THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT! at Rutgers

Rally held from 12 Noon till 3:00 PM at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ by the central New Jersey chapter of World Can't Wait.

Local hip-hop/rap artists, Solidarity singers, folk singers performed as well as prerecorded music from "Hard Truth Soldier" Paris & other artists album. Speakers from various local groups that work on issues like the antiwar movement, poverty, education funding, & immigration rights.

At least 300 people stopped & stood there for more than 5-10 minutes. The largest crowd we had at any one point standing at the rally point was close to 100 people. This is not counting the people at the bus stations within 50 yards of us, or those at the food court we were across the street from, or students rushing past to their next class.

We gave out over 500 leaflets from the World Can't Wait. We got 50 people to sign up for more involvement & information.

We had a really great sound system thanks to one of the hip-hop artists "Born Wreckless". The younger performers did a great job. The music helped to draw a crowd. The Statement from the World Can't Wait was read twice, in the beginning & at the end of the rally. It was read by Mary Zink. Leo read the WCW information on torture. Mike from Iraq Veterans Against the War did a great job of speaking. Rita & friends from Casa Freehold also gave great speeches on immigration issues. Carol Alan from Coalition for Peace Action here in NJ spoke. POP was suppose to speak but their speaker got held up so Mary Zink mentioned the good work POP was doing locally & around Katrina victims. We also announced our next meeting & invited all to join us.

Overall it was a successful rally. We were the 3rd rally in a row at Rutgers at Brower commons. Considering the turn outs at the previous two rallies & my experience working with student groups at the college this was a very successful rally. Considering we had only 3 weeks, 7 adults (none of which were students at this college), who had never done anything like this before it was not only successful but empowering!

The media coverage was basically non existing. Prior to the event the school newspaper the Targum did run a really great story on what we were planning & why. The local Rutgers TV did come after the crowd left & interviewed people but I do question why they waited till after the rally ended. WBAI interviewed several participants & organizers.

The bulk of the participants were young adults. Many local middle aged activists & members of other organizations as well as fans of those performing also came.

Many expressed: "What's next?" The young adults are tired of protests & rallies that never seem to obtain the goals behind the rallies & they seem eager to know what else can be done. They are looking for direction & guidance.

We have set a follow up meeting in the same area for Thursday, October 12th at the Rutgers Latino Center 122 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ at 7 PM. Hopefully there will be more student involvement.