Friday August 11, 2000
I am the Mother of one of the activists arrested on Tues.
Aug 1 at the Warehouse. My daughter called me the following
Sunday still realing from the shock of what she had been
through. Her story is matching all the ones I have read so
far except that, in her area, not only were they deprived of
decent food, but were also subjected to extreme cold from air
conditioning turned down so low that they had to lay on top of
one another to share body heat while the guards walked around
wearing heavy winter coats and enjoying space heaters. My
daughter has been an activist for about 6 years now and I have
never heard in her voice what I heard in that phonecall. I was
left numb and reeling from her account. I felt as if the blinders
for our freedom were ripped from my face. I work with foreign
exchange students and have heard similar stories from my students
in Kosovo, Columbia and other countries, but I always believed
that nothing like this could EVER happen in this country.
Well, my friends, that myth is now gone from my mind. My daughter
is a PEACEFUL protester who, in her own words, was "making puppets,
floats and beautiful flags with shimmery twirly things in an effort
to dispell the tention around the convention." They were planning a
parade. When the police came in and "detained" them, they also took
all the puppets and other things, put them in a trash compactor and
destroyed them. How, now, can they defend themselves with no evidence
left. The only thing they had left was chicken wire, piano wire and
duct tape. These articles, said the police, were evidence that they
were planning "unlawful activities." I am very proud of my daughter
and others like her for standing up and speaking out against things
they do not believe in. However, it is sad to know that this great
country of ours is becoming more and more like the countries we
fight against. Today, a little past middle age woman will also
become an activist.
From a Mother's point of view
By Mom