[imc-st.louis] Food Not Bombs at "StLSpeaksOut" protest last week, and statement on purpose of protest

[Ben West]

Joey Rumpell sent a message to the members of StLSpeaksOut...

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Subject: June Protest - and our purpose

Hello all! We were pleasantly surprised by Andy & Jen from Food Not
Bombs, at the June protest, drinks and snacks in hand! A big thanks
goes out to Andy & Jen, we hope they'll join us in the future.

Some are hesitant to join us at our protests, we feel it's time to
again, share our purpose. Our goal is public awareness.

We stand under the metal animal sculpture in Forest Park on the first
Saturday of each month at 2pm so that people can easily anticipate
that we will be there. They need not be in direct contact with us each
month, they should be confidant that we will arrive. Ben, Joey ,
Jenny, Bruce & Andy do not live near, we drive an hour to attend. This
is not a whim, we arrange babysitters and carpool into St. Louis.
Please stop telling us that you would really like to join us, but that
half hour drive, or 20 block walk, in some cases, is too far to
accommodate. Feel free to speak the truth to us, as we will with you.

Let the truth set you free!        : )

The location was chosen for it's traffic flow. On a bright sunny day,
with a nice breeze, drivers can expect to sit at the Wells Dr. &
Concourse Dr. intersection for up to a half hour!  We take advantage
of that traffic to have conversations with those in the passing cars -
those that want to converse. We do not force any fliers or pamphlets
on any passer-byers. Our signs are plenty. If they want more
information we do give out a small business card with contact info TO
THOSE THAT WANT THE CARD ONLY. You'll NEVER catch a member of
StLSpeaksOut knocking on a car window to force people to take a card.

Aside from protesting, there are other things we do. We make calls to
our elected officials, have visited their offices in person, and write
letters. To elect them, and then stop telling them what we want is not
using our system to the fullest. They are not mind readers folks!

We are currently working on collecting plastic army men for a visual
display in the near future. If you would like to donate army men, or
help with the display, please send us a message.

Public Awareness. That really is our goal. Getting anyone to think
about our current state of gov't, the destruction of our Constitution,
or the men and women overseas fighting in this war for even just a few
minutes when they'd rather be wrapped up in their own life...is the
goal. We don't expect to change the world, but if we can change a few
moments, to make people think...it's positive activism.

Everyone that is angered and/or frustrated with what is happening
needs to do something about it. That "something" doesn't mean you have
to join us. There are plenty of different groups in St. Louis working
for peace, join one! (You can find links to some groups in StL through
our blog, or friends list at http://www.myspace.com/stlspeaksout)
Devote what ever time and resources you are comfortable with.

peace to you, and yours
StLSpeaksOut
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-- 
Ben West
westbywest at gmail.com
http://savetheinternet.org