"While You Buy, They Die"

Local Activists Show the True Face of War to Holiday Shoppers

 in St. Petersburg

December 20, 2004 - The advertisement for the Holiday Light Display may have been larger, but the banners flanking it were a lot more interesting. Proclaiming "While you buy, they die," 33 members of St. Pete for Peace braved a chilly Florida afternoon to help the mainstream media do their alleged job - that being to educate their fellow citizens about what Christmas might be like for the thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq...and it isn't very merry.

While all those last-minute holiday shoppers streamed by in their cars, this local peace and social justice group took to a pedestrian/bike trail near a popular mall with at least a dozen large anti-war banners. Those hiking or biking the trail that day were greeted with smiles, peace signs and a friendly "Peace on Earth" - and face it, what were they going to say? "No, I prefer Hate and Death on Earth"? Most were forced to smile back or wave - very few clutched their children to their breasts and muttered, "Don't look at the peaceful people - you'll only encourage them."

Response from passing motorists was largely supportive as well, although of course, there was the usual obligatory contingent of brainwashed, testosterone-pumped neo-cons who, on a good day, can't seem to come up with anything more creative than "Get a job" by way of response (this although it was a Sunday afternoon and they obviously weren't at work either).

For those of you that have a group of like-minded friends, I would highly recommend this kind of an event. It is very empowering for participants, educational for passers-by and encouraging for those who may sympathize with your cause, but are not yet bold enough to join.

There are many ways to freeway blog and, of course the ultimate source for advice is http://www.freewayblogger.com/, but our group has tried two ways so far: one is to simply tie the banners to fencing that is visible from the highway and then leave them until some authoritarian creature removes them; the second is to actually stand in the target location holding the banners. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods so you will need to decide which best suits your needs.

Should your group try the first method, the advantage is that you have a wider variety of target locations available to you. You do not have to choose a location that will safely accommodate a large number of people - in fact you do not have to choose a location that will accommodate any people at all. All that is required is a highway and a fence. This method can be undertaken with very few people - two committed people can safely hang at least a dozen banners and four people can cover quite a large territory indeed. Additionally, if anonymity is your thing (who was that Mystery Activist in the mask?) this is obviously the way to go as the banners just go up, and the banner-hanger moves on. This type of banner-hang is typically done early in the morning in order to catch as many of the morning commuters as possible before the banners are removed.

The disadvantages are that it is impossible to tell how long the banners will stay up - some last for days, others may only stay up for a few minutes - and once the banners are gone, they're gone - discarded in the nearest trash bin never to be seen again. Also, if you are looking for the attention of the media and not just unsuspecting motorists, this type of banner-hang is more difficult to promote...after all, one can't interview an anonymous banner.

If you employ the second method, however, the banners live to proudly fly another day. There is no waste, and for those of us who are environmentally conscious, that matters. It also matters if you do not have access to an unlimited supply of tarps and paint. And with respect to the media, if you call them, they will come.

The disadvantages of Method Two are, of course, the advantages of Method One - you cannot remain anonymous when you are standing in a public area holding a large banner that states in no uncertain terms "George Bush is a War Criminal." And if you invite the media, it always helps to have larger numbers of people participating. Finally, you are a bit more limited in your choice of locations - the target locations must both accommodate the size of your group (with or without the potential for arrest, depending on the proclivities of your group) and must be a highly-visible, highly-trafficked location.

If you have never freeway-blogged or done a banner hang before, please consider doing one this holiday season. There are only a few days left before Christmas, but an event like this does not take months to prepare - all you need to reach a really large audience is some tarp, some paint and a few like-minded friends.

We cannot wait for the mainstream media to do its job - that's why we have alternative media like this site (http://www.legitgov.org/) to keep us informed. As the good folks at http://www.indymedia.org tell us - "Be the media!"