Revolution #115, January 13, 2008
White Rose Coalition Protest at Pasadena Rose Parade
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On New Year's Day, one million people gather along the streets of Pasadena, a city near Los Angeles to watch the Rose Parade, known for its elaborately decorated floats. The night before the parade, families from the suburbs, proletarians from surrounding areas, immigrants, and football fanatics camp out along the route in a yearly tradition. At this year’s parade, TV news crews interviewed protesters from the White Rose Coalition—which includes Code Pink, the National Impeachment Center, World Can’t Wait, Cindy Sheehan, and others. The protesters aimed to deal a dose of reality to parade spectators about the state of the world and to challenge people to resist. Some of the protesters were dressed in orange jumpsuits, like the detainees being held and tortured at Guantánamo. Protesters, including some who had camped out for the night, held signs along the parade route saying “Impeach Bush/Cheney,” “No Torture” and “Iraq: Get Out…Iran: Stay Out…Bush/Cheney: Drive Out.” A couple of hundred protesters marched behind the last float to Pasadena City Hall, including a group of people wearing large papier-mâché bobble-heads of Bush and his gang dressed in prison stripes. After the parade a Chicano teenager said, “It’s 2008 and stopping all this war and torture has to be our #1 resolution. We have to get out this message.”
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