Street Theatre: Connect the Dots

500,000 people, mostly women, marched in
Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2017.

On Saturday I participated in the Women’s March on Washington in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon along with seven thousand of my fellow citizens. One of my granddaughters marched in Montreal, Canada. In addition to at least 700 marches in the US more than 70 additional events were held in cities across the world.

Street Theatre

On January 21, 2017 the street drama – Hear Our Voice - took front stage from Tel Aviv to Barcelona, Mexico City to Yellowknife, Paris to Moscow, Belgrade to Kolkata, Athens to Buenos Aires, Berlin to Cape Town, Belfast to Copenhagen, New Delhi to Paradise Bay in Antarctica. Over three and a half million people worldwide (and still counting) participated in this time-tested consciousness-raising and unity-building strategy.

Street theatre is effective. It brought an end to colonialism in Africa in the fifties, made civil rights front and center in the sixties, gave a boost to women’s rights in the seventies, and hastened the end of wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Every generation I have known has used street theatre to wake up those stuck in the past.

Marchers wore and carried signs
displaying their message to the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I think history is very important; there is so much we can learn from it. But not by holding on to the recent past. Cultures such as China have practiced street theatre for centuries, but I first came to know of it as a consciousness-raising tool while doing field research on African independence movements. What I learned in Africa during the summer of 1963 was embedded in community development methods we used in the Black inner city ghetto of Chicago.

January 21, 2017 was global street theatre. Over 3.6 million global citizens marched for women’s rights, civil rights, and human rights in more than 770 cities. Beyond the actors in this drama, how many others participated as witnesses, as viewers? Like it or not, hundreds in probably a thousand towns and cities were impacted by yesterday’s events. Streets were blocked. Public transportation was taxed. And beyond those impacted directly in these cities, how many others witnessed this global drama on their television, computer, or cell phone screens?

Women in India marched under the banner of I Will Go Out to protest
the sexual harassment and assault they experience in public places.

H.E.R³.S.

Each marcher chose her/his own costume amplified with signs to shout their message. As with the marchers, messages were diverse. A few that struck me included:

            Women are the Wall and Trump Will Pay

            Today We March. Tomorrow We Run for Office.

            Make America Think Again

            Penguins for Peace

            Respect My Existence or Expect My Resistance

Respect My Existence or Expect My Resistance
- sign carried by a Latina mother and two daughters. 

One that keeps me chuckling was:

Thou Shall Not Mess With Women’s Reproductive Rights. Fallopians 1:21

I had a tiny bit part in yesterday’s drama and I was thrilled to play it. My own sign was based on a statement made on behalf of international marchers. A Swiss representative announced they were marching on behalf of H.E.R.S. (Health, Economic Security, Representation, and Safety).

I adopted their slogan and adapted my sign accordingly even though I felt that by not including education it seemed to exclude an important issue for a lot of women. If I were to do my sign today, I would change it to:

H.E³.R.S.

Health Rights

Economic and Educational Equity

Representation at 50/50

Safety of Body and Spirit

My rain poncho hides my rainbow colored Hillary pin.

Regardless of the Dumpster’s lies about his dismal inaugural attendance and Fox lie machine’s attempt to divert attention from the march, January 21, 2017 was a truly historic event. Part of its significance is that so many ‘fringe’ movements came together to participate in a common movement: Democracy On The March. It is also significant that cadres of organizers were behind each of nearly a thousand marches. Those organizers will continue to be the yeast of a global march toward a new future. Hundreds of speakers and musicians will continue to broadcast the vision supported by these marches. Aziz Ansari's opening on Saturday Night Live is such an example.

Bravo for the cadres of organizers and the more than 3.6 million actors in one of the largest performances of global street theatre I have ever witnessed.

Slogans from Hillary's campaign were recycled
to show support for women's rights. 

Connect the Dots

70,000 years ago Homo sapiens were integrated with the natural environment and honored the feminine principle of creativity. 20-10,000 years ago Sapiens sought to gain control over nature, resulting in patriarchal societies that put forceful control at the center of the universe. As our global population has now reached seven billion people, humanity of necessity is regaining its respect for nature.

Coinciding with the event on January 21, 2017 are other benchmarks that I believe point to a recovered respect for nature. A few I've noticed:

• The Water is Life campaign to stop the Dakota pipeline went viral.
• The car industry is marrying the tech industry in search of driverless vehicles that make owning a car unnecessary.
• Agribusiness is attempting to integrate organic farming.
• Energy from alternative sources such as solar and wind is now cheaper than that from fossil fuels, especially in developing countries.
• Beirut is fast becoming a tech capital for North Africa and the Middle East.
• India is launching an online program at the low cost of $9 to train thousands of solar energy technicians.
• Development in China and India has helped bring down the global number of people in extreme poverty.

I believe the theme of clean energy jobs has supplanted that of climate change as a motivating factor around the world. In other words: hope has replaced fear. Perhaps that will someday be seen as Barack Obama’s most significant and lasting legacy – the leadership role he played in bringing first China and then over 200 other countries to an awareness that clean energy is our hope for the future. 

Accompanying a growing respect for nature, we are beginning to see new bi-gender cultures emerging. I see evidence for this in the number of men around the world who marched on January 21. Some wore signs: “This is what a feminist looks like.” Another piece of evidence is Canada’s self-conscious decision to have a cabinet that is equally 50% female and 50% male.

Pink was the color of the day.

Make no mistake: Koch brothers, big business, and Russia are heavily invested in fossil fuels and are fighting contemporary balance-restoring trends tooth and nail. They represent the past and do not want to see this new world take over. They may hold back the US for a time but believe me, they are no match for India and China, both of which have embraced a clean energy future.

If you have not yet done so, divest of any stock you own in fossil fuel industries. If for no other reason do so as an act of resistance toward the Dumpster and his fossil fuel cabinet appointees. By the way, divestiture is another strategy developed in Africa to challenge apartheid in South Africa. We owe so much to Africa! When will we begin to repay our debt?

We will not be silenced.

The global street drama on January 21, 2017 was a testament that women’s rights are human rights and that our common future lies in respect for nature and bringing an end to the millennia long rule of patriarchy.