Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap
Boycott-the-Gap Special Edition: All Hail, Gapatistas!!!
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
All Hail, Gapatistas, Supporters, and Friends!!!
We return from the Border exhausted (at least I am ;-)--but triumphant!!!
THREE MIGHTY CHEERS for this STUPENDOUS GROUP--who, on A21, expressed
magnificent solidarity with our sisters and brothers of Mexico and the
Global South, and who, on A22, Earth Day, outreached to 60,000 people and
Channel 8 San Diego TV News, for the Gap Boycott!!! HIP! HIP! HURRAY!!!!
...A report-back follows this list of upcoming Boycott-the-Gap events:
--A28, SF: MAY DAY--the Gapatistas Re-unite!!!
--A28, San Mateo: OLD NAVY ACTION!!!
--M5, SF: GAP VIGIL II KICK-OFF RALLY!!!
--M9, SF: NRDC ACTION!!!
--M19, Bay Area: Protest Fisher Benefit for Breast Cancer!!!
*****NEWS FLASH: Gap had a front-page article in the New York Times lauding them for having independent monitors at their sweatshop in El Salvador--one of 300 around the world (you might recall that social justice activists targeted Gap in El Salvador about three years ago, and Gap--after much skirting and dodging--finally succumbed to a small degree to the pressure by employing "independent monitors"). The article praises the Gap, but goes on to say "...Ms. Martinez's hours are still long, production quotas are high, and her earnings are still not enough to live on. She shares a two room concrete home with a sister, two brothers, her parents and a grandmother." ...That this article appears NOW, tells me one thing: Don Fisher pulled strings with the NY Times in a desperate attempt to cool the consumer-pressure campaign!!!! Let's keep that pressure escalating!!!! ...On Thursday, I did a Gap Boycott presentation to 50 eager high-school students in Hayward--I encounter 35 middle-schoolers in SF next Wednesday!!!!*****
***Don't forget: Don Fisher helped draft the GATT, NAFTA, and WTO textile rules that paved the way for sweatshop exploitation worldwide!***
--A28--MAY DAY, Dolores Park, 11 AM. Gapatistas and Friends, let's unfurl our
magnificent banners and heralds ONCE MORE for this Fabulous Home-town
Event!!! Organized by activists, this celebration of workers' rights and
Beltane, one of the great pagan feast days, attracts between 2,000 & 5,000
celebrants!!! SF Mime Troupe, Utah Philips, Teatro Campesino, May Pole, Great Free Food, Festive Procession, and MORE!!! FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap has been a strong presence at this WONDROUS EVENT! Call me if you want to be a standard-bearer and don a Gapatista sash!!! WE NEED YOU TO VOLUNTEER!!! A crowd of 2--5 THOUSAND to LEAFLET!!!
--A28--OLD NAVY ACTION!!! 12--4, Hillsdale Shopping Center. Join Bay Area
Action Schools Group and enlighten San Mateo residents about Gap's policies
in forest and factory!!!
--M5--GAP VIGIL II KICK-OFF RALLY!!! Those intrepid youth organizers who
brought you Gap Vigil I--a heroic 19-day vigil outside of Gap HQ in SF--are
at it again!!! The kick-off rally is Saturday, May 5. Gathering place and
time TBA (I imagine the park at Stanyan and Haight at 12 noon for a festive
procession to the Gap at Ashbury and Haight). Call Kelly for more info:
510-465-1279.
--M9--NRDC ACTION!!! 6PM, Metreon Complex, 101 Fourth St, SF. The Natural
Resources Defense Council is having their annual soiree ($200 for the
cheapest seats--but we know where their bread is buttered--Bob Fisher sits
on the Board!!!) Our action at this event last year, at which we displayed a
wall-sized blow-up of a FISHER CLEARCUT, garnered us a front-page article in
the Wall Street Journal!!! This year we're bringing the stump. CALL ME TO BE
PART OF THIS ACTION (number below)!!!
--M19. BREAST CANCER EVENT PROTEST!!! It's more than ironic that Don Fisher's logging company is dumping toxic herbicides on their clearcuts in Mendocino County, while Fisher is co-sponsoring a golfing event to benefit breast-cancer survivors... The link between herbicides, pesticides, and cancer has been cast in concrete. WE SAY, IF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT CANCER, DON FISHER, STOP POLLUTING OUR FORESTS & STREAMS WITH TOXIC HERBICIDES, such ,as GARLON and ARSENAL!!! Please contact me to help organize a protest at this event!!!
A21/22 REPORT BACK!!! REPORT BACK!!! REPORT BACK!!!
***********************************************************************
After a MARATHON of MAGNIFICENT banner, herald, and sash-making, NINE AWESOME GAPATISTAS took off for the border on Friday morning to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) on April 21, and the Gap/Fishers on April 22, Earth Day, at Balboa Park to an audience of 60,000!!! The Gapatistas included MARGOT, JEFF, DEANA, BILLY, CAROLYN, SHERBERT, TIM, LANI, & YOURS-TRULY!
