November 30, 2008

What lessons can we learn from the shutdown of the 1999 WTO
Ministerial in Seattle 9 years ago today and from the last decade and
a half of global justice organizing as we face today's major crises
under an Obama Administration? This was the question a group of
organizers from different parts of the last decades of global justice
organizing responded to last week at a forum in New York City put
together by Deep Dish TV, an independent video/media pioneer. Here are
my thoughts.

Nine years ago today:

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 22:53:26 -0500 (EST)
From: ****
Subject: Re: The end of the story from Seattle..

Warning -- this is possibly the longest email I have ever written.

I've been in Seattle since Friday before the big day, leaving tonight... Here are some more parts of the story. I haven't had much chance to follow the media outside Seattle and I would love to know what came across and what didn't. I'm going to get on the internet and check it all out soon.
lw

--

What I Learned At The WTO Protests In Seattle...
by Pete Tridish,

A Ruckus I Couldn't Miss:

What I Learned At The WTO Protests In Seattle...
by Pete Tridish,

A Ruckus I Couldn't Miss

My name is Storm, i am 47 years old, and i identify as Revolutionary Ecologist, eco-anarchist, and a radikal scientist. I work principally under the auspices of Earth First! and Rising Tide North America. I was born white, male, rather hetero-oriented, working class amerikan...i would not consider myself "well-adjusted."

Here is a quick image to get started... I'l post more snippets later.

Roaming the streets on N30. It has been so long I can't remember the name of the intersections anymore.

One of the environmental groups (Greenpeace, perhaps? Or the Humane Society?) brought a giant inflatable killer whale. Huge, perhaps 30' long.

(This article was originally published in the December 1999 issue of UltraViolet, newsletter of LAGAI Queer Insurrection. More recent issues of UV are online at www.lagai.org.)

This article was originally published in the December 1999 issue of UltraViolet, the newsletter of LAGAI - Queer Insurrection (more recent issues are online at www.lagai.org).

The Shocking and Awful series is the document of the events that came out of that first Indymedia center. Over 100 Videographers contributed footage, and 30 minutes of programming was produced daily, uplinked to satellite, and rebroadcast by approximately 75 public access stations around the country, as well as on Free Speech TV. You can check out all the programs at deepdishtv.org. Search the catalogue for Showdown in Seattle, and "view program details."

It was one of the most incredible weeks of my life, in all honestly. It changed me forever.

"And, we are there!" ... Here is a link to a promotional video for Defense Technologies Federal Laboraties (makers of the finest in "less-lethal" crowd crontrol products.) "Seattle, 1999, riots break out, and we are there ... "

Here on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0QoCrqYhP8