G20: the sound of protest, batons and ensuing chaos
Friday: Summit protests start peacefully, with chanting, drumming, and even a little Mos Def.
The presence of police – everywhere - is overpowering. Their tactical march and beating batons intimidating.
Saturday: Rain pitter patters at Queen’s Park. Labor unions, Green Peace, Tamils, and thousands of others start their march down University Ave. with tubas and horns in hand. A bottleneck forms where The Samba Squad perform. People are dancing.
Queen's Park June 26. Samba Squad gets people dancing - photo MC
The march ventures down to the the financial district, near the G20 secure zone. Different factions are diverted and dispersed by police. The Black Bloc emerges, fueled by angry chants. A video shows a closeup of black-clad teens marching, one with an ice pic in hand, heading towards the unattended police car, which is set on fire (The video was just removed).
Silence, shock, and shattering glass.
Retaliation. Innocent singing of the national anthem turns brutal.
Methods of protest become more and more desperate, as does police security.
Meanwhile, a film premiering Saturday night Sounds like a Revolution shows us yet another way.
Sure less evident than in the 60s, with Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan leading the way, but people continue to use song, music and chant to protest.
Folk artists on the ground level of the G20 protests, expressing themselves freely and without violence:
