The music in the protests: Great – not G8

avui el post no és meu, sinó d’en Hassen, qui també estava a Rostock (i qui per cert estrena el blog NEWRITINGS, amb tot de posts que ha demanat a col·legues sudafricans que treballen en diferents camps de la societat civil per aquelles terres, incloent una reflexió de l’autor sobre el crim a Sudàfrica)… i acabo així la tira G8 d’aquest juny amb l’apunt musical, amb Chumbawamba, britànics que han sonat més amb la seva Tubthumping, tot i una genial obra molt més desconeguda de cançons cíniques i agredolces que arranquen més d’un somriure.

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Chumbawamba took me by surprise. Ex-punk rockers of yesteryear and today, protest singers in the English folk tradition, who reinforced my belief that the music is the message.

These artists do not only support the global justice movement by marching but their music, vocals and lyrics strikes a chord with newer generations not only musically but connects with the lineage of resistance touching many anti-imperialist and anti-fascist songs. The partisans Ciao Bella resonated with us and the version by the group mixing English with Italian was poignant. I don’t know if this band connects with the other artists in our struggle whom I will speak of later, but a quick look at their web shows they have a song that apparently was played at their 25 anniversary show and that sounds as if it’s a dig at many. Is it a dig at the band too? The song Rich Pop Stars Make Good Socialists, whatever its real history, made me smile and reflect on the good moments of being there in solidarity with others, especially the Catalan who was in close proximity.

On reaching the hotel, the reporting was different as I had expected. We do not control the means of media production, despite our small, atomized initiatives aimed at democratizing the media. The CNN and other media coverage beamed all over the world hovers around “the violence” of a few stone throwers and those who ventured further, added Molotov cocktails, burned two cars – and wallah, it justified all the arms and the men. 16 000 police officers supported by helicopters, trucks that spew repression juice wetting the bodies and throwing they around like they don’t matter and others that make us cry – involuntarily. An eleven km fence – probably made famous by Apartheid South Africa with razor wire to top it all, all supported by hundreds of soldiers – was not meant to stop a small group of infiltrator – protestors but was the design from the outset. Pre written, pre judged, or is it prejudiced?

Without dissing the “Boys in Black” – not yet men, I must say there was another side. The thousands were free and anti-authorities and authoritarianism. They came for the vibe, the solidarity and the marches and the music. Usually the likes of Geldof and Bono seem to hog the development story and then thereafter they convene a concert. The music played by various rock musos needed no bodies, especially our leaders who, like BONO said on the TV “that a time will come when people will not need people like us (rock stars) to represent them” (or something to that effect). Unlike South African marches, here people do not the “toyi-toyi” or sing as they run-walk. They are disciplined and friendly and a few play drums – beautifully choreographed and coordinated, chanting: This is what democracy looks like!… what does democracy look like, and the reply, accompanied by drumming – this is what democracy looks like!

The G8 is a rich men’s club, representing some 13% of the world’s population purporting to direct the lives of the immense majority – is the bad face of what this democracy looks like. That they failed to “deliver” which upset many – I believe did not upset those who had no faith in them in the first place. Thousand came to attend workshops and discussions. Sleeping and eating together in tents and hotels, marching together and enjoying in the music and camaraderie. I will always remember many taking many trains from Hamburg to Rostock, on their own free will, reading, talking and going to learn and struggle together. Block the G8, Another World is Possible and one I loved to see in writing: Make Capitalism History.