Article from Color Lines Magazine about WTO/Seattle

[Mattcapri at aol.com]

>>WHERE WAS THE COLOR IN SEATTLE?
>>
>>Looking for reasons why the Great Battle was so white
>>
>>By Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez
>>
>>        "I was at the jail where a lot of protesters were being held and
>>a big crowd of people was chanting `This Is What Democracy Looks Like!'
>>At first it sounded kind of nice. But then I thought: is this really
>>what democracy looks like? Nobody here looks like me."
>>
>>--Jinee Kim, Bay Area youth organizer
>>
>>
>>In the vast acreage of published analysis about the splendid victory
>>over the World Trade Organization last November 29-December 3, it is
>>almost impossible to find anyone wondering why the 40-50,000
>>demonstrators were overwhelmingly Anglo. How can that be, when the WTO's
>>main victims around the world are people of color? Understanding the
>>reasons for the low level of color, and what can be learned from it, is
>>absolutely crucial if we are to make Seattle's promise of a new,
>>international movement against imperialist globalization come true.
>>
>>Among those who did come for the WTO meeting were some highly
>>informative third world panelists who spoke Monday, November 29 about
>>the effects of WTO on health care and on the environment. They included
>>activist-experts from Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, Ghana, and
>>Pakistan. On Tuesday, at the huge rally on November 30 before the march,
>>labor leaders from Mexico, the Caribbean, South Africa, Malaysia, India,
>>and China spoke along with every major U.S. union leader (all white).
>>
>>Rank-and-file U.S. workers of color also attended, from certain unions
>>and locals in certain geographic areas. There were young African
>>Americans in the building trades; blacks from Local 10 of the ILWU in
>>San Francisco and Latinos from its Los Angeles local; Asian Americans
>>from SEIU; Teamsters of color from eastern Washington state; members of
>>the painters' union and the union of Hotel Employees and Restaurant
>>Employees (H.E.R.E.). Latino/a farmworkers from the UFW and PCUN
>>(Pineros and Campesinos del Noroeste) of Oregon also attended. At one
>>point a miner from the South Africa Labor Network cried, "In the words
>>of Karl Marx, `Workers of the world, unite!'" The crowd of some 25,000
>>people cheered.
>>
>>Among community activists of color, the Indigenous Environmental Network
>>(IEN) delegation led by Tom Goldtooth conducted an impressive program of
>>events with Native peoples from all over the U.S. and the world. A
>>15-member multi-state delegation represented the Southwest Network for
>>Environmental and Economic Justice based in Albuquerque, which embraces
>>84 organizations primarily of color in the U.S. and Mexico; their
>>activities in Seattle were binational.
>>
>>Many activist youth groups of color came from California, especially the
>>Bay Area, where they have been working on such issues as Free Mumia,
>>affirmative action, ethnic studies, and rightwing laws like the current
>>Proposition 21 "youth crime" initiative. Seattle-based forces of color
>>that participated actively included the Filipino Community Center and
>>the international People's Assembly, which led a march on Tuesday
>>despite being the only one denied a permit. The predominantly white
>>Direct Action Network (DAN), a huge coalition, brought thousands to the
>>protest. But Jia Ching Chen of the Bay Area's Third Eye Movement was the
>>only young person of color involved in DAN's central planning.
>>
>>Seattle's 27-year old Centro de la Raza organized a Latino contingent in
>>the labor march and local university groups, including MEChA (Movimiento
>>Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), hooked up with visiting activists of
>>color. Black activists who have been fighting for an African American
>>Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in Seattle were there. Hop Hopkins,
>>an AIDS activist in Seattle, also black, made constant personal efforts
>>to draw in people of color.
>>
>>Still, the overall turnout of color from the U.S. remained around five
>>percent of the total. In personal interviews, activists from the Bay
>>Area and the Southwest gave me several reasons for this. Some mentioned
>>concern about the likelihood of brutal police repression. Other
>>obstacles: lack of funds for the trip, inability to be absent from work
>>during the week, and problems in finding child care.
>>
>>Yet several experienced activists of color in the Bay Area who had even
>>been offered full scholarships chose not to go. A major reason for not
>>participating, and the reason given by many others, was lack of
>>knowledge about the WTO. As one Filipina said, "I didn't see the
>>political significance of it how the protest would be anti-imperialist.
>>We didn't know anything about the WTO except that lots of people were
>>going to the meeting." One of the few groups that did feel informed, and
>>did participate, was the hip-hop group Company of Prophets. According to
>>African American member Rashidi Omari of Oakland, this happened as a
>>result of their attending teach-ins by predominantly white groups like
>>Art and Revolution. Company of Prophets, rapping from a big white van,
>>was in the front ranks of the 6 a.m. march that closed down the WTO on
>>November 30.
