Workers, students, parents, immigrants, radicals, people with AIDS, homeless people, anarchists, victims of the drug war, opponents of the Iraq occupation, bicyclists, actors, musicians, and civil disobedients will all be voicing dissent in their particular ways to Bush's policies and the government he represents. All of the city's independent resources - those not controlled by the city or large corporations like ClearChannel - are being mustered for the purpose. People from across the country are coming to join in the protests and cultural events.

The week before the convention will witness preparatory conferences, parties, and concerts. A "Life After Capitalism" conference at CUNY from August 20-22 will examine positive visions for what will come after the current system is dismantled. The HOWL! Festival, sponsored by the Federation of East Village Artists, will culminate in a huge party at Webster Hall on August 24 that will provide a festive kickoff to a week of protests. There will be many smaller film screenings, gallery shows, poetry readings, and musical performances at places like Southpaw in Brooklyn and the Bowery Poetry Club. Two umbrella groups, the Imagine04 Festival and the UnConvention, are planning cultural programs to run during the Convention. Billionaires for Bush has numerous satirical events scheduled. The Bush era has seen an explosion in protest art and a great rise in the political consciousness of many artists and all will be on display in New York City during the RNC. Much of this

There will be a Yippie protest at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's house on August 22 to protest his refusal to allow visiting protesters to camp out in city parks. The Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) will be setting up a week-long "Bushville" tent city at an undisclosed location on August 23 to fight the media blackout of poverty in the United States. KWRU will also be providing "reality tours" of the city and other educational events on healthcare, housing, education, and living wage jobs to show the real life effects of Republican policies. The Next Step Collective's 276-mile DNC2RNC march expects to arrive in New York around August 24, pushing for a move beyond the duality of electoral politics and celebrating grassroots activism. Groups like the National Immigrant Solidarity Network are discussing an August 27 Immigrant-Worker Community Speak Out!/Day of Action.

The large-scale protests will begin in earnest with a 1000-person Critical Mass Bike Ride through the streets of New York on Friday, August 27, starting from Union Square. Critical Mass is a last-Friday-of-every-month bike ride to reclaim city streets from automobile traffic and raise awareness of our society's oil-dependency. The next day, August 28, will be a "Bike National Convention." Also on August 28, a group called Ring Out is planning a ritual music event encircling Ground Zero on Saturday. The Anti-Capitalist Kitchen is preparing to feed people throughout the protests.

The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition is calling for a "Books not Bombs" youth convergence to provide a space for unity among the students and young people seeking to protest Bush's cuts to college aid programs, military recruitment in schools, and many larger issues affecting all sectors of society. This will cap a summer of youth organizing, including a new project called New York Summer to train young people as NYC community organizers.

The largest event of the week is expected to be the August 29 "World Says No To Bush" march and rally, sponsored by United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ). The location for that is yet to be determined because the NYPD and the Parks Department have rejected the permit applications, for which they have been criticized by all of the city's newspapers, from the reactionary Post to the mainstream Times. UFPJ predicts 250,000 people will attend the protest, the focus of which is Bush's imperialist foreign policy.

Monday, August 30 may be just as large, but spread out among at least three related protests. New York's community-based organizations like Picture the Homeless and the New York City AIDS Housing Network have come together under the banner of the Still We Rise coalition to organize a "Poor People's March and Rally for Justice" from Union Square to Times Square, focusing on issues of poverty, homelessness, AIDS, the dismantling of our civil liberties and an increase in the violation of our human rights.

The national Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is organizing a "March for Our Lives: Stop the War at Home" starting at 4pm in front of the United Nations to protest Republican and Democratic policies that have led to massive job losses and to people without housing, healthcare, and the other basic necessities of life.. The Hip Hop Summit Action Network is negotiating with the NYPD for a "March on New York" to protest the state's mandatory minimum sentencing programs and other Rockefeller-era drug laws that have locked up tens of thousands of non-violent offenders, nearly all of whom are people of color from poor communities.

There will likely be nonviolent civil disobedience throughout the week as protesters greet Republican delegates at their hotels, call attention to war profiteers, and attempt to disrupt Republican gala events at various Broadway shows and places like Tavern on the Green, Madame Tussaud's, and the Intrepid. But Tuesday, August 31 is slated for "a day of creative resistance outside the protest pens."

In general, there is a great deal of anger among New Yorkers at the idea of the Republicans holding their party in the city. There also seems to be a determination that the RNC protests will not look like the recent March 20 antiwar protests in New York, which were carefully coordinated with the police. Though there has been no specific call for this action, Tuesday looks to be a colorful and fun day with music, puppets, and costumes. There has also been a call for a "Youth Day of Action" on August 31, circulated by the Youth RNC Welcoming Committee.

The city's unions will also be protesting the RNC. Police and Firefighter unions have applied for protest permits. According to news reports, their main beef is the way the Bush administration has shortchanged New York on homeland security funding. The New York City Central Labor Council has announced it will move the annual Labor Day parade to coincide with the Convention, probably on September 1. Working families have countless reasons to protest, but three million jobs lost since Bush took office - over 200,000 in New York City alone - is an obvious starting point.

UFPJ and 9/11 Victims Families for Peace have called for a vigil at Ground Zero to coincide with Bush's acceptance speech. Not In Our Name has also called for action on September 2. After he used it to launch his perpetual war on terror and his unnecessary war on Iraq, New Yorkers are determined to prevent Bush from using Ground Zero as the launchpad for his election campaign.

Of course, the Republicans have many events of their own planned in addition to the main event at Madison Square Garden. The New York Times is treating the delegates to Broadway shows. Other corporations are hosting high-priced receptions around town. These are being catalogued on RNCnotwelcome.org, along with all other details. Counterconvention.org is also a comprehensive resource, with ride and housing boards. There are new developments every day. For regular updates and commentary, check RNCwatch.org and the New York City IMC. See also: http://rncwatch.org