At about a 4:15pm yesterday, we are working at the GYAN office and the lights went out. There was something about the way they went out that was different from any other power loss I've seen. Looking out the window, the building across the way had lost power as well. We all got up and walked down the stairs from our 9th floor to see what was going on. When we got to the street, everyone seemed to be out there already and as I looked to the corner, I could tell that the traffic signal was out. Was the entire city block out? No; actually, for the first time in 26 years, the entire city was out. Only about 15 minutes later did I realize the blackout extended all the way from NYC to Toronto, to Detroit, including most of the Northeastern US and Southern Canada.

All in all, this being the largest blackout in the history of the US (according to news sources), 50 million people were without power for the better part of the next 12 hours, at least. 21 power plants failed and the city - together with a dozen others - spent the hot and muggy night cloaked in darkness. In the city of lights, as its usually known, it was quite a sight to behold.

Honza, Beenash and I walked around, intrigued by the historic moment this represented. People poured onto the streets and streamed as if they were traffic, while traffic itself, cramming the streets, moved barely at all. It was awesome to see ordinary citizens stepping in at intersections to help guide the cars... it's reassuring when people step up in times of crises. It's inspiring and motivating to know that when the great machination of the system fails, that ordinary people become heroes and keep the flow going in what one would imagine would be a chaos too intense to control. But just as interesting was the attitude of people, as intrigued as we were, many standing outside drinking a beer. Those seemed to be selling faster than anything else, so we bought one as well. Long lines formed behind each of the public pay-phones, since cell phones didn't work, as these represented our best way to get in touch with family and friends. Some people placed radios outside and we stood around them, eager to hear the full story of what was going on.

We sat and watched people, talked to others, walked around, tried to get back into our building, which didn't allow us to do for security reasons. So we ventured uptown towards the 59th street bridge, obviously where this massive exodus of workers pouring through the streets was heading. It was the only major pedestrian-enabled way out of this side of the city, since buses were stuck and subways were out. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the afternoon made their way by foot to the bridge and from there into Queens on their way home. As we began to cross the bridge, it was amazing - dark and packed, cat-calls and stray cars, a river of people where traffic usually goes, all walking together, amazed by the darkness falling heavier around us. Sparse lights peppered the skyline, the city was black, for the most part.

The last time such a thing happened was 1977, when the city went dark for 25 hours. It was the year before I was born, so experiencing this was really exciting at the beginning, and then grew more frustrating as the day went on. The heat at night forced us to open all the windows and sleep sweating, really far hotter than it was outside. The lights didn't come back on until the early hours of the morning, and it was only rolled out methodically (as Con Edison said was required) in parts of the city. The poor people of Detroit may not get power until Sunday. Many parts of this city are still off the grid, and one wonders how it even survives for a moment. It takes events beyond the imagination to stop a city such as this, whether by natural or man-made disaster.

Finally at 3:15pm today, we were sitting outside at a retaurant in a part of the city that had power ("WE HAVE POWER!" proclaimed the blackboard outside), waiting until the part of town our office was lit up, and sure enough the lights came on finally. So back we came, internet service restored shortly thereafter and telephone lines soon, hopefully. We wonder who remains without electricity but find ourselves ever-grateful for having it restored for us! Back to work, and a memorable day this will have been for us all. It will take a while for city to recover for sure, and one of the most baffling parts will be the how much food spoilage will have happened in the past 24 hours. We're going to stay away from meat, fish and dairy products for a few days, I think....

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NYC BLACKS OUT
Translated into Arabic by: (no name)

Over 650 cities around the world are holding rallies and marches today against the seemingly impending war. Dozens of cities across the US are seeing people come out in great numbers, putting a message across to the UN, the government and international community: that Americans don't want this war, at least not in our name.

The City of New York only allowed a permit for a rally; no marching. But as 100s of thousands of people take to the streets, it becomes impossible to contain them - nor their desire for peaceful solutions. Dozens of square blocks are packed with people and barricades were constantly coming down as the police are unable to confine them to the sidewalks as planned. Several arrests took place, but this was a peaceful rally by all means and NY has not seen this volume of people take to the streets in... well, forever!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and singer Peter Seger are just a few of the many people who spoke at today's event. With the stage at 49th Street and 1st Avenue, a sea of faces and people stretch at least up to 59th street, freezing, the crowd chants "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!" Reports have the crowd being pushed all the way up to the 70s. And 1st Avenue was just one avenue; 2nd and 3rd Avenues served as overflows.

The police force cut off the side streets and easy access to the rally, in an effort to contain the swarms of people that keep coming and do crowd control. The rally started before noon, but streams of placcards made their way from all directions, large groups of people converging on 42nd street and Lexington, even. And streams of police vehicles and mounted horses, busses and riot control forces trying to reinforce the barricades.

What clearer message can there be? War is not the answer. And with millions of people all across the world coming out to join rallies today, what will it take? There are many options that dont resort to violence, but Conflict Resolution 101 says the first step is open communication. But we don't have that; instead confusing and mis-represented messages through the media and political maneuvering that includes everything but a dialogue. Here are some sites for more info, resources, strategies, etc. Make up your own mind about what you want to do, but do something. If everyone did a little, it would be a lot.

