Saturday January 24, 2004 – Baltimore, MD

About 120 people participated in the People's Summit 2004 sponsored by the UB Progressives student group. The day-long event, held at the University of Baltimore's School of Law, consisted of workshops, tabling, informal dialogue over lunch, and a key note address on knowing your legal rights by attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the DC-based Partnership for Civil Justice. The event was coordinated with a presentation on the Bush Administration's judicial nominations the evening before by Michael Avery, President of the National Lawyer's Guild.

The People's Summit, with the motto “We're stonger when we stand together,” provided a forum for individuals and organizations to network. The importance of a movement of movements was summed up by one participant who said, “Our government's inability to fund education and health care is a direct result of the unwarranted Iraq war and wreckless tax policy. Solidarity among diverse progressive groups is essential to challenging corporate domination and taking back our government.”

Summit organizers developed an “Organization/Information Directory” describing over forty community groups ranging from “A” (ACORN) almost to “Z” (YO! Baltimore Youth Opportunity). See Participants: www.ubprogressives.org/info.php About twenty of the groups staffed tables, the number limited only by space constraints.

Two workshops ran simultaneously throughout the day. They were documented by Wide Angle Community Media, a Baltimore group that helps bring media education and resources to communities, with a focus on youth. www.wideanglemedia.org

The Workshops

Producing Media for Social Change: Paul Santomenna, Executive Dir. of the Megaphone Project, challenged about forty participants to consider “What makes media for social change successful?” Workshop participants cited things like “getting seen,” “challenging the conventional media framework,” creating products that are fun, entertaining, engaging, and credible.

Santomenna stressed starting a project by planning the production before shooting any video. Using a “production proposal form” as a guide, he emphasized the need to articulate a measurable goal, to identify the primary audience, to developing a means of distribution, to select a style (drama, animation, documentary), to identify the key message and to then craft a creative approach to convey that message.

He pointed out that having a major campaign tied to the video is also a key to success. As a case study, Santomenna shared his experience with the African American community of Sharp-Leadenhall, which has a rich history dating back to the 1700s. After some thought, they identified a narrow goal of getting Baltimore City to maintain about 25 public housing units and to follow through on helping renters become owners. As their audience, they identified elected officials, City government civil servants, other members of the community who needed to be recruited as part of the campaign, and potential allys in the campaign. Their distribution strategy was to take the video directly to audiences for showings.

Due to time and resource limitations, a documentary style was selected. They developed a two part concept for the video production. The first part described the rich cultural history of Sharp-Leadenhall to give the audience an appreciation of the community. The second part documented a history of government neglect and abuse, which was intended to encourage the City to make good on its past commitments. The result was "Sharp Leadenhall: A Promise to Keep." See: “Gentrify this!” www.megaphoneproject.org/gallery.php Megaphone Project's practical, focused approach bore fruit; action was taken to rehab a terribly deteriorated home days after the video was shown to City officials.

Media Relations: A related workshop focused on practical techniques for interacting with the mainstream media. LaTanya Bailey-Jones, program director for Baltimore Education Network (BEN), shared lessons based on her extensive experience with media relations. She led workshop participants through an exercise on creating a story that was “newsworthy” using a handout. The handout included a checklist to determine if the story is newsworthy, a check list for press releases, a break down of the players in the news media, and other concise guidance.

Bailey-Jones emphasized the essentials, like building relationships with individual reporters in a way that respects their time. She hightlighted the distinction between a “media advisory,” which alerts the media to an upcoming event, and a “news release,” which provides all the necessary information about the event so that reporters can easily produce a story about the event. With these new insights at hand the workshop paticipants are better prepared to affect positive social change.

Non-violence Training: Max Obuszewski, of the Baltimore American Friends Service Committee, led a discussion on non-violent actions in support of social change. He covered topics like the distinction between “civil disobedience” and “civil resistance,” and the “necessity defense,” a legal strategy in which one argues that it is justifiable to break a law to address an imminent threat; the classic case is trespassing to save someone from a fire.

Obuszewski shared numerous historical stories, giving participants an appreciation of the long tradition of non-violent direct action, including some based on his own personal experiences. In one recent case, he and about 30 others were arrested when they distributed 500 fliers on “ten reasons why the US should not invade iraq” at the Towson Town Center. His story highlighted the fact that our mall “town centers” are controlled by private corporate ownership, and thus are not actually “town centers,” where we would normally have rights to free speech.

Because time did not allow for a full non-violence training, Obuszewski described the philosophy and techniques used in his trainings. He stressed that the trainings are open to anyone, regardless of their perspectives on the use of force in striving for social change. This was supported by a workshop participant who had attended one of his trainings. She explained that, although she's not a pacifist, the non-violence training had helped her remain disciplined during a confrontation with police at a demonstration when the temptation to fight back swelled inside of her. Each participant was encouraged to share an experience with non-violence techniques that had a positive social outcome. Obuszewski's use of group participation helped to encourage networking, which was the hallmark of the People's Summit.

Pro-choice Clinic Defense: Many people are unaware that anti-choice extremists continue to harass clinics, try to scare women away from pro-choice health clinics, intimidate them and their companions, and even physically prevent their entry. Alicia Lucksted, involved with the all-volunteer Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force since 1990, led a workshop on techniques designed to assist clients and staff in getting into the clinics with the least amount of upset possible, and to de-escalate harassment situations. Garrett Wright, an organizer with Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) said he enjoyed the workshop. “I feel that reproductive rights and women's health issues tend to get ignored or marginalized at many so-called "progressive" conferences and events.”