>>
>>The problem of unfamiliarity with the WTO was aggravated by the fact
>>that black and Latino communities across the U.S. lack Internet access
>>compared to many white communities. A July 1999 federal survey showed
>>that among Americans earning $15,000-$35,000 a year, more than 32
>>percent of white families owned computers but only 19 percent of black
>>and Latino families. In that same income range, only 9 percent of
>>African American and Latino homes had Internet access compared to 27
>>percent of white families. So information about WTO and all the plans
>>for Seattle did not reach many people of color.
>>
>>Limited knowledge meant a failure to see how the WTO affected the daily
>>lives of U.S. communities of color. "Activists of color felt they had
>>more immediate issues," said Rashidi. "Also, when we returned people
>>told me of being worried that family and peers would say they were
>>neglecting their own communities, if they went to Seattle. They would be
>>asked, `Why are you going? You should stay here and help your people.'"
>>
>>Along with such concerns about linkage came the assumption that the
>>protest would be overwhelmingly white as it was. Coumba Toure, a Bay
>>Area activist originally from Mali, West Africa, said she had originally
>>thought, "the whites will take care of the WTO, I don't need to go."
>>Others were more openly apprehensive. For example, Carlos ("Los" for
>>short) Windham of Company of Prophets told me, "I think even Bay Area
>>activists of color who understood the linkage didn't want to go to a
>>protest dominated by 50,000 white hippies."
>>
>>People of color had reason to expect the protest to be white-dominated.
>>Roberto Maestas, director of Seattle's Centro de la Raza, told me that
>>in the massive local press coverage before the WTO meeting, not a single
>>person of color appeared as a spokesperson for the opposition. "Day
>>after day, you saw only white faces in the news. The publicity was a
>>real deterrent to people of color. I think some of the unions or church
>>groups should have had representatives of color, to encourage people of
>>color to participate."
>>
>>Four protesters of color from different Bay Area organizations talked
>>about the "culture shock" they experienced when they first visited the
>>"Convergence," the protest center set up by the Direct Action Network, a
>>coalition of many organizations. Said one, "When we walked in, the room
>>was filled with young whites calling themselves anarchists. There was a
>>pungent smell, many had not showered. We just couldn't relate to the
>>scene so our whole group left right away." "Another told me, "They
>>sounded dogmatic and paranoid." "I just freaked and left," said another.
>>"It wasn't just race, it was also culture, although race was key."
>>
>>In retrospect, observed Van Jones of STORM (Standing Together to
>>Organize a Revolutionary Movement) in the Bay Area, "We should have
>>stayed. We didn't see that we had a lot to learn from them. And they had
>>a lot of materials for making banners, signs, puppets." "Later I went
>>back and talked to people," recalled Rashidi, "and they were discussing
>>tactics, very smart. Those folks were really ready for action. It was
>>limiting for people of color to let that one experience affect their
>>whole picture of white activists." Jinee Kim, a Korean American with the
>>Third Eye Movement in the Bay Area, also thought it was a mistake. "We
>>realized we didn't know how to do a blockade. We had no gas masks. They
>>made sure everybody had food and water, they took care of people. We
>>could have learned from them."
>>
>>Reflecting the more positive evaluation of white protesters in general,
>>Richard Moore, coordinator of the Southwest Network for Environmental
>>and Economic Justice, told me "the white activists were very
>>disciplined." "We sat down with whites, we didn't take the attitude that
>>`we can't work with white folks,'" concluded Rashidi. "It was a
>>liberating experience."
>>
>>Few predominantly white groups in the Bay Area made a serious effort to
>>get people of color to Seattle. Juliette Beck of Global Exchange worked
>>hard with others to help people from developing (third world) countries
>>to come. But for U.S. people of color, the main organizations that made
>>a serious effort to do so were Just Act (Youth ACTion for Global
>>JUSTice), formerly the Overseas Development Network, and Art and
>>Revolution, which mostly helped artists. Many activists of color have
>>mentioned Alli Chaggi-Starr of Art and Revolution, who not only helped
>>people come but for the big march in Seattle she obtained a van with a
>>sound system that was used by musicians and rappers.
>>
>>In Just Act, Coumba Toure and two other members of color--Raj Jayadev
>>and Malachi Larabee--pushed hard for support from the group. As a
>>result, about 40 people of color were enabled to go thanks to special
>>fundraising and whites staying at people's homes in Seattle so their
>>hotel money could be used instead on plane tickets for people of color.
>>Reflecting on the whole issue of working with whites, Coumba talked not
>>only about pushing Just Act but also pushing people of color to apply
>>for the help that became available.
>>
>>One of the problems Coumba said she encountered in doing this was "a
>>legacy of distrust of middle-class white activists that has emerged from
>>experiences of `being used.' Or not having our issues taken seriously.
