PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

August 20th 2005: Call for a Zombie Bloc in Pittsburgh
by brains Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005 at 1:02 PM
zombiebloc@hotmail.com

Saturday, August 20: Meet at 10 am at the dinosaur in front of Carnegie Library (Forbes Ave near Bellefield Ave) to march to the Oakland Recruitment Office. The time has come for the living to rise…

Saturday, August 20: Meet at 10 am at the dinosaur in front of Carnegie Library (Forbes Ave near Bellefield Ave) to march to the Oakland Recruitment Office.

The time has come for the living to rise…

The smell of death is all around us… look beyond the government rhetoric and media lies and you’ll see a harrowing vision of our modern-day world where the walking dead roam to kill in the deserts of Iraq and roam to feed and multiply as they recruit in the schools of Pittsburgh. All the while the “living dead” try to lead normal lives behind self-made walls of ignorance and fear. A new society is being built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists who loot and hoard the riches of the world inside their skyscrapers, high above the violence they direct and incite below. But inside and outside the city walls, anarchy is on the rise. The truly alive are fighting back, against the death surrounding them. On August 20, with the very survival of our world at stake, the last of the living are the free thinkers and free spirits of all types; anti-war individuals, anarchists, radicals, artists, and progressives are being called into action to protect our town, and the world from the armies of the dead…

On August 20, anti-war activists in Pittsburgh are calling for a day of action to shutdown military recruitment in the city. In full support of this goal we are calling for a zombie contingent to join the march. The dead shall confront death. We need your participation; paint your faces, wear all black or camo or mourning shrouds, hollow your eyes, drip your blood, bear your teeth, wear your gore. Time to let recruiters know there are already too many dead, too many suffering, and too many lies. Our brains are not for eating!

Also welcome to help defend the steelcity from Bush's armies of the dead: flags, banners, zombie bikes, coffins, and street theatre.

For more information:
zombiebloc@hotmail.com

Overall August 20 website, logistics, and information:
http://www.organizepittsburgh.org
pog@mutualaid.org
POG c/o TMC
5125 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15224

disrespect
by . Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 at 9:18 AM

Disrepectful, don't you think? Are you zombies to appeal to the military families in the area? Or the people that may have a loved one overseas? Or what about the anti-war folks everywhere? I guess what you're saying is to not go to Iraq, because you may come back a zombie. Thoughtful, especially to those with people in the line of fire. Disrespectful to any service personel killed in duty, thats perfectly clear. I guess the civilian casualties result in zombies too, which seems a healthy outlook on war.

You're really honoring the tens of thousands killed by this countries actions by equating them to horror film zombies.

Quite childish and disrespectful. From one Pittsburgh anarchist to another, you've missed the boat on this one.

I AGREE
by savage henry Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 at 10:10 AM

Even the padded bloc was a better idea

don't agree
by gentle henry Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 at 10:37 AM

I guess I simply don't agree with the negative poster above. This is the result and reality of war. People are coming back messed up in the head. People are out there so desperate to recruit people for quotas that they are like the dead. The zombie theme strikes me as a creative play on the typical protest themes. I'd rather something like this than puppets. I know a message that is shut down recruitment is offense to some. Some believe we should support and honor the troops there by making things as easy for them as possible. Send care packages, get them more armor, increase the size of the military, and don't discourage others from enlisting because that might mean they stay for longer. I just can't agree with that way. I can only support soldiers as humans, not as killers. I won't make it easier for them to kill other human beings and I'm sorry if trying to stop this war and pointing out what war does makes things harder for them, but that might just have to be the way it is.

what about people with loved ones overseas
by don't assume Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 at 4:41 PM

for someone who knows people in iraq, who worries about them every day, and who supports their choices to make their own life decisions, i still believe this war should be criticized, recruitment centers should be shutdown, and dissent should be voiced using any and all means necessary. and if that include actions something some people don't like, so be it.

i think it's possible to give your support to soldiers over in iraq or who are getting home and still do what we can here to have the rest sent home and others not sent in the first place. and i DO think there's a damn good chance some of them will come home like "zombies." completely screwed in the head because of things they've seen, had to do, have happened to them. or maybe zombies refer to way the american people spout mindless patriotic slogans because they've been so afraid to think for themselves for so long that they're acting like zombies shuffling after any ridiculous excuse the bush administration gives them for its heinous actions in the name of mom, baseball, and apple pie.

it's possible that some people will find that analysis offensive. i find it offensive that people waste their time and energy talking about tactics they think are stupid instead of hitting the streets and doing something they DO think is effective.

perhaps a zombie bloc isn't the most brilliant idea out there. but i seriously doubt this one action will be enough to bring down the morale of the entire united states army. and quite franly, it does take a lot more time and thought and effort than the lip service of slapping a magnet ribbon onto the bumper of your car.

.
by . Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 at 5:04 PM

Some that criticize are involved in other organizations, projects or even pog itself.

Keeping quiet when a group with the same political mindset chooses an incredibly disrespectful tactic is a disservice to the radical community at large.

disrespect
by soldiers 'n sailors Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005 at 3:21 PM

Then again, pretty much any protesting against the war is seen as distasteful, disrespectful, and unpatriotic by most soldiers here and overseas.

Zombie lyrics
by Cranberries Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 at 2:44 PM

Another head hangs lowly,
Child is slowly taken.
And the violence caused such silence,
Who are we mistaken?

But you see, it's not me, it's not my family.
In your head, in your head they are fighting,
With their tanks and their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in your head, they are crying...

In your head, in your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, dou, dou, dou, dou, dou...

Another mother's breakin',
Heart is taking over.
When the vi'lence causes silence,
We must be mistaken.

It's the same old theme since nineteen-sixteen.
In your head, in your head they're still fighting,
With their tanks and their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in your head, they are dying...

In your head, in your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, oh, oh,
Oh, oh, oh, oh, hey, oh, ya, ya-a...