Anne Feeney at the G20!

Please check out this clip to see the kind of hell our awardee Anne Feeney raised at the G20 summit in Philly! Great job Anne!

Anne at the G20.


From Anne's Blog:

"I got to sing myself hoarse at the G20 (the tear gas didn't help, either!). Thanks to a small grant from the HEN Foundation, I was able to produce two concerts and perform at several G20 related events, including the People's Summit featuring the amazing Jeremy Scahill, a soggy health care rally organized by ACORN, and the big marches on the 24th and 25th. I can't say I'm shocked any more to see a city put under marshal law, but it was particularly depressing and distressing to see my hometown so dishonored. Over 4000 cops from around the country occupied my hometown and they brought a lot of expensive and dangerous coptoys ($20 million worth!) with them. I knew they'd find some excuse to use them all, and they did. Curious students and aimless bystanders alike in the university district were caught up in the hail of rubber bullets, pepper spray, OC spray, tear gas and batons wielded by marauding macho police.


The city of Pittsburgh refused permits to assemble at every opportunity. On September 24th 1000 folks gathered in Arsenal Park and asserted their First Amendment permit and began marching out of the park toward town.


The park was completely surrounded by cops from all over the country in full riot gear. They outnumbered the protestors. The cops gave up on what they were calling "kettling" us and let us leave the park. Moments later they began playing a tape recorded message ordering us to disperse. A helicopter overhead directed the cops to small groups of kids who were then peppersprayed and teargassed. It was repulsive.


The cops had been given the green light to behave this way by our complicit local leaders (Senator Jim Ferlo and City Council President Doug Shields were great, though) and courts who okayed their harassment in the days prior to this march. The police lawlessness just intensified over the next 48 hours. No group of kids was safe from their brutality.

In 1919 when my grandfather was organizing the "Great Steel Strike," historian William Z Foster observed - "The Constitution of the United States provides that not even Congress may abridge the rights of free speech and free assembly... however, in Pennsylvania the Constitution is considered as some sort of humorous essay." Some things don't change much!


There were a lot of creative responses to the Pittsburgh Police State. Here's a link to a brilliant video that features among other things, my favorites - the Hula Hoopers for Hope..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4bleBGOGy4&feature=player_embedded

All told we spent in excess of $20,000,000 on security. The approximately 10,000 people who showed up to protest the G20 did a combined $20 - 50,000 of damage (according to the Police). We coulda bought a LOT of windows with the remaining $19,950,000 ... Meanwhile, the G20 will implement policies that will cause massive environmental degradation, starvation, shortages, riots, unemployment, fiscal instability and the elimination of essential social services around the world... and no cop will be on hand to stop that pillaging.

I sure hope that another world is possible."