So many thanks to my Uncle Brad for these continually inspiring updates. I appreciate both the on-the-ground details and his bigger picture connections. So true! People everywhere are starting to recognize their own power and sovereignty. Yay, world! Keep reaching. We all deserve the very best lives we can imagine, and I’m happy to say people are gaining courage to imagine better and better lives. It also comes quite synchronously with some Martin Luther King, Jr. moments yesterday, despite my not knowing of the speech reading at the Capitol. Much Love and Increasing Light!! And now, a report from Brad Palmer:
Hello, ALL Wisconsin!
Well, interesting afternoon. The capitol square was quiet, only a smattering of demonstrators. I noticed people entering the capitol building, and I hadn’t been there in two weeks. So I entered. Of course, I
was screened, emptied my pockets, and told if I didn’t remove my jacket–because I have so many buttons on it promoting Wisconsin, solidarity, recalling Walker and Olsen, that I would set off the metal detector. Or, the capitol police (who are independent from the city police) would have to scan me. I said, “Scan away.” I was brought to the side, asked to spread my arms, and then explain each beep…my copper bracelet, my watch, my belt buckle, my rings, and, of course, my buttons. Apparently satisfied that I was not a domestic terrorist hiding knives, bombs, and weaponry, they let me pass. And then I heard….singing. Many voices.
Those who know me recognize that singing is the call of the wild to me. As I entered the rotunda the singing was louder. Once inside, a circle of about 125 people, with another 25 on the second floor, were singing freedom and union songs. It was a “Solidarity Sing-along.” And between each song, the moderator read excerpts from Dr. King’s Memphis speech of April 3, 1968–the day before he was killed. I’ve heard that speech many times over the years….”….I may not get there with you. But that doesn’t matter to me now, because I have been to the mountain top….” With each paragraph he read after each song, I choked up. Dr. King is a hero of mine. Whatever shortcomings great people may have, the work and sacrifices they make for the betterment of all of us in a sacred gift. His was especially so, paid for with his life.
The songs included, “Bread and Roses,” “We Shall Overcome,” If I Had a Hammer,” “Which Side Are You On?’ Every once in a while during my hour stay in the rotunda–a place that just weeks ago was ALIVE with thousands of voices making one voice–some one would yell, “Whose House?” To which we all responded, “Our House!” When the announcement was made at 4 :30 and 4:45 that the capitol was closing, the chant began again. And that Badger pride, along with Dr. King’s words–read by another, but no less profound–swelled into my heart. Those people in the rotunda, those in Baraboo, those 150,00 on the square, the fire fighter I thanked, the poster vendor I talked with, the State Street patrons, the homeless man selling the Street Pulse newspaper, the coffee clerk in Michelangelo’s Coffee house–they aren’t liberals. They’re people who live and work here, who just want to be alive and enjoy the freedoms that so many before us sacrificed so much for; the soldiers, the union organizers, the merchants and small business people, women’s rights workers, the fighters of dominion and greed….we are ALL united in this fight. And we’re starting to cherish each other and cherish these moments together and we’re seeing a government being reborn out of tyranny. And WE are those people.
As the final announcement came, the moderator suggested we all exit together in song, via the Martin Luther King Street exit, singing, “If I Had a Hammer,”….in order to assist the capitol police in their clearing of the building and fulfillment of their duties.” Just before we lined up to exit, a sudden quiet prevailed. I couldn’t help it. I yelled as loudly as I could, “Who Is Wisconsin?” The immediate reply came back with one voice 150 strong, “We Are Wisconsin!” Just before I stopped, I yelled, “Thank you!” and the reply was returned, “Thank you.” We turned to exit in song. As we dispersed, we waved to each other. Some continued to sing, some shook hands. We were one in the rotunda. Most of us had never met, but we parted as friends.
Just before exiting, an announcement was made–no microphone, no bullhorn, so I hope I got the details correct. The “Day of Action” march will begin at 4 PM on the capitol square tomorrow, April 4. At 7 PM, Rev. Jesse Jackson, along with two members of the Memphis Sanitation Union–who Dr. King was supporting in Memphis in April, 1968–will lead a march around the square. We will sing, “We Shall Overcome,” all the way around. Lest you think this is all a bit solemn, an extra verse was added in the rotunda sing-along; “Walker won’t be governor for lo–oh–oh–ong.” Rev. Jackson marched with Dr. King, and his presence is appropriate and welcome.
A note for Madison’s Tuesday election; there is a non-binding preference referendum to undo the sinister “corporate personhood” the Republicans passed to give corporations the same rights as individuals. This was a first step in eliminating, “one person, one vote.” We all encourage Madisonians to vote, “Yes.” It’s another way to be heard, another worrisome matter for the emporer with no clothes to ponder.
I headed down State Street and encountered my (“my,” because I see him selling his wares every time I’m in Madison, and I’ve grown to like him) homeless man, asking passers by if they’d like a copy of Street Pulse. You know the deal, he gets to keep the dollar after his initial 25 cent investment. I gladly gave him $3 and took a copy. He’s working, he’s trying, he’s not begging for change. I admire that, I admire him. These people we’re united with, they aren’t liberals. They’re Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, religious and non-religious, capitalists and non-capitalists, all ethnicities, all lifestyles, all professions, from
laborers and service people to physicians, teachers, and nurses, engineers, drivers, employed and unemployed, homeless and housed. The are ALL of us, and we are ALL of them. And we are now united in a great struggle that we WILL win–because we cannot afford to lose.
And when this marathon is done, when Wisconsin history is written this summer and fall of 2011, when the trash is gone from our government beginning Tuesday, extending through the successful recall of the Republican traitors to Wisconsin, and ending with the eviction of the soon-to-be unemployed Walker back to Colorado where he can lobby for Koch industries with an asterisk — “recalled in Wisconsin” — our work is not done. We must lead and assist our sister states and sweep the dirt out of government from Maine to Washington, California to New Jersey, and start the battle again. And Wisconsin will do so. The work we do here, the work ALL of you are doing is strong because we are united. We remain and welcome the title, “Ground Zero.” We are up to this task for as long as it takes….because We are Wisconsin, and we live here, and this is OUR home.
Beginning with Tuesday’s election, we will send the first official messages to Walker that his time is about up, and Madison will send word about what the Supreme Court can do with “corporate personhood.” Dauntless, refusing to be misinformed or misled, we remain strong and united. The rotunda was alive today, and it breathes with the inspiration of its people. Thank you for the work you ALL do. Please join the march if you can. If not, please continue your great work that is invaluable, and without which we can’t succeed. Badgers, PLEASE get out the vote Tuesday and fire the first shot into Walker’s paper regime. After his puppet is defeated, we can tell him, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
Shoulder to shoulder,
Strong in unity,
Undivided.
Solidarity, my friends.
Brad