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METHINKS THOU DOST PROTEST TOO MUCH
by FRANK O'DONNELL
AUGUST 26, 2007
Some observations on this past Sunday’s rally by the International Workers of the World in the North Providence High School parking lot, protesting a case of alleged police brutality during a march against a pan-Asian restaurant on Mineral Spring Avenue a couple of weeks ago.
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? I’ve lived in North Providence almost 20 years now, and I know a lot of folks in town. I did not know a single person among the 200 or so protestors. I knew a lot of the police officers – local and state – plus several reporters. I spotted some local residents on the crowd fringes. But inside the group, not one.
HOW DID THEY PICK NORTH PROVIDENCE IN THE FIRST PLACE? The IWW’s original protest was against a food distributor in New York, who they allege uses unfair labor tactics. So why not protest in New York? And if New York doesn’t work out, North Providence is the first stop you can think of along 95 North?
“NOT LEAVING UNTIL JUSTICE IS DONE.” That’s what one of Sunday’s speakers said. I guess it all depends on your definition of both “justice” and “leaving.” However it all works out, we need the parking lot and the high school for freshman orientation on Monday night.
BLUE VERSUS GRAY. Am I the only one who noted the irony of the local blue-uniformed police officers standing side-by-side with the gray-uniformed state troopers? If anyone was paying attention, we could have staged a civil war reenactment on the football field. Someone remember that for the next protest.
KNOW THE COLORS. I made the mistake of wearing a red shirt to the rally. Looks like red is the color of the IWW. One young lady welcomed me, calling me “brother.” So I called her “Sis,” and yelled at her for not coming to mom’s birthday party last week. She walked away confused.
WHAT’S WITH THE GLOVES? One of the speakers on the high school steps was wearing oversized gloves that looked like the cartoon on the Hamburger Helper ads. Was it to make his clenched fist of solidarity more visible at the back of the crowd? Or was he on his way to audition for the Muppets?
DO YOU LIKE JEAN VALJEAN? Throughout the rally, a group of protestors held banners high, like they were about to march into a medieval battle. It reminded me of that scene in “Les Miserables” where the French revolutionaries finally explode into action and one of their own waves a huge red banner overhead while being dragged around town in a wagon.
DID YOU RUN OUT OF DUCT TAPE? Behind the speakers, at the top of the steps, under a huge IWW banner, sat a young fellow holding a sign that read “Police Abuse.” That appeared to be his job – a human easel. Perhaps he could find work wearing a sandwich board around town advertising a pan-Asian restaurant. Perhaps not.
WHEN DO CROSBY, STILLS & NASH PLAY? I’m certainly not the fashion police, but a lot of these folks looked like they’d come to North Providence directly from Woodstock. All we needed was some mud to complete the picture.
HOW DO THEY RATE PORTAJOHNS? I can’t tell you the number of times folks at the Babe Ruth games just down Smithfield Road from this protest have begged for some sort of sanitary facility that didn’t involve a harrowing hike up the hill to the football field. But this protest merited four portajohns in the parking lot?
A MARXIST ORGANIZATION? If you believe what you read on the Internet, the IWW is a Marxist organization, espousing the ideals of Karl Marx, author of “The Communist Manifesto.” I lean toward another Marx – Groucho, who once said, “I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.” Tough to form a protest when you’re not in the club.
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Join the cause, brothers and sisters. Sign up with the North Providence Gang and let your voice be heard – anonymously, of course. You’ll get periodic emails soliciting your opinions on a variety of town “issues.” Send an email to frankocomedy@cox.net right now.
Reprinted with permission from The North Providence Breeze
Cartoon by Charlie Hall
