Colors of resistance
A biodiversity of people, ideals and colors meet up at the main station in Rostock, dressing up to transport their message. “We are so many clowns,” cheers a representative of the Parliament of Clowns. Kneeling down, painting the face of a colleague in white, funny red lips and green eyes, silver stars sprinkled all over the costume.
Chanting for international solidarity, beating drums, playing for attention, the crowd clinches together in groups, looking for associates, getting lost in the chaotic turbulence in front of Rostock’s train station. “Climate Killers” over here, “Liberated Pigs” over here, it is tough to find your group in the lot, to team up with the ones to demonstrate together. Placards indicate meeting points, while every minute new people come up the stairs, packed with sleeping bags, mattresses, walkie-talkies, flags and flyers.
Ages range from six to seventy-five. Little Bela holds up his sign of protest where Pippi Longstocking is drawn tearing down the fence around the G8 summit. “Because she is so strong. She will run into the talks [of Angela Merkel, George W. Bush and the other leaders] and there she will come up with new topics,” he says. Two ladies well into their sixties protest against atomic energy. Most of the people come here with wishes and ideals, packed in slogans, burning within questions: “Make Capitalism History,” “No Power for G8.”
What is your color of resistance? Who is responsible for social inequality? Who gets the attention of the media? Who is present?
The “Kings On Tour” march against the concentration of power within the G8. Stoic figures with golden crowns and purple capes. Pig-nosed in pink overalls is the dress-code of the “Liberated Pigs” protesting against the meat industry. A grumpy green monster leads the “Attac” group, eating up money, oil and riches. A clown plays international solidarity on a panpipe under a bridge. Rostock’s highest houses attract tourist – 16-storey buildings and most of the balconies are packed. Singing demonstrators, interested families and dancing couples accompany the crowd of almost 50,000 from above.
The black block is also present, darkly dressed in black hooded sweatshirts, with dark sunglasses, covering their faces. Demonstrators from the extreme left, marching in legions and propagating an atmosphere of insecurity and unease. The mood is different here, it lacks identity, and it lacks the visibility of the human face. A lack of personality to the protest. Within their block they are running nervously, cheering, shouting, waiting for something to come.
Slowly the first line of the procession approaches the final destination near the city harbor. Here there is no music, no singing, no sound. It is as contrasting as it gets. The quiet before the storm: the crowd is peaceful with their placards against poverty, against debt, against the Orwellian police state of 1984. Sporadically the drums begin to beat, big puppets overview the scene, waving for peace, the eradication of hunger and fair trade. A protester dressed up as an American Indian holds up a single feather, dancing fairies with sharp-nosed white masks celebrate the day and big red balloons ask for debt release. An army helicopter with a huge number 2 on the bottom hovers above, monotonously spinning the rotor blades.
In a moment the situation changed from peaceful protest to brutal bashing. The tension erupted, violence-seeking groups threw whatever they could get their hands on: bottles, stones, wood. Provocations on both sides of the struggle, the long feared clash between police forces and vandals now dominates the media. The images from the fight are on every TV station, the pictures of violence make the day.
But the colorful impressions still paint the procession, more cheerful than dangerous. Thousands are demonstrating and transporting messages. A market of creativity that captures the attention of the observer. What is the color of resistance? What is the message of resistance?
Vandalism and violence throughout the protest, governmental force and brutality are what reach the public; this kind of resistance has the strongest impact. It is the easiest way to get into the media, and the easiest way to get a message across. A day of creative and colorful campaigns is overshadowed by raw lust for violence. A city covered with smoke of burning cars. Bands on stage try to be louder than helicopters and demonstration organizers try to be mediators between the government and the protesters – is that the line of conflict? What is sustainable resistance?
