Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

On Tuesday evening at the Port of Olympia, 41 women, including myself, were arrested for  forming a human blockade of the exit  of the port to the street. The point of an all-women blockade was to stand in solidarity with the women of Iraq. We held a banner that had a women's symbol and the word "solidarity" written on it.  We were waiting for the riot cops or the military shipments to come through- whichever was first, and it turned out to be the riot cops.

 We forms a blockade by sitting down on the street and linking arms. We were told by police repeatedly to disperse or we would be arrested or have force used against us. We were shouting, among other things, "we are nonviolent, no force is neccesary" "we will not resist arrest" "we are mothers we are sisters we support the war resisters" "no justice, no peace, US out of the middle east". In return, our supporters chanted, "thank you sisters, you are not alone" "sisters, united, will never be defeated," etc.

The riot cops came forward, after about  20 minutes of our blockade. This was the most difficult part of the experience, because we were not sure if they were going to use force against us. Apparently, as a lawyer pointed out to our friend on the megaphone, if you state that you are not resisting arrest, it is illegal to use chemical weapons such as pepper spray or tear gas against people. So, the riot cops dragged or walked all 39 of us away over the course of an hour or so. I was the third to last to be arrested. We all chanted until the end, with the last remaining woman chanting by herself.

Since there were so many women arrested and only one paddy wagon, the last 17 of us were held, in plasticuffs, on an intercity transit bus. What is important about this is that TJ Johnson, the city council member, chair of the Intercity Transit Authority, and vocal anti-war activist was out of town on Tuesday. He had said repeatedly that intercity transit busses will not be used during protests, but they did this night because he wasn't there to say anything about it.

While we were held on the bus, a counter-protester exposed himself to us. We yelled out the window to passing cops and they all ignored us, when finally one told us to just "not look then." Finally one officer walked over to tell him to put it away, which he did, but he was not arrested. This is particularly disturbing because he was doing a blatant illegal act, to the extent that the offender has to register as a sex offender, but he was not given more than a slap on the wrist. This may have been a good thing in some ways, however, because if he were arrested then he would have been on the bus with us.

From the windows of the bus, we could see the action taking place outside. This is incredibly traumatic for the arrestees, because we could see our nonviolent supporters, friends, family, etc. being pepper sprayed and have tear gas used against them. We saw them running down the street to block the shipments that were going out the other exit, and the utter chaos that broke out. It was, of course, very difficult to watch, especially from the vantage point of having nothing to do with it.

We were taken to Olympia City Jail (the same building where you may have paid your city of olympia water bill) and held for about 3 hours. None of us left with charges, and none of us have received charges yet.

We heard from our clandestine telephone calls on the bus and from after being released from jail, the hell that broke loose after we were arrested. People were throwing dumpsters into the streets, unsuccessfully attempting to block shipments by any means possible. A few protesters threw rocks at cop cars and at the US Bank downtown. However, just because of few activists threw rocks does not mean it represents the entire group! In return, the police used pepper spray, tear gas, concussion grenades, and rubber bullets.

The media's portrayal of these events is, of course, skewed in a lot of ways. First of all, most mainstream outlets are not reporting that it was 41 women and three men that were arrested, and that human blockade was quite obviously a "women's blockade." One of the AP photographs from that night shows one of the three men that were arrested, rather than one of the 41 women that were. They also make it seem that the 45 people that were arrested that night were arrested because of the things that happened after we were all handcuffed!

This is the best video I could find of the women's blockade:

A lot of you probably know about the military shipments coming through the port right now, the actions people are taking, and the police brutality that has taken place over the past few days. If any of you have been around or seen pictures/video of the riot cops, they have a distinct air of cyborg-ness to them. Lots of really fucked up things have been happening, such as women being grabbed by their breasts by cops, a gay man overhearing "let's get that fag" and then being arrested for no reason, people's protective glasses being removed by the cops and then being pepper sprayed from two feet away, etc. It's really important to get media attention from this, not just because of the blatant police brutality that has taken place, but because it is important to let the world know that the US will not stand for a racist, imperialist, illegal war. You should definately get down to the port any time in the next week to witness it for yourself.

 

hey everyone! tonight your classmates elise and I are playing a show for halloween! It's at 2629 French Road, really close to Division. Come cuz it's going to be spooktacular + there will be lots of dancing, I promise!

