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Darfur Protest Outside of Coke: A Reportback

June 20, 2008 by ringokamens

 

I read the call-out from SaveDarfur and Dream for Darfur to have a protest outside of the Coca-Cola bottling company in Denver this week, and I decided to go. When I first got there, I was greeted by seeing cops on Coke's property, and they did not look like they were responding to an incident. In fact, they were just sitting there, waiting to harass protesters.

 

From the minute I got there, I was followed by cops around the Coke plant (looking for entrances). They talked to me, telling me I had to stay on public property and I told them I was aware. Technically, since I hadn't been kicked off Coke's property yet, I think I could have used my time there a little more fruitfully. The City of Denver was willing to waste taxpayer money to send two police cruisers, one marked and one unmarked. There was also one circling the plant. I was able to get the information for the two cars who sat across the street and took notes on our peaceful protest:

 

Rick Kyle #96027

Lieutenant

District Two

Denver Police Department

 

Eric Knutson #95070

Sergeant

District Two

Denver Police Department

 

 

 

I have filed a complaint with the DPD regarding their waste of taxpayer money and I encourage others to do the same.

 

I felt dis-empowered by the protest. The group of over 20 had taken a simple “ask Coke to do the right thing” and refused to participate in a boycott of Coke products or the Olympics, instead asking people to skip the Coke commercials during the Olympics, a completely ineffective strategy. Furthermore, they were very insistent that I stay on public property as I was reminded twice where the grass boundary was. The fact that they had a politician show up to talk didn't help either. I don't want to downplay the efforts of the organizers of this event, only ask that they be a little more forceful in further campaigns. If Coke has stood up to the Killer Coke and Kick Coke Off Campus campaigns, they aren't going to talk to China with a few protests. Furthermore, if China can stand up to all of the heat they get for their actions in Tibet, human rights abuses, etc. then I find it hard to believe that Coke calling them out without threatening to remove their sponsorship would do anything about China's support of Darfur.

 

So, how should we get Coke to act on Darfur? Well, we could do a boycott. While everybody else was reading lengthy speeches about genocide, and quoting the Associated Press, I was on the other side of the street handing out Killer Coke handbills, informing construction workers about Coke's role in Darfur and their egregious human rights and environmental record before this Darfur thing hit the public consciousness. Would a boycott even finish the job? It's doubtful, but it's a good start. Perhaps next time a nationwide day of action comes around against Coke, we should blockade their shipping entrances or get the union to form a picket line.

 

The coalition also completely neglected the power of Coke's workers. Before the press conference, I had gone around the back of the plant and talked to the manager and some workers about Coke's role in the genocide. I made sure to touch on their abuse of workers rights and their anti-union tactics such as murder. Workers were really receptive to what I had to say, much moreso than the people driving by in their $50,000 SUVs. One guy driving by even yelled “Get a job!” at us. It's all too easy for these activists to criticize Coke from outside the building and not create any real change. What will create real change is boycotts, strikes, and direct action.

 

For more information on Coke, see http://www.knowmore.org, http://www.killercoke.org, http://www.dreamfordarfur.org

 

For real action on Darfur,

Comrade Ringo Kamens

 

 Edit: Here's FOXs take on the situation:

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=3A7CB4E0...

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