For an issue that no one cares about, it's interesting to watch the streets fill up in a day and age of online petitions, chain e-mails, and incessant bickering by talking heads/ bloggers. How many issues get people to the streets? Ok, now how many issues get 10k, 20k, 50k, 100k on the streets?
Issues that are long-overdue to be addressed.
Javier Sicilia continued his epic, one-man-against-the-system revolution. Anyone who is, or claims to be, interested in peace and justice has to be inspired by this man.
Demonstrators, holding placards saying "No more blood!" and "We're fed up!", urged the conservative Calderon to drop his military-led strategy.
"Mexicans can't take more of this fear. This country is overwhelmed by violence as never before," said Maricarmen Luna, a 36-year-old teacher, as she marched toward the main plaza, or Zocalo.
Mexican media cited Mexico City police estimates of 90,000 in the plaza, though organizers put the number at more than double that.
The gathering was led by poet Javier Sicilia, whose 24-year-old son and six other people were seized and slain by gunmen in Cuernavaca in March. Since then, the elder Sicilia has been a frequent presence on Mexican television, criticizing Mexican leaders across party lines and labeling the drug war a failure.
Javier Sicilia should be awared a Nobel Peace Prize eventually. His work has been nothing short of amazing.
Mexico's struggles aren't often discussed or paid attention to on this side of the border. Americans have cut back on their vacations to Mexico, and that's about the extent to which we've addressed the U.S-consumer-driven drug war and military occupation in Mexico.
Mexican media tracked Sicilia and a core group of several hundred marchers who set out Thursday from the city of Cuernavaca, about 60 miles south.
By Sunday, the gathering had grown into a happening, with room for just about anyone who had a strong opinion. Along with left-leaning political activists, the crowd included peace-minded school groups, disgruntled electrical workers, advocates of women's rights, critics of neo-liberal economics, drum groups and hula-hoop dancers.
Amazing story. LA Times picked it up here.
Toronto was also very busy this past weekend.
Downtown Toronto was flooded on May 7 with tens of thousands of pot-smoking protestors during the 2011 Global Marijuana March and Toronto Freedom Festival, which combined is one of the largest annual gatherings of marijuana users in the world.
The city's double-dose of cannabis celebrations starts at Queen's Park North with the Toronto Freedom Festival, where an estimated 30,000 - 50,000 people gathered this year to repeat calls for real changes to the country's marijuana laws.
The festival becomes a protest march through the streets at 2pm as part of the Global Marijuana March, which happens every year in cities around the world.
Given that Canada's laws are less absurd that America's, it's interesting that their culture is less afraid to stand up to authoritarian stupidity. And not just online, but on the streets. It goes to just underscore how American political apathy is a defining trait for our entire body politic[except those voting seniors that Jon Stewart said we need to scare], not just marijuana users who voted the wrong way on prop 19, or didn't vote in 2010. American culture was described pretty well by this top-rated post at online powerhouse reddit.com.
drcnet.org on the protests in Mexico:
Calderon has a very big problem here, and it's called the drug war doesn't work, dumbass. You can wait and wait some more, but there will be no redemption for the indignant drug warrior who just keeps doubling down as the bodies pile ever higher. He staked his legacy on a lot of money and bad advice from Washington, D.C., and now it's becoming clear to a hell of a lot of people that the reward for their sacrifice is something much uglier than they started with.
It will be interesting to watch as Calderon attempts to get re-elected on a platform of unrelenting urban warfare.
It will be interesting to see how future candidates for the Mexican Presidency grapple with the issue now that waiving the drug war battle flag will be instant political suicide. The question becomes how much reform is viable over U.S. objections, and how much influence will the drug lords themselves manage to exert over Mexican drug policy.
Two states have already mandated that you pee in a cup to get scraps from what remains of our so-called "social safety net". Do Canadians pee in cups in order to see their doctor or receive social services? I'm guessing, "no". Unfortunately, the recent Canadian elections were won by Harper and the conservatives, so U.S-style mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession, including marijuana, will be on Harper's agenda.