Several hundred citizens gathered Saturday at Legislative Plaza in Nashville to support working families in Wisconsin and to call for better jobs, decent wages, and an end to corporate welfare.
WSMV reports:
"This is what citizenship is all about," said Maria Brewer, a Hendersonville resident. "People need to take a stand, where they live."
The Nashville rally attracted at least 200 people and coincided with dozens more held in state capital cities across the country. The nonprofit, MoveOn.org, organized the day-long effort, as a sign of support to ongoing labor-related protests in Madison, Wis.
"As people putting together a prolonged movement to try and see change, I would definitely hope for (a response similar to the one in Wisconsin)," said Ben Grady, who organized the Nashville protest. "I don't know that we'll see people sleeping in the capital building, but I would really hope to see that kind of dedication to the movement."
It won't be enough to change the results of the 2010 elections, which gave Republicans control of both the state House and Senate, as well as the governor's office. But it could be the beginning of an organized, sustained effort to bring together those who are sick of corporate welfare and attacks on working families.
Update 8:00 PM Central Time: More photos coming in from the event:
Update 8:15 CST: Blue Jessamine has posted a very helpful blog aggregation from today's events across the country. Be sure to treat yourself to a visit to her diary.
Update 8:30 PM CST: From East Tennessee, more news of several dozen additional protestors standing up against legislation that would hurt the profession of teaching in Tennessee.
“They're talking about doing away with licensure and that's a scary thought,” fears Middle School Counselor Donna Wilkinson. ”We go through a lot of training for what we do.”
(Yes, there really is a bill being considered in Tennessee that would eliminate the need for teachers, administrators, and others to be licensed in order to be classroom teachers.)
Update 8:50 PM CST: From the comments, we have one of the original songs that was sung today in Legislative Plaza in Nashville.
The chorus: "One day our whispers will be louder than your screams..."
Update 8:15 AM CST 2/27/11: Local blogger Newscoma has posted a lovely Flickr stream of photos from the event. Have a look.
Update 9:00 AM CST: DrBurr sends an update from yesterday's rally in Nashville:
We collected $435 today at the Nashville rally, which we will use to order pizza from Ian's in Madison for our fellows at the Wisconsin Statehouse!