D.C. RALLY STIRS UP HISTORY AND MIXED EMOTIONS

One Nation Working Together rally draws progressives from all walks of life to our nation's capital on October 2.  (All photos by Ove Overmyer.  Click on images for a larger view.)

Commentary by Ove Overmyer

Washington, D.C.--  On Saturday October 2, tens of thousands of activists from all over the country—perhaps 200,000 people— stretched across the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial in a quilt-like patchwork of colors representing various labor unions, races, ages, causes and organizational affiliations.

Rev. Jesse Jackson at ONWT

 The message of the day was "Jobs, Justice and Education." Having press credentials and back stage access, I had the opportunity to overhear the Reverend Jesse Jackson tell a reporter standing next to me, "In many ways this march reminds me of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." I immediately got a shiver up my spine.  Not so much for what the Rev. Jackson was saying-- but because Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) was blaring over the public address speakers at the same time.

Inevitably, the rally was not without its detractors. I heard some media folk ask organizers exactly how this effort would lead to job creation. One outspoken gentleman blurted out, "The problem is, we are in the wrong place. This protest should have been on the front lawn of a CEO shipping jobs overseas."

For political junkies and liberal advocates like me this rally fell a little short in comparison to the 1963 March on Washington. It lacked the spirit of civil disobedience, that sense of urgency and direct action that marked that event 47 years ago. The March on Washington was successful because it had been preceded with a massive campaign of direct action and civil discord. The showing of 300,000 people was a subtle threat that if action wasn't taken to correct injustice, more civil disobedience was on the way.  Plus, there was this guy named Martin Luther King, Jr. at the podium that day.

Most of the speakers at the ONWT rally urged attendees to get to the ballot box on November 2nd and vote for Democrats. In essence, October 2nd was really all about November 2nd.


A few weeks ago, labor movements across Europe called general strikes to protest job killing austerity measures, while the American labor movement was holding a multimillion-dollar get out the vote rally in support of Democrats who have done little to create jobs. Now, it's true that I'm a registered Democrat, but I'm getting somewhat impatient waiting for the Obama administration and noodle-boned politicians to hand over my inalienable civil rights and start creating a better world for my children.

On the surface, the rally seemed to fly right in the face of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's pledges to build a more independent labor movement and get more aggressive with Democrats. Labor leaders have often expressed disappointment with the Democratic Party for its inaction to improve the conditions of workers to collectively bargain, inaction on additional stimulus spending, apparent willingness to cut Social Security, and more recently its inaction to force a vote to let Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans expire.


Talk about conundrums. When the dust settled on the ONWT rally, the overall message was cloudier than ever. The only message that was clear to me was to get out and vote for Democrats who have been doing very little for working people of our great nation.  We are asking for bold initiatives.  Considering the alternative, having the Republicans in charge would be catastrophic.

Conversely, I think the larger message of the One Nation Working Together movement is that there is another America out there beyond those who want to conquer and divide us based on race, income, gender, identity and other social issues. That is the America I belong to.  For progressives and especially communities of color that have been heavily under attack by the Tea Party and right wing conservatives since Obama took power, this was a flashing neon sign saying that gays, straights, people of color and whites are more similar than they we are different and we will continue to fight the good fight to the bitter end for our progressive values.

Despite the misgivings of the politics of the rally, it was indeed an impressive feat for the progressive movement to bring tens of thousands of activists into Washington D.C.. One Nation showed that the left still has the energy and strength to organize on a grand level. We should not be underestimated.  Changing the hearts and minds of everyday Americans must take place if we are going to win justice and those jobs we so desperately need.