>>Involving people of color must be done in a way that gives them real
>>space. Whites must understand a whole new approach is needed that
>>includes respect (if you go to people of color thinking you know more,
>>it creates a barrier). Also, you cannot approach people simply in terms
>>of numbers, like `let's give 2 scholarships.' People of color must be
>>central to the project."
>>
>>Jia Ching Chen recalled that once during the week of protest, in a jail
>>holding cell, he was one of only two people of color among many Anglos.
>>He tried to discuss with some of them the need to involve more activists
>>of color and the importance of white support in this. "Some would say,
>>`We want to diversify,' but didn't understand the dynamics of this." In
>>other words, they didn't understand the kinds of problems described by
>>Coumba Toure. "Other personal conversations were more productive," he
>>said, "and some white people started to recognize why people of color
>>could view the process of developing working relations with whites as
>>oppressive."
>>
>>Unfortunately the heritage of distrust was intensified by some of the
>>AFL-CIO leadership of labor on the November 30 march. They chose to take
>>a different route through downtown rather than marching with others to
>>the Convention Center and helping to block the WTO. Also, on the march
>>to downtown they reportedly had a conflict with the Third World People's
>>Assembly contingent when they rudely told the people of color to move
>>aside so they could be in the lead.
>>
>>Yet if only a small number of people of color went to Seattle, all those
>>with whom I spoke found the experience extraordinary. They spoke of
>>being changed forever. "I saw the future." "I saw the possibility of
>>people working together." They called the giant mobilization "a shot in
>>the arm," if you had been feeling stagnant. "Being there was an
>>incredible awakening." Naomi, a Filipina dancer and musician, recalled
>>how "at first a lot of my group were tired, grumpy, wanting to go home.
>>That really changed. One of the artists with us, who never considered
>>herself a political activist, now wants to get involved back in Oakland.
>>Seattle created a lot of strong bonds in my small community of coworkers
>>and friends."
>>
>>They seem to feel they had seen why, as the chant popularized by the
>>Chicano/a students of MEChA goes, "Ain't no power like the power of the
>>people, `Cause the power of the people don't stop!"
>>
>>There must be effective follow-up and increased communication between
>>people of color across the nation: grassroots organizers, activists,
>>cultural workers, and educators. We need to build on the contacts made
>>(or that need to be made) from Seattle. Even within the Bay Area,
>>activists who could form working alliances still do not know of each
>>other's existence.
>>
>>With mass protests planned for April 16-17 in Washington, D.C. at the
>>meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
>>opportunity to build on the WTO victory shines brightly. More than ever,
>>we need to work on our ignorance about global issues with study groups,
>>youth workshops, conferences. We need to draw specific links between WTO
>>and our close-to-home struggles in communities of color, as has been
>>emphasized by Raj Jayadev and Lisa Juachon in The Silicon Valley Reader:
>>Localizing the Effects of the Global Economy, 1999, which they edited.
>>
>>Many examples of how WTO has hurt poor people in third world countries
>>were given during the protest. For example, a Pakistani told one panel
>>how, for years, South Africans grew medicinal herbs to treat AIDS at
>>very little cost. The WTO ruled that this was "unfair" competition with
>>pharmaceutical companies seeking to sell their expensive AIDS
>>medications. "People are dying because they cannot afford those products
>>," he said. A Filipino reported on indigenous farmers being compelled to
>>use fertilizers containing poisonous chemicals in order to compete with
>>cheap, imported potatoes. Ruined, they often left the land seeking
>>survival elsewhere.
>>
>>But there are many powerful examples right here in the U.S. For
>>starters, consider:
>>
>>* WTO policies encourage sub-livable wages for youth of color
>>everywhere including right here.
>>
>>* WTO policies encourage privatization of health care, education,
>>welfare, and other crucial public services, as well as cutbacks in those
>>services, so private industry can take them over and run them at a
>>profit. This, along with sub-livable wages, leads to jeopardizing the
>>lives of working-class people and criminalizing youth in particular.
>>
>>* Workers in Silicon Valley are being chemically poisoned by the chips
>>they work on that make such wealth for others. WTO doesn't want to limit
>>those profits with protection for workers.
>>
>>* WTO has said it is "unfair trade" to ban the import of gasoline in
>>which certain cancer-causing chemicals have been used. This could have a
>>devastating effect on people in the U.S., including those of color, who
>>buy that gas.
>>
>>* Overall, WTO is controlled by U.S. corporations. It is secretly run by
>>a few advanced industrialized countries for the benefit of the rich and
>>aspiring rich. WTO serves to further impoverish the poor of all
>>countries.
>>
>>Armed with such knowledge, we can educate and organize people of color.
>>As Jinee Kim said at a San Francisco report-back by youth of color, "We
>>have to work with people who may not know the word `globalization' but
>>they live globalization."
>>
>>***ColorLines:  The nation's leading magazine on race, culture, and
>>organizing
>>
>>http://www.colorlines.com
>>
>>
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