What If They Gave A Revolution....and no-body came?

Yep.... That's me in a granny skirt passing out homemade burritos during last spring's G-8 Summit protest in Savannah, Georgia


from the Atlanta Journal-Consititution June 9,2004
World media converges on Savannah

In Savannah, about 75 protesters -- far outnumbered by police and the international media covering them -- kicked off their demonstrations today.The activists began the day with a march at Forsyth Park in Savannah. Crowds of camera crews from all over the world lined up to interview some of the protesters, several of whom deflected questions about the light turnout.

"This is Savannah, Georgia. It's not known to be an incredibly radical or even progressive place," said August Griffin, a protester from North Carolina who wore a red bandana over his face and a black helmet. Griffin helped carry a large banner that read "Anti-Capitalist."
A local protest organizer who goes by his Buddhist name, Bodhi, said it's no wonder many people didn't come."You had three months of the media and government scaring people and then [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld threw in bioterrorism. It's not surprising people didn't come," said Bodhi, donning a sarong skirt.
"What you see here is the one percent of the one percent who are brave. We will not be scared off."
The New York Times wrote an article in late May saying there could be as many as 70,000 demonstrators in Savannah.
The march through the streets near Forsyth Park lasted about 30 minutes before demonstrators returned to the main staging area to hear speeches.
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The World, But Not Too Many Protesters, Showed Up
By PAUL KAPLAN, DREW JUBERA
Published on: 06/09/04

They held a protest and hardly anyone came. Leaders of eight of the world's most powerful nations arrived Tuesday at Sea Island, the elite resort transformed this week into an armed camp fearful of terrorism or massive protests. The agenda is spiced with hot issues: the Iraq war, world trade, global health crises.
But fewer than 300 protesters showed up in Savannah. About 20,000 police, federal agents and soldiers have been assigned to summit security. So far, that's more than 66 for each demonstrator.
The world leaders saw none of the protesters as they arrived at the Sea Island resort, encircled by naval patrols and covered with guards.
Fixed-wing propeller-driven military aircraft droned overhead as F-15 fighter jets cross-hatched the sky with their white contrails.
Throughout the first official day of the summit, the helicopters came: first the low-flying small OH-58 Kiowa scouts with open doors and armed troops scanning the ground, then the larger twin-rotor CH-46 Sea Knights and finally, the stately green-and-white VH-3D Sea Kings that carried some of the world's most powerful leaders.
Tuesday night, G-8 leaders dined on spot tail bass, fried green tomatoes and grits in the Sea Island cottage of Atlanta Braves President Terry McGuirk, far removed from the public, protesters and reporters.
Some media reports had predicted as many as 70,000 protesters would come to Savannah, raising the specter of a potentially violent melee like at the G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, in 2001, where one activist was killed and hundreds more were injured. With the massive show of force and the remote location of the summit on Sea Island, it became clear Tuesday that this year would not be a repeat of Genoa. There was no hiding activists' disappointment at the low turnout.
"This is the sum of all fears," said Bodhi, a Buddhist from New York who goes by one name and came representing Food Not Bombs, an anti-war group.

Other protesters shared Bodhi's view that military and police warnings about violence had scared off people who wished to protest. Gov. Sonny Perdue declared the region to be in a state of emergency for the summit, and protesters were kept miles from any of the summit gatherings. Groups that marched and rallied in Savannah were massively outnumbered not only by security forces, but also by the news media, who came to the Georgia coast from as far away as Japan and Scandinavia. At Forsyth Park, the stately Savannah centerpiece serving as protest central, 250 journalists mobbed 75 stunned protesters. In the midst of it all, a small group of purported anarchists, their faces covered by bandannas, broke into a surprisingly organized game of duck-duck-goose.
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From the Associated Press:
''Hey, comrades! The revolution is being canceled for lack of interest,'' New York peace activist Bodhi, who goes by one name, called to a circle of 15 anarchists, with their faces covered by black scarves, waiting to march from Forsyth Park on the edge of Savannah's historic district.
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