“Where were you when the world stopped turning, on that September day?”
Well Alan Jackson, I was in my living room watching the advancement of the police state and the ramping up of colonization in the Middle East. Twenty years later I found myself in a very different place. This year I found myself in the Empire’s Capitol.
Like most of us, infamous Boog Boi and Unity activist, Magnus Panvidya, was tired of seeing endless war. Unlike most of us, he and a group of five organizers including Andrew Zigmud and Kimber Maddox decided to do something about it. With the rallying call, “End the Damn Wars!” he reached out to all social media. They publicly called out big accounts asking them to do something other than play Twitter warrior. The internet responded with a protest in multiple US states and even one in the UK.
This did not come without cost. A week before the event several Tankies doxxed Magnus. They linked his name, his mothers name, and his address. They spoke about how this is actually a racist, white supremacist rally. They even went as far as to make a counter “Start the Damn Wars” Twitter page.
On 9/11, some Twitter friends and I made our way to DC. The place was packed. Apparently, people thought it was appropriate to hold the “Fiesta DC 2021 Festival” on that day right next to the park with the protest. When asked, Magnus informed us that when he reserved the park if there were any other events. They informed him there wouldn’t be. Obviously they were incorrect.
This didn’t stop the energy of the crowd or speakers. With bullhorns in hand, speakers Magnus, Medea Benjamin of “Code Pink”, Garland Nixon, Zigmund, Scott Horton, “Peoples Party” Paula Jean, Jordan from DC Metro4Assange, and Max Blumenthal gave their message. They spoke about the history of our involvement in the Middle East, the sanctions on other countries, wrongful imprisonment of whistleblowers like Julian Assange, the destruction we have left from 20 years of war, and unity against the military industrial complex.
We then took to the streets. Never had I imagined that I would have opportunity and privilege to yell “Fuck the FBI” in front of the J Edgar Hoover FBI building. What an honor as a former enforcer of the state. Most of the onlookers did not attempt to disrupt the protest. However there was one man who felt it necessary to yell, “You will lose” several times. Many nodded their heads in agreement and a group of skaters joined in the chant. We also chanted to end drone tours, freeing Julien Assange and Daniel Hale, and fuck the last four Presidents.
Once we arrived at the White House, we discovered the park entrance was conveniently closed, even though the march was scheduled to end in front of the building. Once the crowd somewhat dispersed, the police decided to reopen the park. I guess we just had bad luck. Nothing suspicious there.
An after party was held at a local bar where Spike Cohen arrived. He met with most individually and discussed politics. He also explained how he just came from a crab boil and how he learned he could eat 10 crabs in a row.
Once the protest was over, the inevitable backlash began. A flood of critics found the comment section and discussed how we didn’t care about women in Afghanistan, were anti-semetic, and how the wars are already over. Some Libertarians said they would have done it differently. Some Post Libertarians said it was a waste of time and how it didn’t change anything.
Whether or not the protest was a success is measured by the individual. One thing that was important was seeing who can put politics aside to have an important conversation about our government’s endless campaigns of slaughter. That in my opinion is worth considering. Although we rallied and shouted at the doors of blood soaked monsters, the wars are far from over. Events like this don’t come with the expectation of ending the state’s machinery of war for profit and control overnight. These things come from a lack of the public’s blind acceptance or worse, support of endless wars that are sold to us via starry eyed flag waving, lies about the actual danger posed to us and our plans to accomplish what we are fighting overseas for.
As people who seek a peaceful society for ourselves and our children, we need to spread the idea that an Anti-War movement is more relevant than ever at the tail end of two decades of war. We cannot ever accept a conflict like this again and whatever your politics, it’s a relief in this era of tribalism good people can still come together and say: “End the Damn Wars!”
Follow @EndTheDamnWars on Twitter to stay up to date on their activism.
You can also find the author, J Stark, on Twitter, Instagram and listen to him on his podcast: The Flintlock Faction