IU grads, students participate in march

NEW YORK -- The rioting in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention is considered by many as the benchmark of political speech leading to violence. By Wednesday night in New York, the number of arrests exceeded those in Chicago by 1,200, but without the violence. \nAlthough generally peaceful, the protests this week have been large and numerous, and by Thursday evening, 1,769 arrests had been made.\nIU alumna Jenni Cushman was in the middle of two of the largest marches this week -- she and her dance troupe.\nCushman, now a resident of Manhattan, marched for reproductive choice across the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday \n"It was really kind of empowering to see all the people who came out to voice their opinions," Cushman said.\nBut rather than protesting in an old-fashioned way, she is in a group she calls a "social justice dance troupe." Using dance to engage people on the street, Cushman said the group takes pop songs and puts a political spin on them.\n"We do public performances of a political nature," she said. "It's kind of a creative, eye-catching way to get your message out there."\nCushman said she began her political activism in high school but was given a stronger outlet when she came to IU. She joined the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and served as its executive board member for two years. She graduated in December of 2002.\nWhile the Republican Party has repeatedly said it is the protesters' First Amendment right to dissent, some have called the protesting "hate speech." Not Cushman.\n"I think it's really important to show to the whole country and other people in the city and the whole world that there are Americans that don't agree with Bush," she said.\nTuesday night, the New York Police Department arrested 1,187 protesters. Police spokesman Paul Brown denied accusations of mistreatment.\n"There was very disciplined restraint throughout the ranks," he said.\nArrests were predicted to inch near 2,000 by the time the Republican Party leaves today.\nThe protesters continued Wednesday and Thursday, some with symbolic pink slips to represent lost jobs, others infiltrating Madison Square Garden during a gathering of young Republicans and while the Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, were at the podium.\nDonna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the police had not been violent, as was the case in Chicago in 1968, but she questioned some of their tactics.\n"A lot of the arrests were bad, but they weren't brutal," she said. "I think police were psyched up (Wednesday) to make a lot of arrests, and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy."\nLike many protesters in New York and many residents around New York where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one, Cushman said she believed the president should not have brought the convention to her city. She said New York had been through enough on Sept. 11.\n"I think it's really disgusting that they would use that as a political ploy," Cushman said. "I think it's a slap in the face almost."\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.\n-- Contact staff writer Josh Sanburn at jsanburn@indiana.edu.