When the sun came up on October 5th, banners reading “Drive Out the Bush Regime” and calling commuters to the 4pm rally flew above freeways. 14 hours later, youth in Thomas Square danced to the driving beat of Black Square’s “No War” to close the rally.
And what happened in between was anything but “business as usual”.
At the University of Hawai`i students chalked the sidewalks, marched through the campus pushing a makeshift “sound cart”, an effigy of George W, and campus activists agitated on bullhorns. By 2:30 a noisy group of 50 students and faculty began the 3+ mile march to Thomas Square.
Another group of 50 people gathered to march from the Honolulu Convention Center, where a few of the conventioneers left their venue to stand with the protesters carrying brilliant Code Pink banners, signs supporting Lt. Ehren Watada, Suzanne Swift and all GI Resisters, blue earth flags, and WCW placards.
At the same time a group of scientists, mainly from the University of Hawai`i’s Kewalo Marine Laboratory, began their own march with a lead banner reading “Scientists Rally Against President Bush”. And in front of Hawai`i Pacific University, a private university in downtown Honolulu, students drummed and called other students to join them in their march.
Each route was on one of the city’s main traffic arteries and passed shopping centers, tourist areas, the downtown business district, and neighborhood stores. Motorists honked and raised their shakas while customers and shopkeepers came out to watch – many clapping or nodding in agreement. And as each contingent entered Thomas Square they were greeted by the drum beats of Jammerek (an awesome African drumming group) and the applause of an awaiting crowd.
About 400 people joined a rally. More than half were under 30. They came from many different beliefs and views. They were teens and octogenarians. They had different cultural backgrounds and were focused on different concerns, but were all united around the necessity to drive out the Bush regime.
The rally itself featured an incredibly diverse and powerful line-up of speakers, poets and musicians. Eric Seitz (attorney for Lt. Ehren Watada) began with a greeting from Lt. Ehren Watada given to him that morning, re-stating his determination to continue his fight against the Bush Regime’s illegal war. Rev. Neil McPherson called on the religious community to oppose the Bush Regime and unite around a faith that was based on peace and justice. Dr. Michael Hadfield, a Professor of Zoology, denounced the regime’s attacks on science and urged everyone to join the effort to drive Bush out. Annelle Amaral of Planned Parenthood spoke powerfully against attacks on choice. The reading of the World Can’t Wait Steering Committee statement; Professor Laura Lyons against torture; Professor Ruth Hsu on the fascist road this country is on; Keli`i Collier on the struggle against U.S. imperialism in the occupied nation of Hawai`i; a message from the Revolutionary Communist Party USA; UH students representing AnakBayan, and others.
One high point in the rally was when three vets of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an active duty GI came to the stage, each exposing different aspects of the war crimes being committed. Each spoke with a different voice, but their moving testimony was a living example of the power of voices of GI’s in the struggle against the Bush regime.
As the rally continued, the “your government” statements in the Call came alive, as each speaker wove in their part of the tapestry of what’s happening under the Bush Regime. Spontaneously, members of the audience picked up bright green “your government” banners from the back and carried them to the front to stand behind speakers focused on the particular statement. And in spite of the seriousness of the current fascist road being exposed, the essence of each of the statements was a strong call to come together to fight for a different future, to get over our differences and stand together for a better world.
Throughout the afternoon poets and musicians took the stage – well-known folk singers and distinctly Hawaiian, reggae youth and punk – including a band that played a powerful song inspired by Craig Murray’s experiences in Uzbekistan.
What happened at the rally can’t be described by the particular speakers, or by the poets, or by the musicians. What happened was a coming together of the people in a way that really brought to life the Call of the World Can’t Wait movement. Activists at the World Can’t Wait table spent the day in discussion and debate about the possibility of driving out the Bush Regime, and how they could be part of it. About 75 new people signed up for the local newsletter, and some said they”d be at the Thursday evening meeting. Since October 5th there have been offers from people to help organize the proposed teach-ins over the next period, e-mail messages of support and inquiries from people who haven’t connected with us before, and even a letter to the editor from someone we don’t yet know who attended the rally and challenged others to step forward.
The day was covered on the evening news by several national TV affiliates; a front page picture appeared in one of the mainstream newspapers the following day.