Why Were We Protesting and What Did We Achieve?
"I camped on Bishop's Gate because I believe that climate change cannot be solved within an economic system that is based on growth at whatever cost. I was also there in solidarity with climate camp, a growing grassroots environmental movement whose strength is its inclusivity. On the day I feel we helped create a space which fostered solidarity and dialogue between protesters. I will take away the sense that this was a stepping stone to building a larger movement within and outside of climate camp. I think its important to remember that we were not alone. We joined thousands of people in the Square mile to de-legitimate the current agenda of the G20. Though the protests have been termed pointless and purposeless, it is important to remember that we were all calling for change and some of us for radical change. To coin the name of the march the saturday before, we were all there to 'Put People First'."
(Isabel Parrott)
Why were you protesting? What if anything do you think anti-summit protests achieve? Can we get a comments page started, maybe also from people you knew who were not part of climate camp and who were involved in one of the other protests. I had suggested putting some names onlike Tony Benn but I've had a listen and the speeches were a bit shit so perhaps our comments will be better.
“Bishop’s Gate”—> “Bishopsgate”
“Square mile”—> “Square Mile”
“de-legitimate”—> “delegitimise”
“To coin the name of the march the saturday before”—> “To take the name of the march the Saturday before, we were…” as coining is creating, not taking, afaik
but yeah, good! and probably about the right length to fit in between the longer articles
26 Apr 2009, 18:52
I like.
>> Though the protests have been termed pointless and purposeless, it is important to remember that we were all calling for change and some of us for radical change. <<
Could this be rephrased like:
“It’s important to remember that the protesters were all trying to make a positive difference in the world, calling for change and some for radical change, when terming them pointless and purposeless.”
29 Apr 2009, 01:59
Chris B’s:
“The mood started to turn as the sun left the sky: at first it felt like a real festival; once we were kettled it became a festival of compulsory fun. Only when the visors came down did things finally get out of hand. I find that quite ironic.
If it hadn’t been for the G20 protests I would probably never have seen one of my old friends from Warwick who graduated last year. Thank God for activism!”
02 May 2009, 11:15
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