Die-in Daze

<www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/11.06.02/nuz-0245.html>

Nüz
11/06/02

Meanwhile, other Santa Crustaceans
celebrated the Day of the Dead in
happier style, starting with a Halloween
street party that drew thousands and
brought Pacific Avenue to a standstill.
(Which makes Nüz wonder if next year
we can officially close the street to
traffic for once.)
Sources also tell us that participants in
UCSC professor Rosa Apodaca’s Dia de
los Muertos class built altars to honor
the dearly departed, including famous
people like Gandhi, but not excluding
relatives, friends, pets and even former
selves.
And on Nov. 2, about 150 residents,
including Mayor Chris Krohn, went on a
Peace Boogie through downtown,
bearing signs saying “No War on Iraq”
and “Real Men Seek Peace,” led by
Brazilian band SambaDá. The whole
thing culminated in a die-in outside
O’Neill’s.
According to organizers of the event,
sponsored by the recently formed Iraq
Action Network, “The die-in
represented the many innocent deaths
of this impending war. Each one of our
bodies is no different than the bodies of
Iraqi men, women and children who will
suffer if this war starts.”
A performance artist dressed as a
George Bush Little Red Devil thanked
onlookers as participants chalked the
sidewalk with silhouettes of the “dead.”
“I sure couldn’t have killed all these
people without your help!” said Devil
Bush, moments before the die-inners
rose up in defiance, shouting, “We’re not
gonna take it any more.”
The march ended at the Santa Cruz
County Jail, after two men got arrested
during the die-in.
“Set them free!” demanded a drumming,
dancing crowd. When it turned out that
neither man was at the jail and no
charges had been filed, the crowd
chanted, “Then give us who you’ve got!”
and drummed some more before
peacefully disbanding.