where is the march going?

"I am fighting for that ubiquitous, widespread, inexhaustible goodness. I still have absolute faith in human destiny, a clearer and clearer conviction that we are approaching a great common tenderness. I write knowing that the danger of the bomb hangs over all our heads, a local catastrophe that would leave no one, nothing on this earth. Well that does not alter my hope. At this critical moment, in this flicker of anguish, we know that the true light will enter those eyes that are vigilant. We shall all understand one another. We shall advance together. And this hope cannot be crushed". As I ran from one march to the other those words written by Pablo Neruda kept ringing in my ears. As the Climate Day of Action was celebrated the same threat hangs over our own heads. As the hammer shaped balloon was carried over the heads of countless youth, running toward the over-militarized blockade I felt clearer the conviction, and my eyes were opened. Unexpectedly, surprisingly I saw the light as I understood the great common, human tenderness that fills the lungs and pumps the heart of the unpredictable youth. Guns pointing, fingers on triggers I ran along overlooking the futility and stupidity of the whole affair. A giant hammer against a giant army of people armed to the teeth. At that moment, I saw crystalized the normalized violence--how are we so shocked at moments of such unruly display and not be shocked by the disproportionate violent force that is our daily dose?

I sat through the last three days in strategy meetings in one of the main organizing collectives and given that the political landscape of the negotiations of the Climate Conference has changed to the point that the negotiations may collapse we kept talking about the same action (a march or two) to show our support for the Cochabamba Agreement (the result of the consultation with 30 thousand people from over 150 countries). I rose at the meeting, and after acknowledging the local work that has been done and all the efforts I asked: if the political scene has changed, don't we need to change our strategy so that we can ensure that we can be effective? Twenty minutes was alloted to the discussion. Nothing changed. The route of the march was already set, avoiding the military checkpoints and not disturbing the peace.

There were two marches. Not clarity nor strategy. But still feel that our movement is being stretched by the foolish, unpredicted hope of a bunch of anticaps who swing an air baloon shaped hammer against military helicopters and the eye sight of gun barrels whose hands swing a dying world.

Who do I march with? Whose march do you want to join?