Dear WCW community and others who may stumble across my
words,
I would have written sooner, but it has taken me this long
to decompress from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This event, though it is more than that, it“s truly been an experience, has
open my mind to what is possible as well as reinforced just how much work is
still needed.
I think having a table inside of Coachella was extremely
important and an awesome opportunity, so much thanks goes to those who put this
together and enabled WCW to have a position to reach so many young people. We talked to so many young people it“s mind boggling. I would
say that 90-95% of the time at the table was spent talking to someone about
World Can“t Wait. There was not that much down time. I believe that young people are
desperate. We get pissed off at what is
going on in the world, yet we cannot find an outlet to put that energy and use
it for good. The whole Rage tent, where
Axis of Justice, Libros Revolucion, and World Can“t Wait were set up, was important because it gave an outlet for
the thousands upon thousands of young people who are looking for something more
than what“s been offered to
them.
The whole weekend is like a blur with moments of clarity
that spring up and make the 100+ temperatures and dehydration seem worth
it. I will mention a few.
Day 1
After getting lost in the Gobi Stage where Amy Winehouse and
Julieta Venegas were playing, I finally found the WCW table. It was crazy!
There were all these people around and orange bandanas getting out to
the people. I just remember talking to
people about where they were from, what was things like politically for them
and just listening. Two young women, one
of whom I lent my sun block/insect repellant, were very responsive to our
message of driving Bush out of office before 2008. They have a weekly anti-war protest that they
are going to take some calls to.
I found that the kids who signed up at our table that first
night were saying the same things that I had heard before. Mainly, how in the world are we going to do
all that we have set out to do. I think
that was the most popular question that came up and I think that it“s important. I always say that it will be mass political
action. Like the kind of action seen
last year with the immigrant rights struggle around the Sensenbrenner bill,
like the kind of actions that, throughout history, has been enacted to cause
any change in this country or around the world.
Usually, whenever I would say that, they would nod their heads in
silence or simple agreement. More conversation is needed with the people we do
talk to. We should ask them how they
think we can drive out the Bush regime before 2008 and figure these things out
together.
Another conversation that stood out was with this young man
who was arguing the position that we could not leave Iraq because it would be
chaos. His friend, a young woman who was
standing next to him told him, in unison with myself and some other people told
him that it“s chaos now. He actually agreed that Bush needs to be
impeached, but was looking at the situation that if the troops leave then the
country would fall apart along with the whole middle east. I told him that we can“t predict the future and that it“s possible that there could be more chaos if US troops
leave. It“s also possible that Iraqis would be able to fix their own
country eventually, but they can“t
do that with the US
occupying Iraq. I told him that what I do know for sure is
that there are war crimes and crimes against humanity that are being committed
by George Bush and soldiers in Iraq. And what happened to Abeer Hamza, who was
raped in one room while her parents and little sister were shot and killed in
another, and then she herself was shot and set on fire, is reason enough to
stop this war now and hold everyone, including George Bush accountable.
Impeachment is the least we should do.
He paused and then said that, yes, that was all bad, but the
troops can“t just leave. He then noticed the time, and rushed off to
see a band play. His friend and I
exchanged glances and we continued to talk for a few minutes more.
Day 2
It“s hot
and my back hurts! For some reason, I
didn“t equate camping with
Coachella. Sometimes I can be a bit
slow, but there was a disconnect between being told to bring a tent and
actually using it. However, I vowed not
to complain. Well, at least not so
much. This was an awesome opportunity
that I was given and I wanted to make sure to get our message out as best as I
could. Hey, at least I“m honest!
We got our supply of t-shirts today. They fucking rock! They are white with red and black ink with a
picture of Bush and Cheney with “War
Criminals“ emblazoned across
the top. At first, I was worried that
people may not buy any because they were going out slowly, but they became a
huge hit. Not quite as huge a hit as the
bandanas. Everyone loved them. People would come to the table and ask, “Is this were we can get those “Drive Out the Bush Regime“ bandanas?“ I think that was partly
because of the message and also, because they came in handy with the amount of
sweat produced during the weekend. I
like to think it“s because of
the message though.
Coachella also allowed us to talk with people from all over
the world. Literally. There were quite a bit of Canadians who
wanted to sign the call because of Bush and what the war in Iraq was doing
to their own country. One woman told us
her brother was being sent to fight over there and how their government which
had been liberal was turning more reactionary.
She told us how they were peaceful people and how people are upset over
the whole thing. I told her there are
people who are here fighting against the direction Bush is taking and how they
have to fight there as well.
