So it came as little surprise to me today, when I arrived in Glasgow at George square to have demo/protest to raise awareness of the plight of Bradley Manning, the brave young soldier who faces 136 years in an American jail for leaking the Afghan & Iraq war logs, the Collateral murder video & the Cablegate cables to wikileaks, to find that George square was a deserted building site cordoned off with 6 foot-barriers all way round it,
particularly since I have been posting about the demo on TWITTER, the social networking site for the last 7day, & during that time received several responses from people claiming to be from the Glasgow area, including members of the SSP(scottish socialist party) who have assisted me in my endeavors to promote the protest...
I mean ,at very least, given the seriousness of the implications of Bradley Manning's case and my reasons for trying to organize the demo, you'd think that just maybe, someone might have asked why the square when it's closed off?
It seems common sense to me that at very least someone might have asked did I know the square was a building site and just maybe have suggested I have my demo in a more accessible location where the public might be more easily attracted...
See, although I am a girl from Glasgow , I don't live there, I live around 25miles away in Ayrshire, I don't have TV cos I have issues with the TV licenseing, the laws of the UK tht dictate I must have 1 to watch TV, & I don't buy news papers because I can't really afford on my benefits, to waste money on idle celebrity gossip & propaganda , and although I don't expect people to know this, they are issues I have discussed on Twitter.
Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that its not my own fault I don't know the Square ( which George square is called locally) is a construction site presently, I should be more abreast of local affairs, but again without excusing my lack of knowledge as to whats happening in Glasgow, might I suggest that my present locality is Ayrshire, and I'v been busy with local affairs here as my previous blog regarding the Save the Magnum Project that I did the alternative report on reflects, and strange as it may seem I have other projects of my own I am involved with.
And, when I last attended Glasgow to support those fighting closures of social amenities for disabled & vulnerable people when I 1st returned to live in Scotland, 9 months ago, the square was as it always has been open and accessible.
Sure I consider myself a political activists, but, I tend to focus my attention on the bigger picture and the affects of issues not just in Ayrshire where I presently live or my beloved home town of Glasgow,
I look to how the political climate effects the whole world and people in it, which is why I feel so passionately about Bradley Manning and Wikileaks, because they highlight very important issues regarding Human rights & freedoms which affect everyone of us & have serious implications to our fundamental freedoms to communicate with each other, and express our feeling about world issues and political wrong doing by those who seek to restrict of freedoms & rights, which is why I tried to organize the demo today 2 raise awareness of the Bradley Manning case.
For that reason, as I approached Georges Square and saw the barriers around it I was, without a shadow of a doubt, proper miffed that no one who I had spoke to from the SSP, or via email or on Twitter had thought to mention that a change of location might be a good idea.
As it happens, I am made of quite strong stuff, and I am quite determined when I commit myself to something. I try to see it through and give it my best shot, so despite the barriers I was faced with I headed down to the city chambers building and went ahead with my "demo" anyway.
If I am honest, which I try always to be, I had been a little nervous about the whole thing...
I had decided to to try to organize the demo after what was my 1st day out at a social event with my daughter in so long a time it makes me kinda sad to think about, this as a result of personal issues that have made me something of a social recluse or reject depending on how you might view it, but that's irrelevant to the subject in hand, except to say that I had had a lovely time at a fun day at a local pub on the street where I live, and after listening to the live music and watching the kids enjoy themself on the bouncy castle, and, a couple of 1/2's of lager, I had gone home and signed on to Twitter as usual, only to then realize that it had been the day of the international day of protests to raise awareness and show support for Bradley.
It was then, in a moment of spontinuity I decided I would try and organize a demo in Glasgow, something I had been thinking about for a while, but not having organized anything but myself for more than a decade, had lacked the confidence in myself to even contemplate or attempt.
Maybe it was the pint of confidence from my 2 1/2s that prompted me, I couldn't say, But I decided there and then I was going to organize a demo in Glasgow and promptly posted a shout out on twitter announcing a demo for today.
My mum used to say hindsight is a wonderful thing, and undoubtedly she was right,
I have always been the type of person who acts on the spur of the moment, my mum again, used to advise I should put my brain into gear before putting my mouth on accelerator... something I work hard to do but still struggle with even a 51...
