Bellingham has always been a special place for me- as someone who grew up in British Columbia, it was the city we would drive to for inexpensive stores with a wider selection of goods. Canada is a great country, but most everything seems to be overpriced- our retailers are really taking advantage of us.
The Westboro Baptist Church will be travelling there on Saturday to interfere with the funeral of two young boys who were killed in a horrible tragedy. This is just the type of event that Westboro likes most, an opportunity for them to get great amounts of press- regardless of the cost on others. Typically they are loud, disruptive, and yelling the most hateful words they can think of- everything you’d expect a church not to me.
The good people at Occupy Bellingham have decided to help-out in a direct action they call “Occupy Shields”. This has no relation to the shields that Oakland made for their disastrous attempt to take some physical space. The shields they will use will be a group of Occupiers who will use their bodies and sheets/towels/etc to try and block the family from having to endure their abuse.
I’d like to send a great big thank you to Bellingham for deciding to take a direct action that is likely to please the masses and contribute goodwill to the Occupy name. If all goes well (and I can’t possibly think an action like this couldn’t), not only will the Bellingham occupiers prove the value of positively focused direct actions- but, perhaps occupations across the country could organize to Bird Dog Westboro when they appear in other cities.
Good luck Occupy Bellingham!
