Post by TheSquashbuckler on Jul 14, 2004 0:08:02 GMT -5
HERE IS A NOTE FROM THE ACLU REGARDING THE DNC.
Hi everyone,
At the ACLU of MA, we're working on an alternative freedom trail to take place throughout the week of the DNC. The theme of the trail is "From the Acts of Patriots to the Perils of the PATRIOT Act." We plan to have relevant street theatre at different sites along the tour to highlight the many violations of the our liberties since 9/11 and their historical relevance. Below are rough proposals for skits for different sites along the tour we have planned. We need actors to perform the skits, and we were hoping some of you, or your constituencies might be interested. We are also very open to suggestions about the acts. We'd appreciate any and all help you can provide on this project. we intend to conduct tours of the trail twice a day for each day of the DNC. We'll start on the Monday of the DNC at 3PM where we expect delegates participate. Please forward t his e-mail to anyone you feel might be interested in getting involved. Also please feel free to contact me at 617-482-3170 x 322. Thanks so much for your help.
Peace
Teddy
Freedom Trail Street Drama 6.28.2004
Note: An FBI agent will be the tour guide and so when an FBI agent is mentioned he/she will already be with the group. We already have some agents/tour guides, but we might need a few more.
Park St. Station: This skit deals with the MBTA’s new program of “random searches” of T passengers. Set up a line of people to be searched at the T station. The (Arab) in the line is selected to be searched by the “random” search, he/she refuses to be searched. As he/she walks away he/she removes cell phone from pocket (in such a way that the T police cant see it’s a cell phone but the audience can) and gets tackled. Immediately following this the other people in the line sing Frank Sinatra’s “It had to be you.”<br>
Park St. Church: This skit deals with the FBI’s new power to spy on religious gatherings. The FBI agent is talking to his/her supervisor. The FBI agent says:
FBI: “This is so frustrating I just know that the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference is involved in terrorist activity. The problem is I need a warrant to spy on them, but they won’t give me one if i can't show that there's "probable cause" I'd find anything. Without any evidence my case is hopeless. Don’t they understand we’re fighting terrorists?”<br>
Supervisor: (chuckles) “You don’t need evidence to spy on the CCCC. Didn’t you hear? Ashcroft has now decreed that it's totaly cool spy on any religious or political gathering.
FBI: “Really? I thought that after we botched spying on Martin Luther King Jr. and a bunch of innocent political groups they said we couldn’t do that anymore.
Supervisor: “Don’t be silly. We know better now. We can’t possibly do anything wrong again. Don’t worry since 9/11 people realize that groups like the CCCC can’t be trusted to meet without supervision. Who knows what they might be planning?
Then someone sings new rendition of my country tis of thee (the park street church was the first place where this song was sung)
Old Corner Bookstore: This deals with the issue of section 215 in the USA PATRIOT Act which allows the government to seize all tangible records including library and bookstore records. Here there’s a group of Librarians who are picketing opposing the new rules in the patriot act and amongst them one is tearing up records of people’s withdrawals. The FBI agent approaches and seizes the records from the librarian who is tearing them up. The Librarians screams out “He’s taking your records” at which point the FBI agent gags the librarian with an American flag symbolizing the gag rule in the PATRIOT Act.
Old South Meeting House: This skit concerns the broad definition of domestic terrorism in the PATRIOT Act. Here we have a group of founding fathers meeting to plan the Boston Tea Party. The FBI spies on the meeting and determines that they plan to engage in domestic terrorism. Then we have the founding fathers wearing colonial dress and a Native American Headress attempt to board a ship (cardboard cut out of a ship). The FBI agent pulls them off saying “According to the PATRIOT Act you’re all committing an act of Domestic Terrorism and you’re going to jail for a long long time. And so the Patriots are charged with terrorism under the PATRIOT Act.
Ben Franklin Statue/ Site of first Public School: This section highlight the federal government’s observing of young students engaged in antiwar activities. Here a group of elementary school students mail the president bags of rice asking him to deliver the rice to the starving children of Iraq. The administration misconstrues this to be an antiwar message similar to that used during the Korean war directed toward President Eisenhower. As a result the FBI agent is sent to the elementary to interrogate the students involved to make certain they are not working with terrorists.
