PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Call for STILT-BLOC to STICK IT TO THE FTAA!
by Moko Jumbie Saturday, Oct. 25, 2003 at 9:34 PM

Stiltwalkers -- time for us to take a stand!

In response to threats posed by the FTAA against people, environment, and culture, this callout announces a convergence of stiltwalkers on Nov. 20th to form a STILT BLOC which will march as a unified contingent and complement other creative protest initiatives. The bloc will pursue a mission of giving heightened visibility to anti-FTAA messages, conducting heads-up reconnaisance (seeing over heads, finding out what's happening beyond barriers, etc.), and, generally speaking, STICKIN' IT TO THE FTAA.

The call to form a STILT BLOC comes in the wake of a serious crackdown on stiltwalkers' rights in the Miami area. City ordinances targeting anti-FTAA protest activity are being rushed through munipal councils in Miami and Boca Raton. The bylaws will permanently outlaw a variety of items which could supposedly be used as weapons, including water-filled balloons, super-soakers, and sticks more than a quarter inch in thickness any time more than eight people gather "for a common purpose in a place open to the general public." (see: Text of the New Miami Ordinance http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/10/109.shtml ; Has Miami Lost Its Marbles? http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/10/78.shtml ; Dragons take on Miami City Hall http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/10/111.shtml ). One particularly baneful consequence of the bylaw will be the abolition of stiltwalking.

The STILT-BLOC is mounted with a special awareness of its place in a long of tradition of stiltwalking history that links a wide diversity of cultures around the planet. Stiltwalking is an important element of collective expression in traditional communities in locations as disparate as the Marquesas Islands, Japan, Africa (particularly rich in stiltdancing traditions), and elsewhere. Moko Jumbies (stiltdancers who ward off evil spirits) are fixtures in many Carribbean carnivals; the people of Namur, Belgium still celebrate their 14th century innovation of using stiltwalking as a political strategy (see: Namur Stiltwalkers http://www.ciger.be/namur/folklore/stilts/stilt1.gif ); and in the Miami area, stiltwalking has come to be a much loved feature at the King Mambo Strut Parade and the Goombay Festival.

The STILT-BLOC
rejects politically motivated ordinances which are thrown together to limit anti-corporate protest
condemns the FTAA's neoliberal recipe to corporatize or to eliminate various forms of collective cultural heritage
marches in solidarity with oppressed stiltwalkers and stiltdancers everywhere

The STILT BLOC is conceived as an open collective which welcomes all stiltwalkers. If you don't have stilts but are interesting in making a pair, here is an easy set of plans which you can use to make your own stilts in just a couple of hours: http://www.anu.edu.au/english/jems/rb/Wood/stilts.html

"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue." - Oscar Wilde

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