With 40,000 at a huge rally-party in Madison, we wanted to stay in Milwaukee and see what kind of signatures we could get. We readied the Sidewalk Soapbox Cart, which serves now as our mobile recall office with the necessary accoutrements inside: clipboards, pens and forms, and headed to the Riverwest neighborhood, immediately north and west of downtown Milwaukee. The cart also serves as our double microphone cry-in-the-wilderness and talk-to-the-streets amplification device that we use to lure people in. We were out for three hours, from near dusk to darkness, and we saw a lot of action. It was so busy for a while that we had 6 clipboards rotating among the wonderful people that stopped. It was a street side sidewalk celebration of grassroots politics at its best.
We had our DIY LED "Recall Walker" sign blazing in the urban darkness, and the signees kept coming. At one point, Milwaukee Police congregated across the street and hung out, in a fairly intimidating way. There was a bicycle cop, and two squads, and they just stayed there, watching us. We were using the mic, so I was worried that we might be breaking noise ordinance. After a while, with my crew getting more and more nervous, I decided to deal with it. I crossed the street and walked up to the policemen.
"Are there any problems with what we are doing, officers?" I asked, wanting to initiate the conversation in order to exert a bit of control. "Well, we're getting a lot of complaints about you being here," the bicycle cop said. I then said to them, "You know, we've all taken training, and it is our understanding that this is protected activity as long as we are on public land, which we understand to be defined as the sidewalk." They responded that this was true, but that they still had to see to the complaints, and were calling in to the precinct to figure out what to do about us. Now, my intention in being out was to get signatures to recall our loathed Governor, not make big points to policemen on the beat about rights of assembly, so I said, "How can we work with you to rectify the situation?"
The bike cop, who ended up to be a pretty good guy, asked us to move up the street, which we did. We had been by a lighted intersection, and were getting a lot of action from people who would pull over after stopping. It was tough to move, but we did and found an even better spot. About thirty minutes later, the bicycle cop came back and told us we shouldn't be by the bus stop, which we were near. Exasperated, I said, "Look, we did what you said, and worked with you. We're not going to move again, but we will certainly back far away from the bus stop when a bus pulls up. We'll be here another hour, but look how safe this is with the parking lot here, and all this visibility." I gestured expansively at the great access and egress to our newfound spot. He agreed, and took off.
I was pleased with this interaction considering all the drama in the nation regarding overzealous police resorting to violence against citizens especially concerning rights in public space. In this case, we worked together. Our group compromised a little, and the police worked with us and appreciated that it didn't have to go further. I felt that we ended up with a good neighborly relationship with these specific cops. These are police on the beat, and they are valued by the Riverwest Community. They might or might not be Walker fans (Walker didn't cut their bennies like he did the rest of the state, but many of them marched with us in Madison last spring) but there is no reason to take unnecessary antagonistic stances when avoidable.
And we went on to gather 120 signatures. In three hours. That is 40 signatures per hour! We were talking, laughing, having fun and engaging the streets in a way that I would never have conceived of a few years ago, but that has become a part of my life and identity.
One year ago is when Walker was elected. One year from now, he will be gone. United Wisconsin, the group coordinating the recall, announced today that in the first four days (not counting today) we gathered 105,000 signatures statewide! Sure, this will drop off, and it will get harder to get the numbers, but I couldn't believe how many people came up to us there on the sidewalk and said things like "I've been looking' for you guys so that I can sign!" We got a few middle fingers, but not many. Mostly, it was the "this-is-what-dem-o-cra-cy-sounds-like" bump horn honk as people drove by. A lot of love... A lot of Milwaukee love!
And we are just one little cell in a very large movement. One that was rumbling today about 70 miles west of here, in the state capitol where extremists have taken root, and will be rooted out. 40,000 strong today, and hundreds, even thousands, out around the state, gathering signatures and finding their own identities shifted from passive political subject to active political agent.
I don't wish to make light of the struggle ahead of us, but I'm not sure the Right knows what hit them.