The National Sport of Criminalizing Dissent

I TOOK A LITTLE TRIP on Thursday to visit an amigo and see his new digs, walk around Vancouver to mingle with the people and soak up the Olympic vibe. It was to be a fun and relaxing respite from mundane everydayness, and a much-needed break from my always-thick work schedule. It turned out to be a few days of buses, exhaustion, and disappointment. An expenditure that took hundreds from me and replaced it with weariness and a bit of a sting precipitated by racial profiling and state paranoia over protest. After my long bus ride, I was turned away from the Canadian border by customs, who were very concerned with my arrest in 2004. That was for protesting the Republican National Convention in New York City.

Funny part is, yes, I am well aware that Olympic Games go hand in hand with state repression. And we already know Canada is being super-uptight and hassling people like Amy Goodman. But I was going to Canada to visit a compa, that’s it. We had zero interest in protesting. We were looking forward to the vibe of excitement and what we imagined would be a gala aura that might surround and reinforce our Good Time. And at this point, I have to say, all my excitement has simply soured into a continued awareness of the less-celebrated side of these games…games to some, but “games” that drag police power, disruption/negation of peoples’ rights in their wake, and all the while casting a glowing marketing pitch over the whole affair.

I’ll be featuring the footage, fotos, and audio I captured during that little trip (including some conversation with DHS and the Canadian customs guard) in the February 21 episode of News With Nezua, so stay tuned. [UPDATE: View video here.]