The People Speak Out Against War
www.moveon.org
www.unitedforpeace.org
www.internationalanswer.org

Pre-Emptive Democracy for Iraq
http://www.worldcitizen.org

Pictures of Rallies around the world (BBC)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/world_world_peace_protests/html/1.stm

The event we organized turned out to be a wonderful learning experience! I cannot say it was hugely successful, but I was very pleased to have pulled it off in less than 3 days.

We had about 100 people show up, maybe 30 signs and lots of flyers, which we were not allowed to distribute anyway.

The police gave us a hard time, first telling us to move to the other corner (which we refused to do). We stood ground and said that we had a right to be there. The police also said we could not hold up our signs, which I challenged them on. They called in another 20 officers or so, warning that we must move or face possible arrest, but when the other officers arrived, they could not find legal grounds by which we could not be there or hold up our signs - simply that the signs could not be attached to sticks (which they weren't). I am proud that they were not able to remove us, but they hassled us for a good half hour (much of it caught by the reporters, who they hassled, too) and our signs were down for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we lost about half of the crowd as a result.

Because of our presence, the show stopped cutting down to the sidewalk (a tradition, which happens throughout the show every time, and the reason why we chose that location). So in terms of that angle, being on in the background of the show, it was not a big success and I'm not sure we could be seen at all.

I had notified the host of the show, Carson Daly, and invited him to come down - although he didn't, he did flash us a peace sign from the window on the 2nd floor, likely off-camera, but at the very least acknowledging that we were there.

Perhaps the most successful part of the event was the media turnout, though of course no mainstream coverage. Those who showed up included Bloomberg radio, PBS - In the Mix, FreespeechTV, the Independent Media Center, a Japanese show on one of the biggest channels in Japan (they will air a show later this month and did some interviews with us the day before), a photographer working on a series that will be shopped to some major magazines and at least 5 freelancers, documentary-makers, etc.

This was a testing the waters kind of thing, because of the time factor. We learned a lot and had a good experience. We have yet to debrief fully and measure the impact, although I don't think we'll find much more on top of what I described here.

My hope is to this next week launch the Don't Buy This World Campaign, focusing on young people leveraging their economic influence in an effort to be heard. Please look at the discussion posts on that topic and add your thoughts. The feedback I'm getting is great, but not so sure it'll fly with the mainstream "apathetic" youth quite yet. The trick will be to create a simple and solid message, with a core base of support within the activist community, to bring the message mainstream, which will then hopefully inspire those labeled in apathy to join up.

I hope the International Youth Declaration continues to gain support, co-signing organizations and recognition, but believe that we must take more concerted steps if we are going to see any real change in the direction we're heading.

We, as young people, have been calling to be heard, but our voices have not been powerful enough to impact the world. Our call for Peace in decades past has often been dismissed and our hopes for the future dim with days passing. What can be done to alter the destructive path we are on?

I propose that we, young people, do not support a world that does not support our highest ideals. From peace to justice, equality to tolerance, our hope for a brighter future is compromised as we remain voiceless in a growing war-frenzy that might very well consume our world as we watch, helplessly.

Young people represent, at least in the US (and in many over-developed countries), the largest consumer market. Our buying power is massive - bigger than any other age group - and we invest each day, voting with each dollar, to push a giant system of capitalism and injustice forward.

STOP BUYING!

If our generation would stop buying for a day, a week, a month, we could leverage the only power we currently have to be heard. If we were to stop investing in any company which does not support and promote social justice, the economic impact of our choice would draw a lot of attention to our message. Many industries would be affected and the world could be shown that we will not stand for war, and that we will not accept it anymore.

Don't buy movies, CDs, video games, nike sneakers, gap sweathsirts, don't acquire more material things for a day (or until we see the changes we want) and let your voice be heard! This is our world, and our future that is at stake.

What message would that send to our peers around the world, too? I hope that we will find support and encouragement. This is something that anybody can do and join us in the effort; a simple way to express yourself and at the same time bring together a movement dedicated to ensuring peace and justice in our lifetimes.

Put your wallet away and let our dreams speak for themselves.

Peace,
Benjamin Quinto
Global Youth Action Network

My dad remarked shortly after the events on the 11th that the world had not, in fact, changed... that we had simply inherited the future. Well, this is not the future that I signed up for and I will continue to work towards the kind of world I think will be fit for children, free from the injustices we face today.

On Friday we are going to have a rally in Times Square, showcasing young people's call for justice, but not war. You can find more info on it, and the declration that has been crafted, at www.9-11peace.org/youth.php3 I hope we have a large turnout on Friday. This will the first in a series of other activities that will mobilize and involve the New York City youth community.

I am proposing an idea, which I will post in more detail on the discussion board to get a reaction, but that is for our generation to carry the following message: that we will not support a world that does not support our ideals. Young people, at least in the US and certainly in other over-developed countries, represent a massive consumer market, spending more than any other age group. We vote by the billions in dollars spent every year. If we were to stop buying for a day, a week, a month, stopped investing in the companies that do not promote social justice, our voice would undoubtedly be heard. The economic impact would be felt across many industries and could not be ignored.

I implore you all to consider this.