Ms. Lucksted provided a helpful “Escort Training Agenda” that described the elements of a full training session for those who have an interest in working on the front lines in support of health clinics. She laid out different roles, such as line defenders, escorts, peacekeepers, police liaisons, and legal observers. The full trainings include role playing to prepare clinic defenders for verbal harssment, and the possibility of physical confrontation. The trainings also inform participants about the federal Freedom of Access to Clinics Act.

Police Brutality: In a workshop on police brutality, Michael Avery explored the causes of police brutality, racial profiling and other police misconduct. He considered these issues in the context of the prevailing images of the police in popular culture.

Based on 28 years of experience as trial attorney, with a focus on civil rights cases, Avery shared his thoughts with workshop participants on what can be done to reduce police abuse. The workshop participants received an expert treatment of the topic by Mr. Avery, co-author of “Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation.” He covered the role of the courts and the various actors in the criminal justice system. This talk was particularly timely given the events in November 2003 at the demonstrations in opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Miami, FL.

The “Miami Model,” Experiences from the FTAA Demonstrations in Miami, Florida: Local global justice movement activist Mike McGuire gave a multi-media presentation on the November 2003 demonstrations in opposition to the FTAA. Workshop participants were shocked by the new information they received, prompting one to say that he would work with McGuire to take this story to every church and progressive organization in Baltimore.

The story is one in which local, state and federal government authorities collaborated in a sequence of actions designed to undermine dissenting political voices before, during and after the FTAA demonstrations. The authorities first demonized the global justice activists in the eyes of the Miami community prior to the demonstor's arrival, then harassed and intimidated them in the weeks before the November 20th demonstration. Authorities unleashed an elaborate array crowd-control weapons on November 20 and 21, and made calculated use of arrests, detention, and the judicial system to maximize the punishment value, and minimize their own legal exposure. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz called the police actions “a model for homeland security.” Several cities sent law enforcement observers to Miami to study what some are now referring to as the “Miami Model.”



McGuire gave gripping examples as each phase of the Miami Model unfolded. He showed images of the violent confrontations with police, which included pictures of injuries sustained by non-violent protesters. Projectiles, retrieved from the streets of Miami, were circulated, prompting one workshop participant to say, “Actually touching one of the projectiles made the presentation that much more powerful.”

McGuire described how global justice activists challenged each phase of the Miami Model, and continue to do so by confronting the justice system and exposing abuses in forums like the People's Summit and Independent Media outlets (E.g., www.ftaaimc.org ). Protest organizers countered the pre-demonstration propaganda campaign; exposed the police's intimidation tactics and countered them with legal challenges. Activists were prepared for police violence by having independent media, trained medics and legal observers at the scene; they followed through with jail support networks and progressive legal teams to help those arrested. In a display of follow-through, the global justice community is preparing law suits for violations of people's civil liberties. McGuire's presentation was so well received that a Summit organizer suggested the UB Progressives might organize a follow-up event focused the Miami Model. Read more about 'The Miami Model.'

Key Note Address: It was a testimoney to the success of the People's Summit that most of the participants remained on a Saturday evening for the key note address, after a long day. Attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard spoke on the topic of our legal rights when exercising free political speech.

Verheyden-Hilliard displayed a deep knowledge and passion for both the legal issues and the circumstances faced by direct action activists on the street. She had a working knowledge of specific demonstrations, such as the mass arrests on September 27, 2003 in Pershing Park, Washington, DC; she is on the legal team that is bringing a law suit in the case. They are contesting the police's "abusive confinement," or “trap and detain” technique, and denial of the detainees access to counsel.

Verheyden-Hilliard also showed videos of undercover police engaging in provocative physical altercations during an IMF – World Bank protest in Washington, DC. She credited Independent Media videographers with developing the evidence that is being used to bring legal action against the District of Columbia Police Department in this case.

Verheyden-Hilliard gave some Do's and Dont's when dealing with police. Police seeking information often do not have justification for detaining you. People make the mistake of thinking that if police are talking to you, you must answer their questions. The first thing to consider, if confronted by a police officer, is to ask “Am I free to go?” Alternatively you may ask, “Am I being detained?” If not, you may politely walk away.

If the police are detaining you, the second thing to do is to assert your 5th and 6th Amendment rights by saying, “I am going to remain silent and I would like to see a lawyer.” Verheyden-Hilliard stressed that police often hold people in such situations for some time, in which nervous small talk often transpires. She cautioned that when this occurs, you have relenquished the previous assertion of your 5th Amendment right to remain silent, and must actively reassert it again, otherwise anything you say can be used in court.

The interest of the audience was palpable. People stayed asking questions for a half-hour beyond the end of the presentation scheduled for 7pm. One participant stated afterwards, “It's scary what you don't know about your rights, isn't it?” Thanks to the organizers of the People's Summit, a number of Baltimore activists know their rights and are better prepared for the next direct action event.

Thanks to the UB Progressives “People's Summit” website for text used to cover workshops that were not attended by the author.
www.ubprogressives.org