We were able to meet people from all across this country as
well as London, Sweden,
Australia, the Caribbean and
Japan. A number of those people bought the Bush
Crimes Commission DVD in part to have a clear and concise message of the nature
of Bush“s crimes in order to
tell others about it.
I also met a young woman from Southern
California who was so enthusiastic about World Can“t Wait. She told me her father talks to her all the
time about the great leaders we had in this country, Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X,
Cesar Chavez who did great things in this country, but were cut down before
their time. She also said how today we
are in need of such leaders. I told her
that there is this movement that exists because of the real need to drive out
the Bush regime and in part because of the people who have sacrificed to spread
this message. We gave her an organizers
packet and I told her that we have to be the leaders. There are quite a bit of young people who
know some of what is going on in the world but that they don“t know where to place their
energies. That it takes those of us who
do know to be bold and speak the truth and take stands for them to see that it
is okay for them to do the same. She was
so great and I was glad to have met her.
Another guy I spoke to was standing afar, just looking and
checking things out. I motioned for him
to come closer and he brought up the fact that there are not enough young
people involved. That a lot of his
friends are into their i-pods and not protesting and joining the movement. I told him he was correct and what ideas did
he have to change this. He didn“t have a suggestion and I told him
that I think we need to be more bold and creative and fun. Why would anyone, young people included, want
to be a part of something that was boring and uninspiring? He totally agreed and decided to get a
bandana and seemed enthusiastic when I added that those of who know about the
crimes of the Bush regime have to be the ones that are going to pull our
generation in.
A group of us decided to go and see Regina Spektor who was
performing on the main stage in the afternoon.
She was great but about 30 minutes into her set, a couple of us
left. Somehow, I thought that I would be
cool, sitting in the middle of the blazing sun with no shade. I was wrong.
It took me about 3-4 hours to recover from that. Just in time to dance along to the Red Hot
Chili Peppers who were the headliners that night.
Day 3
After that great experience of learning what the heat can do
to you from the Regina Spektor show, I decided that I was going to stay at the
WCW table, i.e. shade, for most of the day.
It was good to talk to more people and to have a young girl ask if she
can start a chapter at her high school. But
of course! We gave her an organizers
packet as well.
I think by the last day of us being at Coachella, most
people knew who we were and were taking stacks of calls and totally getting the
bandanas and t-shirts to take back home.
Since this was the day that Rage Against the Machine was playing, we had
a different crowd than the other days.
The people may have been more political, but there is a difference
between being aware and taking action.
There were some great bands playing that day but I decided
to conserve my energy for the Rage show.
I did manage to go and see Lily Allen with a new friend from Berkeley
and Sanford, from Canada. He taught us a phrase in sign language which
I will not share the details of, and I told him about the internment of
so-called illegal immigrant families at the Hutto facility in Texas.
He was shocked especially when I told him that there was a family there
from Canada
whose interview I heard on Democracy Now!
I told him that we truly can compare the Bush regime to Hitler now that
we have the existence of concentration style camps in this country. He was amazed that this was happening and
vowed to look this up.
Pretty much my whole experience of Coachella can be equaled
with one band and that is Rage Against the Machine. I can“t come up with just one adjective to describe them. I have overused awesome and they go way
beyond cool. For those who were fans
before Coachella, they just re-ignited the passion that has been dormant for
the last seven years since Rage last played together. For those of us who were new to Rage, mind
blowing is the term that comes to mind because they mix music and politics and
they do it extremely well.
Throughout this weekend, I kept thinking to myself, there is
something missing. There is a spirit, if
you will, of youthful rebellion and hope that is not here in the numbers it
needs to be. I recall that at Woodstock, not that I was
there mind you, but at one point, a group of people just tore the fence down to
get in. Today, we wait at Will Call for
two and a half hours in the sun. Not an
exact comparison, but the point is that young people have to reclaim the spirit
of questioning authority, especially when it has proven to be wrong and dangerous. Rage Against the Machine speaks to this but
more is needed.
I think another difference between Coachella and Woodstock was that the musicians spoke to current events
from on stage at Woodstock
and their songs reflected this. I know
The Roots did a cover of Bob Dylan“s
Master of War at Coachella and that is a good thing, but more is
needed. I think the positive response to
Rage getting back together and playing with the explicit reason to counter the
effects of the Bush regime may inspire other musicians to put their politics
where their music is and maybe this will be the spark that inspires young
people to fight for our own futures. I
know that the authorities are expecting it.
I read that the police were stocked with pellet guns in case the crowd
got hostile. We didn“t, but that doesn“t meant the embers of rebellion
haven“t been flamed.
A Flame,
Jamilah