G20 Protest Recap

So the opportunity to attend the G20 protests here in Pittsburgh was too much for me to avoid, particularly because I didn't have to travel anywhere to take part. I attended both days of protest, the first concocted by the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project a group I suspect is one without any organic connections to Pittsburgh and its activist infrastructure. Its clear like most G20 hosting cities, Pittsburgh received a great deal of anarchist tourism, as we suddenly sprouted a wing of CrimeThinc and a group called Greater Pittsburgh Anarchist Coalition.

Anyway the first day I attended the "illegal march" beginning in my neighborhood (Lawrenceville), in a small park behind a middle school, that intended to head downtown and disrupt the arrival of various G20 dignitaries. Naturally, the police wanted to prevent this possibility at all costs. The city's idiot mayor fearing the worst (and instituting a city-wide campaign of fear-mongering) declared a state of emergency and deputized between 1,000-4,00 police officers to assist with arrests, and freeing up 1,000 beds in the city jail. But thanks to Pittsburgh's counter-intuitive topography and urban planning the large extent of protesters were contained within 2-3 hours without officially reaching the Strip District (the neighborhood between Larryville and downtown). Two friend attended the march with me, neither of which was interested in being arrested or brutalized by the police, and neither of which had ever attended a protest before let alone an illegal one, thus I had to shepherd my friends around safely. Here is some footage of the beginning of the march in Arsenal Park, which was apparently 1,000 strong:



Protesters clashed with police on several times in this march, in some cases attempting to build barricades against the police who responded with "sonic weaponry" and OC (apparently this is not tear gas). General disorganization, a lack of communication between parts of the march, and the lack of direction for the march's leadership produced some frustrating and ineffective results. Protesters were summarily corralled, gassed, beaten, and in some cases arrested. Community member response was clearly divided between African-Americans often offering food, support, bathrooms, and waving fists in the air whereas white male community respondents tended to see us as commies (which some of us were) and demanded that we "go get a job."

Apparently, simultaneous actions (and later that night) were occurring in Oakland (the university centered part of Pittsburgh) with much more arbitrary arrests, and police brutality in general. I missed most of this, but here is some video of police trapping University of Pittsburgh students in a stairwell and gassing them.



Here is another of a woman shoved twice by police officers and when she responds is promptly struck twice and arrested:



Also, police photo op with arrested student:



The news footage from our local stations revealed the self-contradicting and and low states of journalism and the anchors from various stations continued to frantically sell the city to uninterested G20 delegates over footage of police abuse.

The official march was as usual boring and easily contained by the rhetoric of free speech and the overall lack of media coverage despite the 10,000 mark, I believe, for march attendees. Highlights included a moment when protesters flicked off Fox News cameras chanting "Fuck Fox News" and the vegetarian tacos provided free of charge by Just Seeds.

Here is the Pitt Student's critique of the police response during the protests.

Overall I think the results of the protests are telling for the reasons Pittsburgh was chosen as the site of the G20 Summit: not because it is the model post-industrial city, but because its streets are difficult to know and navigate/provide ample opportunity of contain unrest, because the police force has few scruples about using unnecessary force to achieve their goals, and because this is not a major metropolis and thus lacks the necessary base for a large protest.

Dick-copter

This is an excellent follow up to the video I previously posted. An excellent protest tactic.

1 Solution for Overpopulation

As we all know, Malthus was wrong.

Semester Anticipation, Dread.

The approaching semester and the persistent economic crisis have pushed some residents to rob arriving University students at gun-point. There has always been some animosity directed at the many schools here by local residents at the Universities that do not pay taxes in a city that is bankrupt, even as they swallow up more and more local property.

My own preparation for the upcoming semester is filled with some excitement but mostly dread. My exam committee was mostly on vacation whilst I submitted my first petition on-line (in early July) and I have only received comments back from my advisor (albeit they are not his typical life-ruining/sardonic fare, as in "I haven't a clue what you are saying here", but actually rather helpful). Not having my petition approved when having to potentially face faculty who will be insistent about my tardiness with the exam process in general (technically I should have submitted my answers and taken my oral defense by the end of September, this is not happening) is another blow to my already ailing confidence. Also, I am hustling to get my syllabus ready for my course on U.S. Latino Literature to which I am partially looking forward, and yet severe doubts about my capacities as an instructor undermine this excitement.

In other news trying to get my partner, Five, covered by my health insurance under the University's domestic partnership provision has proved to be more difficult that I ever expected, including having the obtain a legally binding "Will" and "Medical/Financial Power of Attorney," something we should do at some point, but are financial burdens just to make sure Five can get his medications and emergency services covered.

Gay Exorcism

10 minutes of the exorcism of a "homosexual demon" caught in a sixteen year-old's body performed in a storefront church in Connecticut.

Martin Ramirez

In my reading for exam I discovered the "outsider" artist Martin Ramirez (1895-1963), a Mexican-American who fled the Mexico during the revolution only to be diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and interned at Dewitt Hospital in California. His work is considered to be symbolic of the Latino immigrant experience. The repeated emphasis on depth and movement coupled with obsessive iconography makes it worth a perusal.

Toward the Production of a Rainbow Underclass

1 in 100 adults in the United States has spent time in a correctional facility, and also more and more people are sentenced to life in prison 2/3 of which are Latino or African-American according to the New York Times.

The incarceration policies in this country not only function as outright class warfare, but more subtly as the physical and psychological control mechanism producing frustrated ex-convicts and chronic criminals without venues to channel unrest. This is fucking disgusting!

CORRECTION: 1 in 99.1 adults is currently in prison. For minority groups the picture is especially bleak. One in every 36 Hispanic adults is currently behind bars, while the number for African American men is one in 15. More stunning is the rate of imprisonment for black men aged 20 to 34, where one out of every nine is now serving time.