The St. Katherine Ring (ne Αικατερίνη), loved by many, passed away by drowning on June 15, 1998. The ring lived a rich and interesting life. The Αικατερίνη ring emigrated with Dorothy Nichols of Western Springs, Illinois from the St. Αικατερίνη Greek Orthodox Church in Israel sometime around 1994. Upon arriving in the United States, Mrs. Nichols gave the ring to her granddaughter, Katherine. In life, the ring brought much joy to its caretaker, who never took it off for four years. The Αικατερίνη ring lived a peaceful, quiet life, even traveling to Greece with Katherine and Dorothy, at time when the Αικατερίνη ring felt most at home. The ring attended elementary school with Katherine, and passed away by drowning into Lake Geneva in Wisconsin when Katherine attended Greek Orthodox Church Camp. The Αικατερίνη ring is survived in life by its two caretakers, Dorothy and Katherine, and is proceeded in death by her namesake, St. Katherine of Alexandria. In lieu of flowers, please donate money to the St. Αικατερίνη Greek Orthodox church of Israel, and while you have them on the phone, order me a new ring because I've been waiting nine years for a new one!

I am driving down Overhulse by the dorms at about 10:30 PM. I noticed the cops before but I didn't think anything of it because they drove in different directions.  Then, of course, I saw the blue and red lights flashing.

(Oh Fuck!)

They shine that bright light (which I have never encountered), and I am forced to prematurely finish my cigarette which, you know, pissed me off. 

 The officer comes to my window and says, "Hello ma'am, do you know your tail light is out? And that you're going 45 in a 35?"

(Don't hello ma'am me, I'm TWENTY YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!)

 "Oh Really?! I had no idea! It must have just gone out!!"

 (When, in retrospect, It's been out for, oh I dunno, two months.)

 "Can I have your lisence and registration?"

I dig through everything in my car to find it + hand it to him. He's one of those creepily friendly cops who makes you extra nervous because you just know he's up to no good.

 "Did you know your registration is expired"

"What?! No!!!!! I didn't even know that registration DID expire!"

This statement is the only thing I said to Officer Friendly that was actually true. I mean, my mom's pretty on top of things, if a new registration came in the mail I would have gotten it. The only thing you'd have to worry about is me actually taking it from the mailbox and into my car. That's where the problem is.

"Do you live around here or go to school here?"

(Yeah you fucking dumbass I have an Illinois liscence and I am driving on the Evergreen campus. What the fuck do you think!!!)

"Yes officer, I go to Evergreen"

 So he writes me a ticket, not for the tail light or for speeding (total bullshit by the way, I was watching the speedometer and I was going like 37!) but for having expired registration.

 "So all you have to do is call your mom or dad and have them call the department of liscening and fax over your registration."

http://www.tv-links.co.uk/listings/9/8171

 

This is the best website ever.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/09/america/NA-GEN-US-Gay-Customer-Lawsuit.php

 (I like how the headline refers to her as "lesbian" rather than "woman")

NEW YORK: A woman filed a civil rights lawsuit against a popular Greenwich Village neighborhood restaurant Tuesday, claiming a bouncer chased her out of the women's bathroom because she looked too masculine.

Khadijah Farmer, who was at the Caliente Cab Company after New York's gay pride parade last June, said the bouncer ran into the bathroom, pounded on the stall door and demanded that she leave. He told her a customer complained a man was in the women's room.

"I told him I was a woman, and I tried to show him my I.D.," Farmer said at a news conference. "He refused to look at it. I was extremely uncomfortable and quite humiliated."

Caliente Cab Company released a statement denying the discrimination claim and said Farmer's "primary interest" was money.

"There has been no discrimination or violation of anyone's civil rights or human dignity by Caliente Cab Company or anyone employed here," the restaurant's statement said.

<!-- sidebar --> <!-- /sidebar -->

Farmer said she knows she looks like a man with her closely cropped hair and male clothing. She said people usually apologize after making the mistake, but the bouncer told her, "I want you out of this restroom and out of this restaurant."

In important forms, I am "Katherine" and not Katie, regardless of the fact that the only connection i feel to this name is when, you know, I have to write it on forms. If forms, like the census, are supposed to mark my identity, the I guess my identity is confused, or perhaps the context of the form is, cuz I sure as hell wouldn't turn around if someone yelled "Katherine" at me. If I didn't feel like identitfying with, you know, a certain, say racial or gendered group in real life, it doesn't really matter on the form, I'm going to have to check that box anyway. So, no matter what, I'll always be Katherine M. Waldeck the SWF, even if sometimes I don't really feel like that person at all. So, I guess there's that fun nonbinary + nonlinear thinking I learn in college, but the only way it officially applies to me, in terms of Uncle Sam or whatever, is that I am studying this stuff in college, so I earn the identity of "college educated." And even if Kate Bornstein says that, you know, gender binaries make it impossible for anyone to fit the binary (myself, of course, included cuz I don't shave or wear make up or wear a bra, three huge markers of being a woman) doesn't mean that I get to apply this idea to the box I check on the form. This makes me think of My Gender Workbook by Bornstein, because a lot of it is checking boxes. I'd like to see the census folks look at that, that's for sure.