Spokane Protest: A Small Success and an Odd Contrast

August 14, 2011 
last edits August 15

The other day, August 12, was a record day for viewers on my blog and Youtube page, scoring already more than 300 views for my new video, three new friends, new followers, etc. Then I diappeared at the same time, leaving comments not responded to and so on. I was preparing for the protest yesterday here in Spokane, in solidarity with the Harlem march by the ANSWER coalition, the Nation of Ilsam, and others.

This went ahead, if not in a way that spurred further news stories, according to two articles that finally appeared, one with video, the other with a photo, inset here. As you can see, they wave the monarchist/rebel/CIA flag in some number (handed out by organizers?), and the real, green, pan-African flag not at all that I saw. That's unsettling.

Our rally was last-minute, planned by my girlfriend when we saw the larger local group not planning anything. She put out the fruitless invites, I made the signs and prepared a flier I couldn't print when my printer jammed. We didn't expect much, but more than the five people who attended, including myself, my girlfriend, her niece and her niece's boyfriend. I'm on the right with the green bandana. The fifth, a great help, was street musician Harpman Hatter, providing electric blues harmonica (just off to the right). We plan to do these regularly, but more general usually.

We do not plan to rage and lynch people and beg for outsiders to bomb our government into submission.  But we did also have a rebel flag. (note: None of the others specifically endorses this flag or my "Libya stuff." It's my own work only) I had it so it was green until you flipped down the panel with the newly-added colors and their associated ideas. This is a photo I cleaned up and enhanced a bit. Most of the upper text even can be read at full size in a new window.

The contrast turned out sort of odd, seeing this same flag of racist, Islamist, anti-Africa, NATO-CIA-supported lynch mob sell-out terrorist flag being waved by African-Americans on the streets of Harlem. I sense behind the scenes talks between Mr. Farrakhan, who's previously shown support for Gaddafi and insightful disdain for this war, and reps from one or another Muslim leader from, say, Qatar.
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Update Aug 16: Dur. Or, as Hip-Hop Wired helped me realize, they were waving the red-black-green Marcus Garvey flag of international black unity, lacking the crescent and star but otherwise similar. And Minister Farrakhan gave a right enough speech, by that. The march was happily shown on Libyan TV. I feel better, and less paranoid. Libya, keep those colors off yourself though!