"All You Need
is a Little More Self Esteem."
Sander Hicks
Reports from the Rally Against the National
Alliance
8/24/02, Washington,
DC
I think it's
fair to declare this past Saturday a victory
for the progressives and radicals who took a
stand against the National Alliance this weekend
in DC. The police were expecting 1000 new nazis,
but only about 250 showed up.
We had similar
numbers. We lined up outside Union Station,
which they poured out of like mad little termites
from the mound at 11 AM. I had no idea they
were so short. Average height: 5 feet. Most
wearing sunglasses like cops and seig heilling
us. Thank you, Little Caesar. The shortness
might be an explanation: one of the best hand-made
signs on our side said "all you need is a little
more self esteem."
Various black
blocks spontaneously formed, and a medic handed
me and Charlie free kerchiefs. There were white
but I gave mine back and asked for black. We
put them on and went guerrilla war style on
Capitol Hill, over the shrubs and grass looking
for nazis that had broken off from the pack.
Someone said they found two of them around the
corner. We started jogging. A petite young woman
up ahead stopped, turned around and threw up
her hands and said, "WELL??? COME ON!!! THIS
IS IT! Let's GO!!!" That's when me and this
huge black guy ran faster. We caught up to two
skinhead guys and a round, stout woman with
long dyed-black hair. An old guy was throwing
rocks at the guys and missing and saying Oh
DAMN It! The black guy took off his belt, held
it high and whipped the shorter skinhead across
the back. Leather on sweaty skin. TACK!
They were either really scared or really dumb,
because they could have run, but they didn't.
Maybe they felt guilty. I told the tall one,
"Go. Run." to no avail. So it was time and I
threw a serious punch, and connected solidly
with his bullnecked skull. I said, "Get of town
brother." I surprised myself by calling him
brother, an old habit from working carpentry.
The cops pulled
up and instantly we got into an argument about
ethics.
It occurred to
me this morning that this kind of thing is not
only good politics in the present day, it's
good practice for a future revolution. When
the door opens, and you see that it's not going
to be there forever, and you need boldness and
physical strength and guts. I'll never forget
what a strange and beautiful sight it is to
see a tall, angry black man take a leather belt
and THWACK the back of a sniveling nazi
trying to slink away. Bright August sunshine,
just south of and surrounded by white marble
of the U.S. Capitol, in the Capital of a country
that will never get away from 7,000 uninvestigated
lynchings. Maybe this is one step in the right
direction, black and white uniting and getting
tough. I never said they couldn't talk. It's
just that we will want to act on them, and come
back at them with love and justice and anger.
The cops were
hostile to us and seemed to be very protective
of the hateful little guys. As the nazis were
filed back into the Station after a couple hours,
(their short DC field trip over) we tried to
intercept them, but the cops had caught on to
our wiles. I got as close as possible, and instead
of shouting "death, death, death to the nazis,
power, power, power to the workers" I made up
my own chant. I was so close to them, only 5
feet away. They could hear me, one man. I yelled
this: "LOSERS! World War II! Mussolini! Hitler!
You LOST! You will always LOSE! Civil War! Civil
War! You lost that one too!" Maybe I got a little
too close to a cop who was bored, because he
threw up his fist and stick into my chest and
pushed me back. I looked down at his nametag,
it said "MYHAND." It had a little crest of the
nation of Ireland on it.
We saw a lot
of that, not just cops protecting nazis, but
them actually attacking the antifascist movement.
One of us, an angry guy in a ALF shirt was yelling
on a corner, and a cop told him to shut up.
I pointed out that this guy had freedom of speech.
The cop said "Another word from you and this
stick will be upside your head." He lovingly
fondled his five foot hickory pole. Ah yes,
I forgot. Even in the shadow of the Capitol,
free speech doesn't exist when the cops have
huge sticks and hate you. It certainly taught
my young friend Charlie a thing or two. He went
from working class solidarity with them to being
accused of "guilt by association" just because
he was standing next to me, Free Speech Guy.
He protested so vigorously suddenly it was he
who had to be dragged away by yours truly, for
a change.
Our stop in Baltimore
turned into an extended ordeal as the cops raided
the community center where anarchists were staying.
They claimed that the National Alliance had
threatened to do a drive by. I wonder who told
them that people were here? I had to be polite
to try to go in and get Chris and Kim out. But
to do that, we had our IDs taken and run around
the corner and checked. Eventually, we got them
out and went North.
I'm still sort
of recovering from the 10 hour car ride back
up the coast. My friend Chris said it was one
of the best protest experiences he's ever had.
I am realizing how much we took from the experience.
That cop who was such a tight-pants, who wanted
to smash me in the head when I just wanted to
talk, it's funny how much he taught Charlie
at this, his first protest.