2008 Woodie Awards
Group attracts more protesters
Helen Cunningham
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Drivers passing the fountain flashed peace signs out of their car windows, honking in support. For the second time this fall, protestors gathered in downtown Livermore to voice their frustration with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The signs, the sentiments, the chants were the same, but the protesters weren't.
On Friday, Oct. 18, the 30 to 40 people standing along First Street reflected a change in strategy for local grass roots organization Tri-Valley CAREs. According to Jedidjah de Vries, the group's Outreach Director, a smaller amount of those out protesting came from within the group itself, and more from the surrounding community. Although Tri-Valley CAREs planned both protests, Friday's community-based turnout was the result of more aggressive advertising.
To prepare for the protest, Tri-Valley CAREs members posted rows of green flyers along Livermore streets and distributed them at the Livermore farmers market and coffee shop Panama Red.
They also sent letters to the editor in The Valley Times, The Tri-Valley Herald, and The Independent.
All this was in contrast to the group's second most recent protest on Aug. 28, when Tri-Valley CAREs members relied on e-mails and word of mouth to spread the word.
That effort made a difference to Pat Skillen, 69, who was protesting locally for the first time. Skillen saw a sign on Stanley Boulevard. and decided to come out.
A group of nine counter-protesters standing across the street, one holding a yellow-lettered sign saying "support the troops," was another indicator that word of Friday's protest had spread beyond the organization itself and out into the public.
"I put my own time into this, more than I get paid to do," de Vries said.
Because Tri-Valley CAREs is a small organization, the work of getting the word out fell mostly to him.
"It's really important to show that local resistance, local voice of dissent," he said.
The signs, the sentiments, the chants were the same, but the protesters weren't.
On Friday, Oct. 18, the 30 to 40 people standing along First Street reflected a change in strategy for local grass roots organization Tri-Valley CAREs. According to Jedidjah de Vries, the group's Outreach Director, a smaller amount of those out protesting came from within the group itself, and more from the surrounding community. Although Tri-Valley CAREs planned both protests, Friday's community-based turnout was the result of more aggressive advertising.
To prepare for the protest, Tri-Valley CAREs members posted rows of green flyers along Livermore streets and distributed them at the Livermore farmers market and coffee shop Panama Red.
They also sent letters to the editor in The Valley Times, The Tri-Valley Herald, and The Independent.
All this was in contrast to the group's second most recent protest on Aug. 28, when Tri-Valley CAREs members relied on e-mails and word of mouth to spread the word.
That effort made a difference to Pat Skillen, 69, who was protesting locally for the first time. Skillen saw a sign on Stanley Boulevard. and decided to come out.
A group of nine counter-protesters standing across the street, one holding a yellow-lettered sign saying "support the troops," was another indicator that word of Friday's protest had spread beyond the organization itself and out into the public.
"I put my own time into this, more than I get paid to do," de Vries said.
Because Tri-Valley CAREs is a small organization, the work of getting the word out fell mostly to him.
"It's really important to show that local resistance, local voice of dissent," he said.
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