Leaked Footage of Young Radicals Preparing for RNC in St. Paul
January 24th, 2008 | by Crash the Conventions |The RNC welcoming committee released this video trailer about the RNC protests in Saint Paul. Check it out:
- Zapatista coffee and homemade zines make for a good morning. Our protagonist rolls out of bed and hits the alarm, which is so nicely placed atop her political theory books. Did you notice the coffee she’s drinking is coffee from the indigenous farmers in the Zapatista movement?
- Bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes. Did you see all those bikes? There will surely be a number of bike-related events during the RNC in Minnesota. Saint Paul has a strong showing at their monthly Critical Mass community bike rides. Unfortunately, at a recent one the police tried to crack down on them and arrested a handful of cyclists. But the charges have been dropped for one participant and hopefully the others will have their charges dropped too. Bikes provide a good form of independent, free, and clean transportation within a city. Looks like they have a lot of neat bike-related stuff in St Paul.
- Shields and Stick-Fighting. Have you heard of Bodyhammer: Tactics & Self-defense for the Modern Protester? Sticks and stone may break my bones, but not if I have a shield.
- Food Not Bombs. FNB started in California, but is now an international phenomenon. It was created to fill the immediate need of feeding people who are hungry and reducing the food waste. Organizers take vegetarian food that would otherwise go to waste and prepare, tasty, healthy, hot, and most importantly free meals for anyone who wants them. There will certainly be food from FNB available throughout the days leading up to the conventions.
- The Hard Times Cafe is a worker-owned vegetarian diner, located at 1821 Riverside Ave. They’re open late and the food’s good.
- Bowling at the military recruiting center. If you watched closely, you noticed “RABL” was written on the ball. That refers to the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League, a MN-based revolutionary group with a campy bowling theme. They were formed in the mid-80s and disbanded in the 90’s. They held meetings in bowling alleys and used bowling as a theme for a number of their political actions. One of the most famous actions associated with RABL took place shortly after president Ronald Reagan announced he was considering invading Nicaragua. To make a long story short, a bowling ball ended up going through the window of a military recruiting center in St. Paul.
- And of course the video ends at the Xcel Energy Center, the venue for this year’s Republican National Convention. Our protagonist has really been running all over the city! The Xcel center is right in the center of town.
Saint Paul has a history of revolutionary action and organizing. There’s already a lot of grassroots organizing in Saint Paul and beyond to prepare for the festivities of the RNC. Check the tour schedule to see when the RNC Welcoming Committee is coming to your town.