Asheville citizens rally in solidarity with LA protesters

Asheville, North Carolina, Aug. 14— On Monday afternoon, a demonstration and rally of over fifty people gathered across the street from Asheville’s Democratic Party Headquarters. Bearing colorful signs and banners, demonstrators organized not only to stand in solidarity with protesters in Los Angeles at the Democratic National Convention, but to try and bring attention, as many signs proclaimed, to what is being called a “Corporate Media Blackout.” These words speak to the dismay felt by those in attendance who are disturbed that the mainstream, corporate-owned news media aren’t accurately reporting —if reporting at all— news concerning recent protests in Philadelphia in which numerous witnesses are claiming rampant civil rights abuses by police.

“Unbeknownst to the majority of the American public, massive violations of our Constitutional rights are becoming more and more frequent,” said Asheville Global Report editor, Eamon Martin, a speaker at the rally. “Two weeks ago, during the Republican National Convention, 480 people were rounded up and arrested, many of them for protesting, but many more – not because they were protesting — but because the police and FBI suspected they might protest.”

Martin pointed out that most people aren’t hearing or seeing stories such as these because the “corporate-run state and the corporate media have an inherent incentive” to squash, marginalize, or ridicule political dissent, critical of corporate institutions, and their political influence.

During the demonstration, Asheville police videotaped and photographed the people in attendance. Two protesters responded by attempting to block the filming by waving protest signs in front of the officers’ camera lenses.

A central theme of the rally was to criticize the national US elections, what some here referred to as a “showcase” of democracy in which Americans are given a corporate media-manufactured illusion of choice, but no matter who comes ahead on election day, the corporations are assured a win. As a result, these demonstrators are outraged and are saying that we continue to have elected officials who are unresponsive to the needs and concerns of the mass majority of citizens, not only in the US, but globally. Warren Wilson professor Andy Summers gave an impassioned speech about the human costs of corporate globalization and implored people to join in the fight for workers’ rights abroad. One protest sign asked “Who Are the U’wa?” The sign refers to an indigenous tribe in Colombia who have threatened to commit mass suicide if the oil giant, Occidental Petroleum continues to drill on their ancestral land. Occidental has responded by an aggressive campaign of legal manipulations and influence peddling to have the tribe displaced from their homes. Recently the U’wa have been repeatedly attacked and beaten by state forces as the US government sent a controversial, billion dollar military aid package to Colombia. Presidential hopeful Al Gore’s personal fortune was amassed by his family’s controlling stock in Occidental and activists have been trying desperately to get Gore to address this scandal. However, the Vice President has been evasive, and most news organs have yet to give the story any serious attention.

Addressing the enthusiastic audience, others spoke to concerns related to the conventions, the demonstrations, and to what they see as serious implications for US “democracy” as a whole. One young woman, just released from prison in Philadelphia, told of her experiences there. She described a scene of enormous brutality in which people were arbitrarily arrested and beaten in the streets and in the jails.

Andrew George of Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project stressed the need for citizens to take action against unaccountable authority. To prove the important effectiveness of demonstrations and civil disobedience, George relayed the story of his experiences in Seattle at the WTO protests last November. As a consequence of the WTO’s meetings being shut down by the influence of demonstrators there, he said, the Global Free Logging Agreement —a secretly designed, fast track act that would have given the green light to accelerated, commercial clear-cutting of the world’s forests — was stopped dead.

North Carolina Green Party member Lisa Thurman followed with a presentation about her party’s platform. Thurman’s presence emphasized the virtual lockout of third party candidates from the national elections and debates.

After the speeches, an impromptu march through downtown wound things up with people chanting, “The First Amendment is our Right. We will not give up the Fight!”

“We really hope to mobilize people to demonstrate at the upcoming presidential debates in Winston Salem on Oct.11. The lack of alternative voices should concern us all,” said Adam Baylus of Everything Local.

The event was organized and sponsored by the Asheville Direct Action Network.

Cicada Messenger, Bill Evans, and AGR staff contributed to this article.