Drop Tuition, Not Bombs

This Saturday, February 24th, I was one of over 100 people who rallied in front of Bellingham, WA’s Military Recruitment Center demanding an end to both the US occupation of Iraq and military recruitment in schools. The event, called in part by Northwest Students for a Democratic Society, was done in coordination with similar actions in both Tacoma and Olympia.

The day began with a Critical Mass bike-ride meeting at noon in downtown. Community members, picketing along Meridian Street, Bellingham’s busiest thoroughfare, were already present to greet the bikers as they converged on the Military Recruitment Center at 1 PM.

Folks then gathered in the parking lot outside the Recruitment Center. Speakers began to address the crowd via bullhorn, with Sean Burke of Bellingham SDS serving as MC. Those who spoke included Dan First Scout Rowe, an anti-war Vietnam vet and professor at Fairhaven College; Aline Soundy of Community to Community Development; and several others. An attempt was made to play some music off a boombox, but it was too wet and cold for anyone to really dig the tunes, so folks marched back to Meridian Street and resumed picketing before calling it a day.

I really liked this event. While all the anti-war events I have been a part of in the past have had nebulous goals, this action actually had a target: the Recruitment Center. The rally managed to shut down the center for about 30 minutes, as the recruiters locked their door and turned off their lights. Police presence was moderate, with several squad cars stationed in a parking lot across the street, but never - to my knowledge - interacting with the event.

As far as I understand it, the action was only thrown together in two weeks, and in some ways this showed. The whole event was rather modest, only lasting about 45 minutes altogether, though this was something I sort of appreciated after all the long winded anti-war rallies I’ve been to in years past.

But the line-up of speakers suffered for the lack of preparation. With only a few exceptions, it was full of the dudes who love to jump on the mic at these events and talk no matter how interesting or relevant their speeches (No offense intended here, just an honest critique. I used to be this guy).

Overall, the attendance itself was remarkable for an event organized with such short notice, and hopefully indicates a larger interest in anti-war actions in the future. At this rate, future events will expand the forms of participation beyond listening to speakers, and will have a better cross-section of students and non-students.

Big up to Bellingham SDS and everyone else who made it happen!