Activism training at PSU

The three-day activism-training event, Procession for the Future, concludes today at PSU with a parade, an activist “theme park” and music performances in the Park Blocks and activist training sessions.

Procession of the Future is a touring event that uses “high production value art and spectacle to animate our aspirations and deliver a compelling progressive vision for the country,” according to the Backbone Campaign’s Web site, the group running the event.

ASPSU is helping put on the event, which today will feature a parade from Pioneer Courthouse Square to PSU. The parade will feature a “chain gang” of politician caricatures like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, a restructured Pentagon float and other large-scale puppets. Later in the day, several workshops on political activism will take place in Smith Memorial Student Union.

Brad Vehafric, ASPSU vice-president, has been in charge of helping the Backbone Campaign set up its parade and organize the speakers and workshops.

“Moving forward with the upcoming presidential election, issues are not being discussed and there is a lacking in cohesion with public policy. This is to stand in solidarity with these progressive policies, ” Vehafric said.

The event started Sunday with a parade rehearsal and continued yesterday with various speakers discussing how to build a movement for a new future.

Policies that are important to the Procession for the Future include climate stabilization, sustainable living, government accountability and transparency and progressive immigration policies, according to Bill Moyer, executive director of the Backbone Campaign.

“One aspect doesn’t supersede another, they go well together and people will find it useful, as a guiding light,” Vehafric said.

The Procession for the Future was started by artists in 2004 to provide creative tools for the progressive movement nationwide, Moyer said. Last year the event took place in Seattle, but Moyer said this year the Backbone Campaign has come to Portland because it is seen as anti-establishment.

“Portland is an anti-beltway city, it’s the polar opposite of D.C.,” Moyer said.

After the parade, speakers and workshops will discuss various activism ideas such as bird-dogging. Bird-dogging is a tactic used to ask a political candidate a strategic question about a policy to make them look at it in a different frame of mind, to embolden them to take a stronger stance, Moyer said.

Moyer, who co-founded the Backbone Campaign in 2003, said he believes the progressive movement will have to redefine itself from being an anti-Bush movement to something more bold and creative. He said he believes strong icons that deliver a political agenda message are the best way to get the community engaged in progressive politics.

“The Procession of the Future continues on the mission, and asks, ‘What is the bold mission? What would we like America to look like?'” Moyer said.

For Vehafric, he said he sees Procession for the Future as a great opportunity to get involved. “It gives students the opportunity to engage in their community, to learn about where they stand on issues.”

Today’s events:

Noon to 1 p.m. – Procession for the Future parade travels through a one-mile route downtown, ending up at Portland State.

1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Speakers address participants in the South Park Block.

1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. – Activist Theme Park and music in the Park Block.

3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – “Corporate Campaigning” and “Bird-dogging” training sessions in SMSU

4:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. – “Freeway Bannering” and “NVDA 101” training sessions in SMSU

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.processionforthefuture.com