davis square in the new york times

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

Today's NY Times article about yesterday's vigils supporting Cindy Sheehan's protest has a photo of the Davis Square vigil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/politics/18crawford.html

They mention a few in the article (Davis Sq, NYC, Chicago) and it sounds like the one here was one of the biggest.

Comments

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Was there an earlier announcement in davis_square beforehand?

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Call me mean-spirited but I never really understood the point of holding social justice actions in places where over 80% of the populace agrees with you. I mean, Cindy's camping out on Bush-land but holding an anti-war vigil in Davis Square seems like preaching to the choir, and to an extent, indulgent. People get to feel good about themselves without having to face a lot of criticism. Why not hold these actions out in suburbia where there are yellow ribbons and American flags on every car. I thought activism was about helping change things for the better -- this seems a lot more like feel goodism to me.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

These events serve many purposes. This one got some media attention. More people will see this protest on the news than might have driven by it in suburbia (including Cindy, who could probably use the support herself).

[turil.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with a little "feel goodism"? These days we need all the good feelings we can grab hold of. Activism serves many purposes, some better than others. But one of the best purposes is to help people feel a little less alone and hopeless. Once people feel a little better about the world, they can carry on with their lives, and hopefully be able to be braver next time they encounter a situation where they feel the need to speak up for themselves or those who others who need help.

Grassroots activism works to change the whole world one person at a time.

Ug, sorry for the hippy dippy rant!

[neitherday.livejournal.com]

It is both more logistically complicated and more costly to arrange transportation of a group of people from the city to a more conservative suburban area and there is little, if any, benefit to doing it. A number people from suburbia will be exposed to the protests as they navigate the city on their way to and from work. In addition, a protest in a more urban area is likely to be larger and garner more media coverage.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of more diverse urban areas though. Park Street, Jackson Square, Downtown Crossing ... I can think of plenty of less-liberal urban spaces.

[cos]

There was, indeed, a large vigil held at Park Street T stop (as well as many more around the Boston area, including several others in Cambridge and Somerville as well as Medford, Malden, Melrose, Arlington, ... ...) The Davis Square vigil was not instead of holding vigils in less "liberal-urban" spaces, the idea was that there be local vigils in as many places as possible, held by people from those places. They all complemented each other.

[cos]

Activism is about many things. This particular event was a coordinated action throughout the country, and part of the goal was to draw media attention. The more vigils, the more newsworthy it is. This New York Times link is a perfect example of success: Sure, these people were in Davis Square, but thanks to the media, they've been seen by tens of thousands (or more) all over the country. And the image is being used to highlight the fact that over 1,600 vigils were held - many of them in suburbia. Seeing the image of the vigil will reinforce people's knowledge that a vigil was held near where they live, or remind them of the one they saw, or read about in their local paper.

There are other useful features to an event like this, I'm just focusing on the media aspect because that's what started this post.

[enlow.livejournal.com]

it was a showing of support.

Not all things are supposed to be daring. Sometimes, simply showing solidarity is a good thing in and of itself. It doesnt need the element of confrontation to make it more than what it was, which was again, a simple showing of support for what is already someone else's charge, although it is of course around an issue that many people felt strongly about already.

It may not have wanted to be what you wanted it to be. It simply was what it was.

If you call this feel-goodism, then it may be fair to say that - at this point in time, with what the ultimate results would be - your preference (marching in the suburbs, which you obviously feel are populated by those less enlightened than you) could be called pointless attention-starved, confrontation-seeking.

protest, on a frontline of an issue, certainly has its (very important) place.

But so do simple showings of support/solidarity. Which is what this was.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I live in the suburbs (south shore, I'm a former Davis resident) and I *know* from living here that most of the suburbs are not as liberal/educated/hip as your average Davis Square gentrifier.

Who do we see in the photo...

[cos]

Here's a link to the large version of the photo. How many people from this community do we recognize? I see ommango and her son over on the left edge, and I think I recognize several other people but I'm not entirely sure so I'll wait 'til they comment.

Re: Who do we see in the photo...

[ron_newman]

the caption "Davis Square in Boston" is a bit annoying...wonder if they later ran a correction.

The photographer

[cos]

Aha! I thought the name on the photo credit looked familiar, so I emailed the person I thought it was. It is indeed the same Jodi Hilton who volunteers on Jesse Gordon's campaign.