3/11/10: Idea #7: Rally

I have been very fortunate to have so much material relating to discrimination as of late. Not that it is a positive thing that so many ill events are happening. It is fueling my senior thesis. Today we held an anti-discrimination rally at VCU in response to Cuccinelli's "advice" to rescind policies protecting homosexuals, gender identity and gender expression. He was ridiculous to think that there wouldn't be a booming response from the students and the community. I will use this to my advantage. The ironic thing is that just last week we had a peace rally in response to the crazy Westboro Baptist group. We didn't think that we would be back so soon to sound out for our rights.

ral·ly ¹ (rl)

v. ral·lied, ral·ly·ing, ral·lies

v.tr.

1. To call together for a common purpose; assemble: rally troops at a parade ground.

2. To reassemble and restore to order: rally scattered forces.

3. To rouse or revive from inactivity or decline: paused to refresh themselves and rally their strength.

v.intr.

1. To come together for a common purpose.

2. To join in an effort for a common cause: "In the terror and confusion of change, society rallied round the kings" (Garrett Mattingly).

3. To recover abruptly from a setback or disadvantage: The stock market declined, then rallied. The home team rallied in the ninth inning to win the game.

4. To show sudden improvement in health or spirits.

5. Sports To exchange several strokes before a point is won, as in tennis. (freedictionary.com)

For my purposes, a rally is a demonstration. "A demonstration is a form of nonviolent action by groups of people in favor of a political or other cause, normally consisting of walking in a march and a meeting (rally) to hear speakers. Actions such as blockades and sit-ins may also be referred to as demonstrations" (Wikipedia). What is particularly important to me is that it is a form of activism and maybe even a performance art. As Americans, we have the right to assemble peacefully, as stated in our first amendment.I came across this idea of protest art as well, dealing with the signs that are made for these rallies and marches.

 Copyright Cassie Mulheron. VCU Counter protest to Westboro Group, Anti-hate Rally 3/2/2010