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Independence
does indeed depend on us
It’s a sad day for democracy when free speech is suppressed on
Independence Day
By Lisa Rayner
Tea Party Publisher
Question: When is Independence Day not about independence?
Answer: When the
Independence Day parade corporate sponsor says so.
Flagstaff Tea Party participated in the July 4th
Independence Day parade in downtown Flagstaff. I, my husband Dan
Frazier and volunteer Hope Greer rode bicycles towing the Tea
Party newspaper delivery trailers.
My trailer also carried a special double-sided poster
protesting the fact that this year’s parade, coordinated by the
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, was sponsored by Pepsi. It would be
more accurate to say the sponsor was Flagstaff’s Pepsi-Cola
Bottling Company, though neither my protest nor my poster singled
out the bottling company. On one side of my red, white and blue
poster I wrote, “Pepsi, Pepsi, go away. This is Independence
Day.” On the other side, I placed a Pepsi logo under a red
circle with a slash across it. The text read, “Independence Day is
for people not corporations.”
After the parade began, I had bicycled about a block when I
was approached from behind by Ann Dunlop, vice president of the
Chamber and parade organizer. (Dunlop recently resigned and has
moved out of state.)
“Ma’am, you cannot carry that sign in the parade,” said
Dunlop.
“Excuse, me, you’ve got to be kidding,” I replied.
No, she wasn’t kidding. Pepsi would be upset at a parade
marcher saying something negative about the company.
I politely defended my display of independence. “This is
what Independence Day is all about —democracy and free speech.
You’re telling me that I cannot declare my independence from
corporate rule in my own community parade?”
I then became aware that a second person was standing on my
right — Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce CEO David Maurer. The effect
of having the two of them stationed on either side of me appeared to
me as a physical display of intimidation.
“This is the people’s Independence Day parade,” I said.
“No it isn’t,” said Maurer.
I refused to remove my sign. Dunlop and Maurer had a brief
exchange. They decided to let me go, deciding that they would
“charge” me with something later. I have not heard from them
since then.
I rode away and continued through the parade.
I am guessing that they let me go because they didn’t want
to make a scene. More than a third of the parade was backed up
behind us.
When I discovered the sponsorship several weeks before the
parade, I thought, “A corporate sponsorship of Independence Day?
Independence Day is supposed to be a genuine celebration of
democracy, as well as a demonstration of civic pride, not a giant
pep rally and advertising opportunity. The Chamber of Commerce has
allowed a citizen’s day of independence and freedom to be hijacked
and turned into another corporate advertising vehicle.”
Pepsi provided free banners for parade entries. The flier
advertising the banners said, “Please make sure the Pepsi logo is
visible.” The logo is about two feet in diameter. I elected not to
request a Pepsi banner.
Even with the Pepsi sponsorship, parade marchers still had to
pay $25 per entry to participate, regardless of whether or not they
requested a banner.
Furthermore, this year’s parade theme was “Independence
depends on US.” Political independence does indeed depend on the
actions of citizens. Meanwhile, the growing influence of corporate
power through such mechanisms as sponsorships erodes the sovereignty
of real people.
Schools, parades, fairs, public parks, sports arenas and many
other places and events are now commonly plastered with corporate
logos. Pepsi sponsored the Pope’s 1999 visit to Mexico. Coke, the
official sponsor of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Ga.,
plastered the city with its bright red signs. Apple Computer has
hung “Think Different” banners on the Louvre in Paris.
For those you who don’t know, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company
of Flagstaff also has a contract with the Flagstaff Unified School
District that states that only
Pepsi products can be sold or distributed in FUSD schools. The
contract was passed by the FUSD School Board in February, 2001.
Pepsi reportedly paid FUSD $34,000, plus pays the school district 40
percent of vending machine sales.
Numerous students, parents and other concerned citizens spoke
out against the contract, saying that schools should not make money
off of children by encouraging them to drink soda and other sugary
drinks. Many people also disliked the concept of corporate
sponsorships in schools, pointing out that schools should be free of
all commercial advertising.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unveiled a proposal
to offer corporations naming rights to public parks, as well as for
park amenities such as pools and recreation centers.
Carrie McLaren, editor of Stay
Free!, a magazine about commercialism and American Culture,
wrote in a Newsday
Op-Ed about the plan, “New Yorkers should, of course, applaud
corporations that donate money to the city. By all means, let’s
give them a plaque and engrave their names on a wall at City Hall.
But philanthropy shouldn’t be about branding and kickbacks. There
are clear costs with corporate sponsorship. …
“Commercialization will make the parks a little less
‘ours’ and more like what we are trying to escape: the familiar
slogans, expensive brands, and scantily clad models that line the
subways and, for that matter, the rest of the country.”
The Institute for Local
Self Reliance New Rules Project Web site says, “Although
advertising does play a role in society, its encroachment into new
areas constitutes a threat to public space, or the commons. Public
space … is the place where ideas are exchanged and debated,
helping to inform the citizens of a democracy. … Communities
should have the right to reserve spaces free of commercialism …
where those with the most money do not necessarily speak in the
loudest voice.”
Besides the ugly visual look of
wall-to-wall logos encroaching on the public commons, the
“branding” of public spaces is like having images of Big Brother
peering down at you everywhere you go. And like Big Brother, dissent
is discouraged or outlawed under the pretension that we should say
only nice things about “our” sponsors.
In 1998, Mike Cameron, a senior at
Greenbrier High School in Evans, Ga. wore a shirt spelling out
"Pepsi" as a protest during the school's "Coke in
Education Day." The school was hoping to win a $500 local
contest sponsored by the regional Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Augusta,
Ga., with a chance to win up to $10,000 in the same national
contest.
The principal suspended him for one
day for being “disruptive and rude.”
"In my eyes, I didn't do
anything wrong," said Cameron.
Why should criticism of a sponsor
be quashed just because of a financial contribution? Such a policy
implies that sponsorship confers ownership rights. Public places and
events should be owned exclusively by the public, not corporations.
In addition, democracy is not a perpetual motion machine.
Freedom of expression is a “use it or lose it” liberty. If we
don’t exercise our right to dissent when we see fit, it becomes
easy for the powers-that-be to take away that right. I just finished
reading the newest edition of A
People’s History of the United States, by Howard
Zinn. One of the central themes that comes across throughout
U.S. history is that democracy and freedom is not a given.
Governments, schools and quasi-governmental bodies (such as the
Chamber of Commerce) often try to suppress dissent while it is
small. They seem to hope that the suppression will keep most people
quiet.
They are right. Every inch of liberty that ordinary people
have obtained from aristocratic powers has come though
well-organized people’s movements. When people shy away from
individual and organized resistance, those who wish to have even
greater undemocratic and unjust power over us tend to step into the
power vacuum and take what they want.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet
depreciate agitation,
are men who want rain without thunder and lightning."
—
Frederick Douglass
"Your silence will not protect you"
—
Audre Lorde
If you’d like to comment on the Pepsi Independence Day
parade sponsorship, visit the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce at www.flagstaffchamber.org
or e-mail chamber@flagstaff.az.us.
To
read about more about FUSD's contract with Pepsi, read, "Pepsi:
The choice of FUSD" on the Arizona Daily Sun Website.
To read more about the student who wore a Pepsi shirt during
a school “Coke in Education Day,” visit www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/5572/cokepepsi.html
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