| (This post and related posts at... lobuzone.blogspot.com/)
I attended the most recent happening in the Northcross neighbors versus Wal-Mart battle on a breezy Saturday morning. The organizers called RG4N (Responsible Growth for Northcross) made red the color of this effort. Red is the color of stop and you can get red-eyed with anger. Many people featured red shirts, caps, gloves, etc.. One bearded guy hoisted the flag of Texas. We were somewhat connected via unfurled red ribbons of paper and many held sign asking that the Wal-Mart project be stopped in its tracks. Favorite sign of the day-- "Wal-Mart not Weird" |
| Don't arrive too early for a protest, I learned. I got there at 9:30 and the parking lot and streets were virtually empty. I felt like the first guy at a party and wondered if maybe I didn't get the memo. Sure enough, at exactly 10:00 AM the Northcross area was thronging with people, a crowd the Austin American-Statesman estimated at 2,500 people. Not bad. The protestors were high-spirited and covered a cross-section of age groups including parents with children, a college-educated crowd.
We joined hands around the Northcross property line, a human chain of opposition, and easily covered the yardage. A friend commented we were reminiscent of Vietnam protestors at the March on the Pentagon whose stated goal was to levitate the Pentagon using cosmic powers. Maybe our hope was to circle around the mall and use love-consciousness to triumph over Wal-Mart. Let's overwhelm their plan for a generic shopping center with a better idea, many thought quietly. We can do it with the power of our human hands and hearts!
What's it all about Alfie? Are we seeing some microcosm of the broader human struggle in the conflict between the mega-corporations and living, breathing human beings? In a word, yes. Something is going on here and you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Sam Walton... And therein may lie the rub. There is not Sam Walton there. Wal-Mart sprung from the head of Sam Walton but goes on relentlessly like some soul-less creature, a scary monster from a teenage horror flick stomping forward long after Sam has passed away. And though no person or individual really is Wal-Mart, they do their deeds in anonymous, very focused and generally legal ways.
Wal-Mart says they have not been invited to an RG4N meeting, though they have met with several of the Neighborhood Associations. RG4N has snubbed Wal-Mart, like avoiding going to the prinipal's office if you know it's only bad news, and it would be interesting to hear from the group on that issue. |
