[free-sklyarov] A modest proposal

[Bob Smart]

Well, we had our picketing in Los Angeles today, and overall I'd say it was 
as successful as anything else we've done, maybe even more so than some 
things.  At our first rally, there were perhaps 10 people; at this one, we 
had maybe 25-30.

However, that's a far cry from 160, and you'd think a major city like LA 
could turn out more people.  At least, *I'd* think that.

But maybe not.  Both of our picket protests have been done at lunchtime on 
Mondays, and the nature of this city may inherently limit turnout for 
something like that.  For those of us who are lucky enough to live, work, or 
study on the West Side, it's feasible to run out on our lunch breaks and 
march for a while--but for people in other parts of the city, it's an Epic 
Jouney to get across town, find parking (Hah!), protest for an hour, and then 
start the long voyage home.

I have some proposals about that:

1. Maybe we can have many small, parallel actions in different parts of town 
on the same day at the same time?  Not everything always has to happen in 
Westwood (although it's mighty convenient for me).  If it's newsworthy that 
"500 people demonstrated in front of Big Fat Corporation headquarters today," 
maybe it would also be worth a story if "there were at least 50 separate 
demonstrations throughout the metro area today, and the unrest seems to be 
spreading!"

2. Maybe we can do more evening/after-work events, like candlelight vigils?  
People who can't afford to take off for half a day during work hours might be 
more likely to come to something at a later time--and at least so far, nobody 
has been coming out of their offices to engage us, so probably it doesn't 
particularly matter whether they're open for business or even present while 
we're there.  If the point is to make a large crowd appear, that can be just 
as effective in the evening or on weekends.

-- 

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