was a support person so I couldn’t risk arrest, although I wished I could have stuck around.
My half of the group dispersed and tried to reach safety. We soon realized that a small minority of the marchers were engaging in minor vandalism (like smashing traffic cones) and that the cops were getting mad. All protestors were subject to arbitrary arrest at this point. Police began converging from around the corners. There was a large group of protestors below the bridge we were on that were trying to get away but were actually headed right toward the cops. We shouted down to warn them, and tried contacting other groups on our radio.
This is when the police helicopter above us started to follow us. I think they were under the impression that we were organizing some action. We started to run away, and ended up crossing the bridge into Kentucky (which begins on the border of Cincinatti). Once we crossed the state line we were pretty much safe from the cops, but the damn helicopter still kept following us. We ducked into a café until it was safe to go back. Then we took a cab to our meeting spot, and found the others in our group. One of them was tear gassed and two were nearly arrested, but everyone was ok.
As it turned out, only around 10 people in all were arrested that day, and only 3 were charged with rioting. Property destruction was minimal. It looked like we had managed to keep it pretty peaceful after all. I returned home that night with 3 others from our group. Most people stayed for Saturday’s pig parade (Cincy is called the home of the flying pigs, so they were going to make fun of the corporate CEO “pigs” with a parade of balloon pigs). But I had had enough for one weekend, and I wasn’t too keen on another night of sneezing from cat dander, so I decided to head back.
All in all, it was a very inspiring and eye opening experience. Most of the corporate controlled media either ignored it completely or made it look like a full blown riot, but if we changed the view of just one person it was all worth it. This is just one step in a road of demonstrations that one day will be remembered as the social movement of the early 21st century. We have no Martin Luther King to lead us, but we have a deep determination that can never be extinguished. The fire is lit, now it is time to spread it until the whole rotting structure of oppression burns to the ground. And I am very proud to be a part of it.
For the past few weeks I have been preparing for the protest against the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The TABD is a World Trade Organization-affiliated program, which consists of an annual meeting of the CEO's of large corporations from the United States and the European Union, including Ford Motor Company, Proctor and Gamble, Pfizer, Chiquita Banana, and more. The purpose of these meetings are to "liberalize trade". What this means is removing barriers to free trade, including minimum wage laws, environmental standards, labor unions, and pretty much anything that gives rights to the working class.
They are a self governing body, and they have the support of the US and EU governments, because they are "good for the economy". This is a phenomenon rooted in larger organizations such as the WTO, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They are responsible for the spreading and worsening of sweatshop labor and corporate environmental destruction. This process of "liberalizing trade" is often known by the euthanasia "harmonization". Harmonization means lowering the standards of all parties involved to the lowest level acceptable to the group. Under harmonization, if we were to let China into the WTO, (something that might happen soon), it would mean the US and EU would reduce their already questionable human rights standards to make them acceptable to a country whose response to peaceful protests is mass murder by tanks. It's a race to the bottom that is bad for everyone except corporate bigwigs and career stockholders. Meanwhile, rainforests are being cut down at a rate that defies human comprehension, and children are working 16 hours a day under slave conditions for 10 cents an hour.
An awakening was inevitable, and it finally happened last year in Seattle. The largest protest in the U.S. since the end of the Vietnam War marked the dawn of the new social movement. More protests followed, in Washington DC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, California, and now in Cincinnati, Ohio. With each step of the way the protestors have become more organized, more peaceful, more united in their goals, and all along the way, they picked up newcomers. I am one of the newcomers. This is my story:
I learned about a month ago that the TABD was meeting in Cincy this year, and that there was a caravan going there. I had recently joined several activist groups, including Amnesty International and Students for Eliminating Environmental Destruction (SEED), and I decided it was time for me to experience my first protest. People interested started meeting a week before, forming tight knit affinity groups, discussing what was and wasn't acceptable behavior, and planning for all scenarios. Organizers were very pleased at the level of planning in comparison to some of the previous protests. I became part of the Insane Falaffle Gang (IFG) affinity group, named after the meal we had together when we first met up to decide if we were compatible.
