Miami Dispatch: 11/17

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We're here, all of us who have come to challenge this wall that has been built to protect the delegates, because somewhere, somehow, our own walls have been breached, and the comprehension of misery has seeped in and made us sad and enraged -- and hopeful and resoundingly optimistic -- enough to act. We know that it will take far more than eight dollars and a ticket to the next town to bring this woman to a safe place, to create a home for her. And yet we also know how simply and easily we could do it, if our will and our resources were put to that end.

I call Juniper. The meeting has gone well -- the paperwork is underway and they will start setting up the tents this afternoon. Curly and Gloria will be there to help direct them. Then Ruby and Lev and I hook up with Susan and Michael and go off to Miami Beach for an action at the GAP, where I have promised to speak. The Fisher family, which owns the GAP, also owns hundreds of thousands of acres of redwood forest in Mendocino County that they have been logging unsustainably. Mary Bull and the Gapatistas have traveled cross country with a giant redwood stump, staging demonstrations at GAP stores in many cities.

Miami Beach is far more prosperous than downtown, and we pass by streets of landscaped estate homes and upscale shops housed in pastel buildings with the rounded curves of the art deco era. It too, seems almost a museum piece of '50s glamour. The police have diverted traffic for many blocks up and down the street near the GAP, and a helicopter circles overhead.

The crowd is small and the speakers can hardly be heard or seen for the media snapping and filming. The Gapatistas have hit on a winning media strategy -- the "I'd Rather Wear Nothing than Wear GAP" campaign. After the speeches, they will strip. It's not easy to get a sensationalist press to cover real issues, which could be one argument for breaking windows -- it gets attention. So does becoming the victim of a shark attack, but the Gapatistas are not willing to employ either of those strategies, instead, they take off their clothes. This usually brings out the press in a new town, and at the end we can see items of clothing flying out of the inner circle behind the cameras. Everyone cheers -- the action is over. Elizabeth shows off her underwear as the press disperse and we can see her -- the front panel says "Protect Virgin Forests" and the back says "Crap!"

A few of us go down to the beach, and strip off our clothes simply for the pleasure of jumping in the water and letting the cool, green waves lift us up and carry us down. We splash about like a pack of happy seals for a bit, then head back to the convergence center. On the way I get a frantic call from Curly. The media are at the campground and he doesn't know what to do. I ask if there are any campers there and he says only one or two. I tell him we're on the way and that it's okay about the media for now.

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