MANHATTEN, NY. “Today’s bike ride-inspired by a Zapatista call for actions-turned out to be an excellent form of public awareness raising and continued to bring heat upon the Mexican government and the commercial media. The Friends of Brad Will, organizers of the ride, will be celebrating the Day of the Dead tomorrow in memory of Brad. On Friday morning some will gather to discuss sending a New York City delegation to Oaxaca and Mexico City.” - nyc imc article

the ride for Oaxaca yesterday was powerful. i rode on a “sound bike,” a tricycle with a sound system on the back. a woman had burned a cd of music from Oaxaca. about 50-75 people rode through manhattan, chanting and blasting mexican music. we passed out flyers to spread the news. we stopped at three places: the NY Times, the Mexican Consulate, and the UN building. at each stop, someone spoke about the government forces in Oaxaca, the seven murders, and their friend brad will. at the mexican cosulate, two people unfulred a large banner that had a photo of brad with a young mexican child, both smiling, and everyone aplauded with both joy and rage. everyone rode their bicycles with such powerful emotions revolving around us. the police followed us with their motor scooters, and let us do our thing at each stop. at the UN, someone tried to block the entrance, but was pushed out by security. we lagged at the end of the ride, just standing outside of the UN unsure that we had done enough, but feeling somber and sort of lost in the whole thing. the cops didn’t seem to try to push us out, but we eventually moved to keep from causing a problem. on the ride away, the cops finally pulled out their tricks, the cop in the white shirt announcing to the other cops on scooters to grab anyone who crosses the intersection at the red light. we had been riding through red lights–with their assistance–all day. my sister and a few others got nabbed. while i waited with my sister as the cop wrote her a ticket, we saw a struggle at the next intersection. a biker was grabbed for blocking the intersection and there was a bit of commotion from both sides, fighting the usual fight when a protester gets grabbed. one person was dragged away in plastic cuffs.

everyone split up after the arrest, but all heading to thompson sq. park to recouperate together and eat.

links:
Photos: Brad Will Ride for Oaxaca
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/78459.html
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/78549.html
Oaxaca Solidarity Demonstrations in the US on Thursday, Nov. 2nd
http://nyc.indymedia.org/or/2006/11/78560.html

Friends of Brad Will | nyc.indymedia.org | news.infoshop.org