On Thursday, November 16th we headed down to Cincinnati. There were about 50 of us in the caravan, all from Kent State and Akron Universities. When we arrived we had a little trouble finding the home that was hosting us, but we finally found it. The whole neighborhood was so deteriorated. Old buildings that must have been beautiful at one time were reduced to filthy slums, covered in graffiti. The streets were lined with garbage and patrolled by drug dealers and prostitutes. Just across the river I could see the shining skyscrapers in the business district. Not too far away was the Omni-Nederland Hotel, a luxurious resort where the TABD was staying. Never before did I see so clearly the gap between rich and poor, and from that point on I knew why I had come. Our host was extremely generous, and she pretty much let us take over the apartment for the weekend.
That night I slept in a medium sized bedroom with about 15 people and at least one cat (there were rumors of a second one hiding somewhere in the room) which I was very allergic to. I managed to get some sleep anyway, and in the morning, we got ready and headed off. We stopped at a special building where we turned in emergency forms in case we were arrested. Then we walked to the convergence point where all the protestors were gathering to begin the march. Several bands and artists warmed us up and then we began the march through the city. There were about 3,000 of us, with signs, drums, banners, etc. We were chanting things like “T-A-B-D does not spell democracy!” and “People united will never be divided!”
I had never participated in anything like this before, and it was very emotional for me. Normally I am surrounded by apathetic people who don’t seem to care about anything that they can’t visibly see the effects of on their own lives. For once in my life, I was surrounded by people who gave a damn, people who had strong convictions, and acted on them. I can’t tell you how inspiring that was.
We finally stopped at the rally point. Some people from my group went off to the side to perform a street theatre act about the TABD and people power. Meanwhile we listened to several speakers from different walks of life as they rallied us into massive cheers. [paraphrasing] “Some people complain that we’re always protesting a different issue every time,” said one speaker. “Damn right, we have a lot of things to be upset about!”
There were several musical performances. The most memorable was by a group called the Black Bloc. They are protestors who wear all black and cover their faces with black bandanas, to represent the faceless people of the world who are being oppressed. A group of them were announced as the “New Kids on the Black Bloc” and they sang a parody of The New Kid’s on the Block’s hit song, “The Right Stuff”. I find it amazing how successful the media has been in villianifying a group of people that sang on stage “No-no-no-no-No WTO! No no no no! The Wrong Stuff!” complete with synchronized dancing.
After the rally it was time for the march back. Up until this point the protest had been completely legal and completely peaceful. But a massive blockade of mounted police in full riot gear brandishing guns and tear gas grenades, proved to provoke the crowd. The people in the front lifted up a road block and continued to march with it while the crowd angrily chanted “Who’s streets? Our streets!” My group decided to split in two, the people who wanted to continue marching and the people who wanted to get out. I was a support person so I couldn’t risk arrest, although I wished I could have stuck around.
My half of the group dispersed and tried to reach safety. We soon realized that a small minority of the marchers were engaging in minor vandalism (like smashing traffic cones) and that the cops were getting mad. All protestors were subject to arbitrary arrest at this point. Police began converging from around the corners. There was a large group of protestors below the bridge we were on that were trying to get away but were actually headed right toward the cops. We shouted down to warn them, and tried contacting other groups on our radio.
This is when the police helicopter above us started to follow us. I think they were under the impression that we were organizing some action. We started to run away, and ended up crossing the bridge into Kentucky (which begins on the border of Cincinatti). Once we crossed the state line we were pretty much safe from the cops, but the damn helicopter still kept following us. We ducked into a café until it was safe to go back. Then we took a cab to our meeting spot, and found the others in our group. One of them was tear gassed and two were nearly arrested, but everyone was ok.
As it turned out, only around 10 people in all were arrested that day, and only 3 were charged with rioting. Property destruction was minimal. It looked like we had managed to keep it pretty peaceful after all. I returned home that night with 3 others from our group. Most people stayed for Saturday’s pig parade (Cincy is called the home of the flying pigs, so they were going to make fun of the corporate CEO “pigs” with a parade of balloon pigs). But I had had enough for one weekend, and I wasn’t too keen on another night of sneezing from cat dander, so I decided to head back.
All in all, it was a very inspiring and eye opening experience. Most of the corporate controlled media either ignored it completely or made it look like a full blown riot, but if we changed the view of just one person it was all worth it. This is just one step in a road of demonstrations that one day will be remembered as the social movement of the early 21st century. We have no Martin Luther King to lead us, but we have a deep determination that can never be extinguished. The fire is lit, now it is time to spread it until the whole rotting structure of oppression burns to the ground. And I am very proud to be a part of it.
