this artists' life: 2011-03-13

Day 1
~1,000 people

It has been over a month now, and as I watch the rallies around the Capitol wax and wane, I am just beginning to wrap my mind around what I-- and all of us in Madison, Wisconsin, the US, and the world-- have been part of for the past four weeks.

Day 2
~ 25,000 people

Day 6

The community of Madison has been transformed by this movement, and the impact won't go away quickly with the protesters. Every one of us has been affected by it, whether because we slept in the Capitol building for two weeks straight, or because we were late for work 3 out of 5 days every week because of swamped city buses, or because we suddenly have something other than Wisconsin winter weather to talk about with every single person we encounter throughout the day.

Day 7
~70,000 people

Tom Morello kicks off Week 2
with Rock for Your Rights

Our local pizza place, Ian's Pizza was absolutely swamped with business for two weeks because of hundreds of calls from around the US and the world with donations of pizza to be delivered to the protesters around the Square. Inside their store, Ian's has a board that lists all of the countries calls had come from, and a note that says "All 50 states!". They received more donations than their employees could keep up with, so many so that they started to donate their donations to other local businesses and to refer callers to other businesses to make donations.

Sit-in Feb 27

I attended the sit-in at the Capitol on February 27, fully prepared to be dragged out of the building and arrested. I was there as much for the experience as for the statement. I was moved and impressed by what the people had transformed our state Capitol into, perfectly organized chaos; a huge open communal living space that was both a statement of solidarity against the bullying of this government and a testament to the ability of people to coexist and care for each other when they are driven by common goals and not restricted by the pursuit of money.

I climbed to the second floor of the building with the number for my lawyer in magic marker on one hand and the number of a friend prepared to bail me out of jail on the other. I milled about with around 500 people as the announcement was made overhead that the building was closing at four p.m., then waited with them for the small number of police officers from counties around the state to ask us to leave. When we weren't asked to leave, or dragged out of the building, I was disappointed at first. I had come for the experience, and it was, frankly, a little boring after awhile to just mill about the Capitol listening to a drum circle and protest chants. But, then I was reminded of our reason for being there and realized that we had won this one. It was suddenly interesting to be a part of that, and I slept that night with a sense of pride for my city and my state.

"WE ARE WI"

That sense of pride was completely deflated the next morning when authorities started to restrict access to the building. That was the first moment, after attending more than two weeks of protests, that I realized that we were just going to lose.

The greatest blow, of course, came last Wednesday, when the Senate sneakily pushed through the anti-Union legislation. Although the move re-lit the fire that was threatening to burn out under the protesters, it was still completely disheartening. What are we fighting for anymore? The fight continues, but with each victory for the other side, this inspiring community is looking more and more like an angry mob to me. It seems that no matter how right we are or how loud we shout, the powers that be are not listening. I don't know what to do to make them listen, and I know we can't possibly stop shouting. I'm just trying to exist in my city now, witnessing this historic event without being swept up in false hope or heavy disappointment at every turn.