I have to say I really don't disagree with Barney Frank's point of view regarding the Washington March last week. He makes some great points in this interview with Joy Behar, as well as the interview he had 2 weeks ago with Sirius radio host, Michaelangelo Signorelie.
The march in itself was a great thing, however marching on a Sunday when congress isn't in session doesn't and didn't really do much. I realize the main idea was to attract media attention, but seriously, how did we do kids? We didn't.
A few mentions here and there, and that was it. More than half of America had no idea we had something going on.
Now, had we have had this march during the week, I really feel we could have turned way more heads and ruffled more feathers then what you saw last Sunday. The giant media outlets would have had no choice but to pay attention to our cause.
What I did see at the march were a lot of young kids who were all fired up and ready to go at their first ever rally. Sure, this a good thing. But in Barney Frank's point of view, the activism has to continue when you get back on the bus to go home. I'm not so sure it will.
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I tend to agree with your post, however, i'm still glad we had something happen. It would have been nice to stir up dust on a weekday afternoon though.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Maybe they will have something soon, who knows.
ReplyDeleteI know I commented here a day or two ago. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was helping to organize peace demonstrations in the 60s, we scheduled on weekdays if our intent was to influence the people at the place where we were demonstrating. However, if we wanted maximum turnout, we scheduled on weekends.
Yeah Tom. I'm still thinking we could have gone for the weekday just for the press coverage.
ReplyDeleteFrank is against the March because it put a big red error pointing at Democratic inaction on lgbt issues up to that time. Frank always puts the Democratic Party's interests ahead of the queer community's interests. You always have to take that into account when interpreting anything he says.
ReplyDeleteThe March put queer issues back on the national agenda and is responsible for passage of hate crimes legislation in the Senate. It may also create further dividends down the line.
Having marches on Sundays actually makes a lot of sense. It increases numbers. Putting them on a slow news day gets more coverage than doing them during the week. (If your main goal is media coverage, always schedule protests for noon on Sunday.) Members of Congress are just as aware of the marches regardless of whether they are in their offices or at home.