Some 400
activists from across the country attended the anti-corporate Midwest
Rising: Convergence 2011 in St. Louis, Aug. 12-15. During the four
days of action and training, people learned how to be better
organizers and also how the capitalist system oppresses working
people and people of color and destroys the environment.
The long weekend,
hosted by Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment and
Rising Tide community organizers, was filled with solidarity and
empowerment for change in our communities. The first day featured
workshops on organizing against oppression, neoliberalism and
capitalism. Attendees discussed with emotion their experiences with
racism and bigotry.
An organizer from
MORE broke out in tears discussing his experiences with anti-semitism
and bigotry as a Jewish person. Another activist talked about the
time she went into an upscale shopping center of St. Louis and was
denied service because she was a working-class Black woman.
Accompanied by her grandson, she went to a jewelry store and asked
the salesperson a price. The salesperson told her, “If you need
to know the price, you should not be shopping here.”
Following the
workshops, a rally at Bank of America protested the bank’s fraudulent
attack against working-class people by refusing to modify their loans
and foreclosing on them. People decided that they would pull their
money out, but the bank was not having it. Not only did they not let
people in to withdraw their money, but they had the nerve to have the
St. Louis Police Department station riot police around the corner.
More than 100
people attended the action at the busy Market and Eighth Street
intersection. Many passing motorists honked in support.
The Convergence
continued the next two days with films and discussion on education
and the environment, including a showing of the film “The
Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman.” Sunday was
training for direct action and how to handle a situation involving
blocking of intersections and dealing with police response against
protesters, including being arrested.
Aug. 15 was the big
hour and moment to show St. Louis corporate bosses that the people
mean business and we hit hard. Midwest Rising split into different
groups with one hitting Verizon to show solidarity and picket with
the CWA workers on strike. Other groups protested Arch Coal for
mountain-top removal and in support of the battle to save historic
Blair Mountain; Monsanto for producing genetically-modified foods;
the Board of Education for allowing education funds to be used
instead to provide a tax
credit for Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal company; and
Representative Russ Carnihan’s office, to ask him why he took a trip
to Israel paid for by AIPAC.
Around mid-morning,
people from the Appalachian-Arch Coal contingent showed up to support
the CWA workers. Then, demonstrators were to head downtown, but the
First Student bus company, which has a contract with the school
board, refused to provide transportation, so protesters took the
Metrolink to the downtown action.
Protesters gathered
in a park and after a song, more than 100
people marched down Market Street and held the busy intersection
connecting Bank of America’s regional offices and Peabody’s world
headquarters until the police forced demonstrators onto the sidewalk.
Fifteen people were arrested and taken to the notorious St. Louis
City Justice Center. Demonstrators chanted: “What do you do when
education is under attack? Stand up, fight back!” and “If
you’re tired of us in your face, get some justice in this place!”
The action made a strong impact on families and workers in the area.
The weekend was an
event of love and solidarity, and everyone helped with the serving of
meals and registrations. MORE intern organizer Alice Floros did an
outstanding job with the registration and planning throughout the
four-day event.
Members from many
organizations participated in Midwest Rising, including: MORE, Rising
Tide, SOUL Chicago (Southsiders Organizaing for Unity and
Liberation), FRSO Refoundation, Climate Action STL, St. Louis Instead
of War Coalition, Organization for Black Struggle, Little Village
Environmental Justice Organization, Coal Country, Mountain
Justice/United Mountain Defense, Greening Detroit, Service Employees
International Union (SEIU), North County Neighbors, The Rainforest
Action Network: Chicago Chapter, Pick Up America, Students for
Democratic Society, Socialist Organizer, Autonomy Alliance, CWA, and
the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
