NOVEMBER EVENING PROTEST, CHICAGO, 2002

I was there November, 2002, police fence posts of uniform and shield blocking exit and
entrance against what could not come: protesters with expensive cameras,
expensive shoes, expensive roller blades, expensive bicycles, expensive musical
instruments, expensive cell phones wondering aloud just when would be the
correct moment to make that important business call.
I invited myself to the party and could not stay.

Too often other people dream our dreams for us.

I was there chopping cotton for one dollar an hour, New Madrid, Missouri.
I was there when the tear gas canisters raged over the ground and sky, napkins with water
and McDonald's emergency breathing facilities, Washington, D.C.
I was there, dogs following at bay, blocking trailheads to the other side of the mountain,
Glacier National Park, Montana.
I was there laughing with Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman at my letterman jacket and I
did not steal the book, Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial, Federal Court, Chicago,
Illinois.
I was there on the public sidewalks during the great grape boycott, Niles, Illinois.
I was there hand stretched to hand, Hands Across America, Central Iowa.
I was there eveningsong, Maryland hill country.
I was there the night Citizens of America who did not understand what it is to be a
Citizen of America threatened castration, Moratorium Against Viet Nam, Beaver,
Pennsylvania.
I was there at the raid of Reba Place Commune, Evanston, Illinois.
I was there the dawn missionaries stole all of the brand new shoes from the thrift
shop, grand opening, Berea, Kentucky.
I was there the night of the breaking of the window glass, Michigan Ave., Chicago,
Illinois.
I was there testifying against the violent takeover of Ash Street, Jefferson City,
Missouri.

And we became who we are in order to become what they wanted us to be.

I was with beauty and could not hold on, I saw the hollow of poverty and could
not open my eyes, I understood the anger of the drug needle, I knew the
scent of scarred tissue, I wandered through cold and heat, I felt the explosion
before the completion of the violent, I breathed the shift in value.
I was there and I trespassed.

Michael H. Brownstein