Cook and other NION members met up at Seattle Central Community College earlier that evening to get stacks of posters--simple black-and-white sheets with basic info for a week of antiwar actions downtown--and then fanned out. One man hit 45th Street in Wallingford, while another pair tackled Capitol Hill. Cook, a small woman dressed in a parka and jeans, drove to the Ave in her old white Toyota.
While many of Seattle's protesters spent the weekend trying to prevent a war-- either encircling Green Lake with their bodies, or wrapping the Federal Building downtown in police tape--by Monday morning, in anticipation of Bush's television address, most activist groups were scrambling to shift gears and get the word out about a week of wartime actions.
Cook has become an expert in rapid postering. "Wallingford's a staple neighborhood," she says, referring to its wooden utility poles. "The Ave and Broadway are glue or tape." She wants to get out as many posters as possible before she has to head home to study for finals.
Cook zooms up and down the Ave, popping into businesses she knows allow posters. At Cafe Solstice, a cozy coffee shop near 41st Avenue, Cook hands a single flier to the barista. He immediately posts it next to the coffee pickup counter with a magnet, right at eye level. Across the street, at the Aladdin Gyrocery and Deli, she tacks a poster to the large bulletin board. Cook's also got an eagle eye for metal utility poles to hang posters on--both sides get a flier, to maximize visibility.
On nearly every block, someone stops to read the poster over Cook's shoulder. "What's the word?" one woman asks, peering at the flier. She gestures at her "No Iraq War" button. "I'm with you guys. My friend works at the VA hospital. He says the vets are furious about this war." In front of a jewelry repair shop near 45th Avenue, one man stops to talk to Cook after she tapes a flier inside the door. "I'm ashamed of being a human," he says, gazing at the poster. He plans to move back to Germany in the next few weeks--after 12 years in the U.S.--because he's so upset about the war. "I feel sorry for all the people that are going to die in the next few days. The good thing is that there's people speaking up against it." Cook agrees, saying she hopes the Emergency Response protests will spill into the streets downtown.
The group Cook is affiliated with, Not in Our Name Seattle, feels the same way. In fact, it held an impromptu downtown rally during lunch on Monday, prior to Bush's address. In the Federal Building plaza on Second Avenue and Marion Street, dozens of antiwar activists passed out little laminated yellow fliers detailing the Emergency Response, stopping only to cheer at honking cars.
As the protest wound down, NION leader Margo Heights hopped onto a concrete wall and addressed the crowd. "A lot of people still don't know about our plans," she shouted. "Get the word out to everybody!" Activists crowded around her to get copies of the Emergency Response poster so they could cover their own neighborhoods. Heights had to go make more copies, while other activists talked about returning for a lunchtime protest the next day. "I suspect people will be here all week," activist Bob Barnes said.
Another one of the groups responsible for getting people to the Federal Building all week, Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW), had a regularly scheduled meeting at Wallingford's Keystone Congregational Church Monday night. It couldn't have come at a better time: With war slated to start in just over 48 hours (as far as anyone could tell), SNOW needed to nail down the details for the Emergency Response actions it'd helped plan with four other organizations.
Easily 40 SNOW members sat in a circle on metal folding chairs, while others found space on the floor in the large second-floor meeting room. SNOW leaders stood throughout the crowd, leading the discussion and jotting down notes on large easel notepads. The two-hour meeting was all business: SNOW discussed what, exactly, would trigger the emergency protests (Bush's deadline? Bombs?). Then, breaking down into small groups, SNOW members set up phone trees to get the word out, picked peacekeepers for the marches and rallies, and chose SNOW speakers for a Federal Building vigil. They also solicited volunteers for civil disobedience. "We need a list of who's interested," SNOW leader Howard Gale said.
By the time you read this, the Emergency Response--and major acts of civil disobedience downtown--may already be under way. The action starts Wednesday night with a 5:00 p.m. NION rally at the Federal Building. When Bush declares war, bombs drop, or troops invade Iraq, activists will converge on the Federal Building that afternoon at 5:00 p.m. as well, and march to Westlake Center and back. The day after war starts, even more is planned: A noon rally at the Federal Building leads to a 3:30 march to Westlake Center, followed by a Westlake rally. Students around Seattle also plan to walk out of class the day after war starts and march down to Westlake Center. Activists hope the crowds will eclipse the 20,000 or so that marched from Seattle Center through downtown on February 15.
Even if the initial Emergency Response is over by the time you read this, protests will continue all week at the Federal Building. The groups who planned the Emergency Response--NION, SNOW, the Seattle Green Party, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and the No War Against Iraq Coalition of Washington--have a standing seven-day permit for the Federal Building plaza, and a week-long vigil starts the night war begins. Each group is in charge of one day, and people will be in the plaza around the clock--some groups are scheduling speakers, while others plan downtown marches and candlelight vigils.
