Organizers from several prominent Boston activist groups hope to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in July to draw attention to their various groups, but exactly what they plan to do had yet to be determined after a meeting Sunday.
“Community members need to really have a voice,” said Soul Brown, one of the organizers at the meeting at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center in South Boston.
An ad hoc committee was recently formed to organize civic groups including Alternatives for Community and Environment, the American Friends Service Committee, Food Not Bombs, various gay marriage groups, fair housing advocates, immigrant rights groups, anti-racism groups and other Boston activists.
The meeting, which was supposed to bring together members of the various groups, drew close to 100 people from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York. With so many groups interested in such disparate issues, the organizations had trouble deciding which direction to go for the convention.
“I feel like whenever you get this many people in a room, ideas are scattered,” said Stacey Cordeiro of Jamaica Plain Mutual Aid. “If people have patience, then good things will come of it.”
Many in attendance said they were interested in protesting Boston University’s planned Biosafety Level 4 laboratory near the Boston Medical Center in Roxbury.
“Even though we all may have our own pain, if we put it all together it’s one big pain,” said Donovan Walker, co-chairman of Safety Net, one of the groups protesting the proposed lab.
The attendees broke into small groups to discuss what principle could unify them and what the next step should be after the initial meeting. The groups chose to meet again in a week to plan further and decide what they want to do.
Most of the meeting’s attendees agreed that community issues should be at the center of their efforts. Many discussed the idea of a large protest or a party to bring the people of Boston together. Some even suggested embarrassing Boston Mayor Thomas Menino by staging a protest festival on Newbury Street.
“We know to start with community organizing,” Cordeiro said.
Other activists agreed that community organizing should come first, but that bringing groups together should also be a priority.
“It’s the issues that affect the people … It’s the difference between having a people’s government and a corporate government,” activist Jen Kiok told her group. “My hope is coalition building. It’s a continuation to build a stronger movement.”
Cynthia Peters, one of the main organizers of the event, said the convention was a “form of pressure” on the local government and national media to showcase the concerns of Bostonians.
Yet as diverse as the issues were, one thing every organization seemed to unite behind was their disdain for President George W. Bush as participants united and sang a variation of a popular hymn.
“We shall overcome George Bush” resounded overpoweringly through the rafters.
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