You knew it had to happen: a book documenting Wisconsin’s legendary Solidarity Sing Along’s courageous stand against Governor Scott Walker’s attempts to shut them down. The Sing Along began March 11, 2011 and has happened every weekday since, but it’s only been about a year since the new Wisconsin State Capitol Police Chief began a crackdown against Wisconsin citizens singing in the state Capitol during lunch hour. The Chief has ordered dozens of arrests, issued hundreds of citations, and has tried all kinds of intimidation techniques to clear out the rotunda. He has failed. Not only are more and more singers showing up, those who have been cited have consistently pleaded not guilty to the citations, most of which are for failing to obtain a permit. The frivolous cases have accomplished nothing, but they have bogged down the local courts and pissed off the circuit court judges who are tired of wasting their time when they should be hearing cases involving actual crimes.
To date, not one singer has been convicted for failing to get a permit. A federal lawsuit against the Walker Administration seeking to have the entire permit scheme declared unconstitutional is scheduled for January. The judge in that case has already issued a temporary restraining order against the Walker Administration, restricting them from enforcing certain portions of their permit policy.
all photos by the unintimidated Lisa Wells
Through all the tumult and the strife, the singers have remained “unintimidated”, a term they have used to describe themselves since the crackdown began. It’s a powerful word, so it came as no surprise to the singers that Governor Scott Walker usurped their term when he decided to stamp his name on a ghost-written book. “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge” will detail how he bravely stuck it to public school teachers, sanitation workers, librarians, and nurses when he rammed a union-busting bill through the state legislature in 2011. Walker announced in March that his book is scheduled for release in November. I’m told the dust jacket doubles as a vomit bag.
But hold on. The participants of the Solidarity Sing Along aren’t going to take this theft of their word without a fight. They have decided to issue their own book documenting their struggle in photos and text. “UNINTIMIDATED: The Book” will be issued by the end of October, a few weeks before Walker's book with the same main title hits the shelves.
“Oh, Giles,” I can hear you say. “I must have one! How can I order a copy?”
Simple. Go to www.UNINTIMIDATED.org for details and to pre-order your copy. Proceeds from the book will go to the First Amendment Protection Fund, which is helping the cited singers with court costs like jury fees, deposition fees, and fines.
More details about the book in this story published earlier today in the online version of The Isthmus.