****We call ourselves Gapatistas, after the heroic, indigenous Mayans of Chiapas--the Zapatistas-- who rose up after the passing of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, in 1994--which destroyed the livelihood of indigenous farmers throughout Mexico, when the US dumped its subsidized, agri-business corn crop on the Mexican market--to fight neo-liberalism and racism against indigenous peoples!!!******
FRIDAY. We made it to Coronado Island (off the City of San Diego) by about 7
PM, where we experienced the free-flowing food, drink, and hospitality of
our incredibly kind and generous hosts, Jack and Louise Tyler (note--they
are NOT REPUBLICANS, after all, I was happily wrong about that!!!). Three
meals a day, starting with delicious home-made spaghetti, super-salad, bread
and wine on Friday night, and including Danish and fresh fruit salad for
breakfast, and a packed lunch on Saturday!!! We capped Friday evening with a
walk to the beach, where bonfires were blazing!
SATURDAY. We assembled early, assigned group roles, and were off to the
Welcome Center by 11!
WELCOME CENTER, SAN DIEGO. A teach-in for youths was just getting underway;
it was conducted by a local chicano muralist, who was quite an engaging
speaker (Margot, the group VIDEOGRAPHER, captured some on tape); they would
later join us at Larsen Park. We saw Chie Abad, the Saipan sweatshop worker
turned Gap activist, and many of our other friends from Global Exchange and
the Bay Area Coalition to Stop the FTAA! IT WAS EXHILARATING!
LARSEN PARK, SAN YSIDRO! After checking in, we high-tailed it to Larsen Park
for the first rally from 12--3. As we got close, we saw a SPECTACULAR
MEXICAN FLAG waving in the distance, marking the Mexican side of the
Border--the houses, the hills and Mexican highway bordering Tijuana were in
plain view. Once at Larsen, we assembled our banners and heralds for the
first time--and they were magnificent--we made a GRAND ENTRANCE, and the
rally commenced shortly after our arrival!!!
Attendees numbered ~1000. There were some terrific speeches and we got a
live report via cell phone from our counterparts in Qubec City--with Medea
Benjamin acting as go-between!!! DEANA, our group media liaison, talked with
dozens of alternative media reporters--our 10 press releases vanished within
the first hour. She was a natural at it!!! Margot and others leafleted and
otherwise connected with friends in the crowd, while some remained with the
banners & Heralds, gracing the sidelines. FREEDOM RISING and Art and
Revolution finally arrived with their COLORFUL PUPPETS and costumes (frilly
petticoats!)--they'd red-eyed it through the night, after the A20 event in
SF, but LOOKED SPECTACULAR, none-the-less!!!--AND WERE A JOY TO BEHOLD!!!
Police were on horseback and foot, and were benign during the rally.
BORDER PARK/THE MARCH! Festivities at Border Park had to be canceled at the
last minute due to FLOODING!!! This was quite a wrench in the works, since
many were unable to go into Mexico and participate on the Mexican side,
which was our only alternative at that point! An IMPROMPTU BORDER MARCH was
ORGANIZED, where protestors walked 3/4 of a mile to the PEDESTRIAN BORDER
CROSSING and passed through to Tijuana, Mexico!!!!
At Juliette's request, the GAPATISTAS committed to driving the MC for the
Mexican rally to Playas de Tijuana, where the rally was to take place--so we
as a group sadly decided to forego the march (though Jeff participated in
it, returning shortly after to the US side to keep a prior engagement). It
turned out that this decision was unnecessary--the MC never showed up (she'd
caught a ride with someone else without checking in with the organizers),
and we probably would have been better off entering Mexico on foot and
taking a bus or cab to the rally, as the wait to get back into the US by car
was 1.5 hours (and both car-loads of us were hassled, btw)! HOWEVER, on the
up side, we got to take our incredible BANNERS & HERALDS with us and prop
them against the shameful, damnable BORDER WALL at the Mexican rally
(everyone who entered on foot was forced to abandon their banners and
placards)!!!
***The BORDER ACTION on the US side got a terrific article (and pic--the
half dozen black-masked anarchists, of course!) in the San Diego Union
Tribune on Sunday--all our Border/FTAA issues were well laid out!!! I'll
find the URL and post it!***
PLAYAS DE TIJUANA! These spectacularly beautiful Pacific Coast beaches are
about 10 miles from Tijuana. To get there, we passed the intriguing,
disturbing, colorful artifacts of a different culture: bull-fighting ring,
tenements without running water, shopping stalls... The beach front itself
was sparsely dotted with modest, pastel-colored, sun-bleached stucco and
plywood dwellings, tiny restaurants touting mariscos (seafood) and the
ubiquitous marriachi bands, and food stalls selling coconuts and ceviche
(raw fish drecnched in lime juice). As our entourage headed for the rallying
place on a low bluff above the beach, near a lovely lighthouse and the
outrageous border wall, a North American shouted to us, "There aren't any
Gap stores here!" To which Deana replied, "Their sweatshops are!"