Faneuil Hall: This scene deals with the unreasonable severity with which the government has been enforcing immigration laws since 9/11. A Sudanese refugee walks into a government center to report that she/he moved houses twelve days ago. As this is two days beyond the deadline, he/she is deported. Back to Sudan where he/she is killed
Hi everyone,
At the ACLU of MA, we're working on an alternative freedom trail to take place throughout the week of the DNC. The theme of the trail is "From the Acts of Patriots to the Perils of the PATRIOT Act." We plan to have relevant street theatre at different sites along the tour to highlight the many violations of the our liberties since 9/11 and their historical relevance. Below are rough proposals for skits for different sites along the tour we have planned. We need actors to perform the skits, and we were hoping some of you, or your constituencies might be interested. We are also very open to suggestions about the acts. We'd appreciate any and all help you can provide on this project. we intend to conduct tours of the trail twice a day for each day of the DNC. We'll start on the Monday of the DNC at 3PM where we expect delegates participate. Please forward t his e-mail to anyone you feel might be interested in getting involved. Also please feel free to contact me at 617-482-3170 x 322. Thanks so much for your help.
Peace
Teddy
Freedom Trail Street Drama 6.28.2004
Note: An FBI agent will be the tour guide and so when an FBI agent is mentioned he/she will already be with the group. We already have some agents/tour guides, but we might need a few more.
Park St. Station: This skit deals with the MBTA’s new program of “random searches” of T passengers. Set up a line of people to be searched at the T station. The (Arab) in the line is selected to be searched by the “random” search, he/she refuses to be searched. As he/she walks away he/she removes cell phone from pocket (in such a way that the T police cant see it’s a cell phone but the audience can) and gets tackled. Immediately following this the other people in the line sing Frank Sinatra’s “It had to be you.”<br>
Park St. Church: This skit deals with the FBI’s new power to spy on religious gatherings. The FBI agent is talking to his/her supervisor. The FBI agent says:
FBI: “This is so frustrating I just know that the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference is involved in terrorist activity. The problem is I need a warrant to spy on them, but they won’t give me one if i can't show that there's "probable cause" I'd find anything. Without any evidence my case is hopeless. Don’t they understand we’re fighting terrorists?”<br>
Supervisor: (chuckles) “You don’t need evidence to spy on the CCCC. Didn’t you hear? Ashcroft has now decreed that it's totaly cool spy on any religious or political gathering.
FBI: “Really? I thought that after we botched spying on Martin Luther King Jr. and a bunch of innocent political groups they said we couldn’t do that anymore.
Supervisor: “Don’t be silly. We know better now. We can’t possibly do anything wrong again. Don’t worry since 9/11 people realize that groups like the CCCC can’t be trusted to meet without supervision. Who knows what they might be planning?
Then someone sings new rendition of my country tis of thee (the park street church was the first place where this song was sung)
Old Corner Bookstore: This deals with the issue of section 215 in the USA PATRIOT Act which allows the government to seize all tangible records including library and bookstore records. Here there’s a group of Librarians who are picketing opposing the new rules in the patriot act and amongst them one is tearing up records of people’s withdrawals. The FBI agent approaches and seizes the records from the librarian who is tearing them up. The Librarians screams out “He’s taking your records” at which point the FBI agent gags the librarian with an American flag symbolizing the gag rule in the PATRIOT Act.
Old South Meeting House: This skit concerns the broad definition of domestic terrorism in the PATRIOT Act. Here we have a group of founding fathers meeting to plan the Boston Tea Party. The FBI spies on the meeting and determines that they plan to engage in domestic terrorism. Then we have the founding fathers wearing colonial dress and a Native American Headress attempt to board a ship (cardboard cut out of a ship). The FBI agent pulls them off saying “According to the PATRIOT Act you’re all committing an act of Domestic Terrorism and you’re going to jail for a long long time. And so the Patriots are charged with terrorism under the PATRIOT Act.
Ben Franklin Statue/ Site of first Public School: This section highlight the federal government’s observing of young students engaged in antiwar activities. Here a group of elementary school students mail the president bags of rice asking him to deliver the rice to the starving children of Iraq. The administration misconstrues this to be an antiwar message similar to that used during the Korean war directed toward President Eisenhower. As a result the FBI agent is sent to the elementary to interrogate the students involved to make certain they are not working with terrorists.
Faneuil Hall: This scene deals with the unreasonable severity with which the government has been enforcing immigration laws since 9/11. A Sudanese refugee walks into a government center to report that she/he moved houses twelve days ago. As this is two days beyond the deadline, he/she is deported. Back to Sudan where he/she is killed
