At 5:00 pm on the evening of Thursday,
July 10th people started to gather on the corner of 42nd Street and
Lexington Avenue. We each put a sign or large sticker saying, “No
Attack on Iran” onto our clothing, even if we were already wearing
T-shirts calling for impeachment or an end to the war in Iraq. Excitement
mounted as more and more people arrived and passersby looked, stopped,
asked questions and, in some cases, joined in.
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San Francisco July 8 Grand Central July 10: |
At 5:25, we entered Grand Central Station.
Over 150 of us walked around the main area. Then at exactly 5:40, as marked by the clocks in the center of
the station, we froze, like statues, wherever we were. We stayed that
way, completely frozen, until 5:45. People in the station stopped and
stared and took pictures. At exactly 5:45 we broke into a loud, echoing,
and long chant of “No Attack on Iran.” Commuters all around us joined
in. We left with a surge of enthusiasm that many agreed hadn’t been
felt at a demonstration for a long time.
This successful action, initiated by World Can’t Wait, became a joint
effort of many organizations with Activists Response Team, United for
Peace and Justice, Code Pink and Peace Action joining in mobilizing
for this. Granny Peace Brigade, StopWarOnIran.org and Theater Against War were there. In fact,
we are still learning of groups that spread the word to their email
lists and came.
Freeze at Grand Central Station:
For most who came, this was their first taste of such creative “theatrical”
political action, but won’t be their last. Many expressed hope that
this action would spark many more types of creative and determined actions
against a possible attack on Iran. In that spirit, plans were announced
at the end of the action to do this creative and thrilling action again
— on Monday, July 21st at Manhattan’s Pennsylvania Station.
Those who want to participate should
email wcwfreeze@gmail.com to sign up.
Freeze at Penn Station:
And if you want to have a big fire, you’ve got to have the right kind of tinder which can spark quickly and transform into a raging fire of active mobilization and constructive action.
In order to mobilize people, they’ve got to be motivated, and in order to motivate them, their focus and vision must go beyond the mind-set of “what’s in it for me?”. If you’re going make an attempt to mobilize and motivate people whose sense of self-interest lies within the narrow confines of the present moment, part of any mobilization effort is to get people to go beyond the concerns and desires of the present moment and encourage them to join in the work to build a future which they will not immediately witness.
Getting people to stop thinking about “what’s in it for them”, and to believe in the future, even though they will not immediately see the results of their mobilization efforts, will be a challenge, to be sure, but it can be done.
Instead of just trying to ignite a spark, why don’t you actually do something? Don’t just freeze, lock down. Don’t just chant, mobilize people with a battle plan for the future. Excitement may be just mental masturbation.
Amazing, we should try to have an event in as many places as we can all across the country. It would give everyone a chance to demonstrate. 🙂
Nice turn out! Documented some of this as their was no press coverage – BF2inNYC