There is no doubt that had I paused and waited before posting on Twitter and made some inquiries regarding the necessaries for the demo I could have spared myself a lot of hassle and been more prepared for what I wanted to achieve... but again hindsight ... blah blah blah...
The past 7 days I'v busied myself trying to organize the resources I would need for the Demo, I was very lucky in that someone I met when I attended a demo in London for Bradley at the American embassy in June ,was able to, and very kindly mailed me some posters of Bradley, unfortunately they had no flyers and the contact links they sent for me to email to get a supply of these kept being rejected by my email server, so with time running out I made one myself adapting 1 I had picked up at the London demo, taking of dates and adding more up to date info on Bradley's case, but I couldn't get them printed off till Friday because of financials, so it was a case of running them off at the local library printer & photocopier which in itself was not with out problem as it, for some reason i don't know, scrambled a line of the text referring to the Cablegate documents "the secret activities of US and other states were exposed."
Anyway, in the interim period I also tried to arrange speakers , but understandably at such short notice that was not going to be easy, so I drafted some words to say myself, should there be anyone to say them to!!!
This was a nerve racking prospect for me as its been so long since I did any kind of public speaking, contrary to common believe I am far from the confident person people think I am, or used to be...having had my confidence severely rattled over the last 10years, the prospect of speaking, for the last seven days has not been without some moments of anxiety ...but I would do what I had to, should the situation arise that it was necessary, I told myself ... as it turned out that was something I didn't have to worry about!
Yesterday, I got a message relaying a phone number of a lady who was willing to speak at the demo... but unfortunately today as I was about to walk out the door I got a text message from her apologizing that she was unable to attend because of personal family reasons related to her children, which I understood , and some supportive kind words of encouragement regarding speaking myself.
Oh well... I thought, picking up the papers from the bedside cabinet,I had stayed up till 5am writing out in case of this very situation! then picked up my placards with Bradley posters and rushed out the door.
To cut whats becoming rather a long story short, at the end of the day, and Demo over , I choose to remain the optimist in regard of today's events, because I feel I have achieved something...
Sure as a demo it was something of a 1 woman affair, however, I handed out around 45 leaflets from the 50 I printed off, and even if only 5 -10 people who took them read them than I've made 5 -10 people aware of Bradley's situation and the gross miscarriage of justice being played out against him.
In addition, some people stopped and I spoke to them about Bradley's case , so even if they go home and think about it a little I will again have contributed to raising awareness for Bradley,
In addition,as a result of today's outing I met some interesting people from my home town, and a number of tourists , some who took photographs of my Bradly display among the flower pots, and hopefully they will have gone away knowing that in Glasgow their are people who care enough about things beyond their own local parameters to make a stand for others in the world and the serious issues that affect us all, including those issues which Bradley Manning has courageously tried to share with the world via his revelations to wikileaks.
If there was one thing about my day today that left me with feeling of sadness or shame, it was when I approached an American tourist who was an amputee in a wheel chair, and asked if I he would like a leaflet, and he roughly looked at me and said he hoped they jailed him...
I was tempted to responded equally sourly and say I hoped they impeached his criminal President,
but I bit my tongue and just smiled as he was pushed on his way, because I didn't see any need to reflect a poor representation of the people of my home town, my city, to any visitor to it, as I like to believe Glasgow is a place where freedom of speech & expression will always flourish and people no matter their nationality or culture, colour or creed, gender or sexuality, ability or disability will always be made to feel welcome.
When I had finished handing out my leaflets I gathered my banners together, leaving 2 in the plant pot for passersby to see, and headed up Buchanan St, & Sauchiehall St in my own little solitary protest march for Bradley, by now not really caring if people thought me a little crazy to be doing so alone, because if nothing else they'd see the poster and just maybe think about it or discuss it later with friends and I felt proud to do so in the name of Bradley Manning, because as I see it, he is a very brave young man who has sacrificed so much for me, and my children, and my grandchildren, in trying to show us all the true cost of war & the true effects of corrupt governments .
& That is why I stand with Brad & today I acted for Brad as way of thanks for what he has done for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment