entry three. the first day.

Day one: Sunday, August 24.

Our day started at 6am. Our protest group was nowhere to be found. 

Alex, one of my partners, gave me the word that "they weren't interested anymore", which had an ominous twinge to it. 

We were greeted by Conservative protesters, holding signs such as: "Al-Queda Fanclub on THAT corner; True patriots on THIS corner," blaring any and every pop/country song that featured the word, "America" from a sound system.

One protester chanted into my camera, "Kill, all, the Arabs!", entering a diatribe of hateful speech justifying genocide in this case. 

Of course, my mic wasn't working.

In fact, most of the first day's footage ended up, of course, without sound. The reason is still unknown to me. 

Eventually, it kicked back in when I needed it most.

I captured a conversation at the end of the "Funk the War" march, between a middle-aged female protester and a young, scrappy anarchist. The two engaged in an fascinating conversation involving their difference in tactics, and became quite heated. For a filmmaker's standpoint, I couldn't have scripted something more fluid and perfect.

I couldn't help but feel that I had captured the essence of America in that conversation.

NOTE: I'll be posting it in its entirety up here, as soon as I can track down a Firewire cable to upload it on my laptop.

Next was the second session of the "Funk the War" march. The sounds of marching drums and techno via wheeled sound system gave way to one of the most fun environments I've been in. What ensued was a mostly positive march, aimed at "dancing to end this crazy war" as the super cool ladies from Code Pink were saying.

There was a strong sense of community, of life, amid these protests. Amidst this highly isolated and digitized culture, it was fantastic being a part of something that involved kids, high-school and college-aged kids, getting out into the streets and being seen. So much of our political action these days revolves around blogs or online petitions, where young people can get the same cathartic response, without actually doing anything. (Please ignore that I am writing this on a blog!)

There was a vibrancy there, an unparalleled positivity, that I hope continues. The first march through the streets was so verbally aggressive, leading up to the standoff outside the "freedom cage" at the Pepsi Center. It was refreshing, after all of that, to see kids dancing, drumming, and just in all, doing something fun in the name of political action.