BORDER FENCE & MURAL! The Border Fence is an ominous structure about 12 feet
tall that runs along the border and several hundred yards into the sea, for
a very surreal effect! On the part that runs along the beach, an artist had
created an amazing, moving mural that reads "Alto a Guardian!" ("Stop
Operation Gate-keeper!"). The artist had painted 600 skulls filling the
gigantic letters--underneath each, the name of a person who had died
attempting to cross the border.... It was powerful.
MEXICAN RALLY! The weather was sublime! The Mexican Rally attracted
about 500 participants, including indigenous peoples (Billy, a long-time activist for indigenous peoples' rights, delivered his carefully packed supplies to a representative of these). Many fine speeches in English and Spanish, including one by a representative of Montclovia Rojas,
a maquiladora community that created its own self-sufficient (activist) community off the grid, from which the City of TJ is now trying to oust them! (They were the hosts of OUR bilateral conference the following day!). The rally ended in a fiesta that started just prior to sunset, with wonderful Latin rhythms and music and everyone dancing. Most of our group wanted to head back to TJ before dark, for a taste of the border culture, tequila, and supper--a welcome, if privileged, respite after our long day and travels!!!
CAPPER. After much winding in INTENSE TRAFFIC, through the hilly, high-density, zoneless urban sprawl (chickens, goats, businesses, residences--all strikingly adjacent to one another), containing a seemingly endless array of discount auto body shops, discount dentists, discount pharmacies, and so on, we finally found a hole-in-the-wall that looked promising (i.e., not a tourist dive). When we entered, we discovered a 10-piece, impressively costumed band, playing wonderful (BUT VERY LOUD) Mexican music. The place was sparsely filled with Mexicans. We sequestered ourselves away from the music (to Margot's chagrin--at 70, this veteran of the D.C. jail seemed to have more stamina than any of us!) in a booth that was more like a circular cabin in the bow of a ship! We had elegant service, authentic cuisine at moderate prices, and Mexican beer--and by the time we were finished (~10 PM), the place was filled with Mexicans--members of the ever-narrowing middle-class--who evidently like to eat late!
After that, we headed back to the border. While we waited for an hour and half for our turn to cross, street vendors laced through the cars--including children and women with babies on their backs--hawking their wares... I noticed that the amazing black velvet paintings that had held sway for decades, had given way to glitter-encrusted plaster-of-paris bas reliefs of the Last Supper and other popular subjects, which seemed equally as desirable among the departing tourists. Later, we heard that these street vendors are now unionized--the little that means in a free trade zone...
SUNDAY, EARTH DAY!!!!! NO REST FOR THE RIGHTEOUS: On Sunday, we packed up,
bid our hosts thanks and adieu, and hit the streets again!!! This time to huge and beautiful Balboa Park in San Diego to educate the 60,000 Earth Day celebrants about the Gap Boycott and the FTAA!!! We were RESPLENDENT as MOTHER EARTH--Carolyn in a spectacular BUTTERFLY and BEE-bedecked outfit of fringed fabric that looked like rippling oceans--and HER EIGHT REDWOOD TREES, COHO, heralds, banner, and 12,000 leaflets.... We made up a new song for the occasion (to Row, Row, Row Your Boat):
GAP, GAP, GAP is Crap
And Old Navy, too!
They clearcut trees and kill species!
Now it's up to you!
SEW, SEW, SEW those clothes
For just a dollar a day!
Sweatshop jeans! Those greedy fiends!
It's time we say, "No way!"
GAP, GAP, GAP is Crap
Banana Republic, too!
Boycott! Boycott! Boycott! Boycott!
That's what you can do!
Mary Pjerrou handled our media outreach long-distance from Mendo, and
Channel 8 was dutifully awaiting our arrival (GOOD JOB--THANK YOU, MARY!!!).
The San Diegans were FABULOUSLY RECEPTIVE. For instance, they just melted
when I introduced my self as an ancient redwood tree who had come all the
way from northern California just to ask San Diegans to help save me... The
kids loved guessing what I was, too! ...We gave out 10,000 leaflets, and got
promises from some that the Gap Boycott Campaign would be launched at local
high schools and colleges!!! After over four hours of intense, non-stop
outreach, we packed it in as planned.
...The Gapatistas ate one last meal together as Margot read aloud the L.A.
Times front-page article about our AWESOME, INSPIRING counterparts in QUEBEC
CITY... We then hugged and thanked each other, and--silently pledging to
continue fighting for the planet another day--we road off into the sunset.
Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
chalicenew@earthlink.net 415-731-7924 http://www.gapsucks.org
FOR REDWOODS & WORKERS:
BOYCOTT GAP, BANANA REPUBLIC, & OLD NAVY!!!
FOR PEOPLE & PLANET: STOP THE FTAA!!! http://www.stopftaa.org
For questions and comments please e-mail us!
Return to the GWA main page
All pages designed and coded by ElkSoft Web Design
Copyright 1999 Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap.
