The Underground Church of the Most High
IndieSent Exposure
& The T.O.K.E. Organization IMPLORES you......
STAY HOME!!!
This year it saddens me to say "STAY HOME". Year after year Brother John and IndieSent Exposure has supported and promoted the Million Marijuana March.But the last few years have been more and more discouraging. It seems NYC has used the march as a way to generate revenue(through busts) and intimidate citizens (by insisting that those arrested go through the system, thereby guaranteeing at least 12 hours locked up (and as much as 48-72).
The influence of High Times also has not been a good one, but Dana DOES need funding so HE can not be faulted! but the response from organizers about not addressing the busts or at one point blaming the smokers for getting busted needs addressing.
We are requesting a 1 year MORATORIUM! Do NOT MARCH this year! (For the 1st time since the 1st BE-IN. it will be PAINING me, Brother John NOT to be going!!) In the next month we will be putting out a position page and asking ALL VISITORS to check it out and GIVE US YOUR INPUT!
Around the time of the Cannabis Cup (November 03) we will publish "OUR" final position and asking for YOUR SUPPORT! Be it to march again or turn the corner for the NEXT phase of support!
THANKS!!!!
Brother John, Sister Diane, Sister Jade, Sister Hilary Hempseed, Bruder Jakob, Niemand, Brother Dave, Sister Danielle, Cardinal Cannabis, Brother Buddah, Kabal, NeHi, and the rest of the TUCMH Elders.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Think Alike?
Well, it seems a lot of people felt our vibe. We would NEVER be so egotistical to think that TOKE-TV, TOKE.ORG and/or IndieSent Exposure had ANYTHING to do with the Low Turnout. True that for the 1st time in 8 (EIGHT) Years IndieSent Exposure did NOT have a Countdown to the Million Marijuana March program or series of programs. True that for the 1st time in 8 years Brother John B-High asked people to vote their conscience and skip this year, something UNHEARD of before. And finally, its true that the above message was placed or linked to since March 1, 2003, the 1st time in the history of Brother John's LIFE that not only had he made a decision NOT to attend but anyone who asked about it he would speak what he felt!ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE!! And if most of the Hip-Hop Heads had not shown up MAYBE we could have "believed" that we had something to do with it! But INSTEAD, it seems like a MASS CONSCIOUSNESS came over the ganja community. There is NO WAY we can take credit or responsability for this...........
TINY TURNOUT FOR NYC'S MILLION MARIJUANA MARCH
Story by Preston Peet
NEW YORK CITY— With police far outnumbering propot protestors gathered for New York City’s March for Cannabis Liberation on May 3, the day began a bit ominously. But by the time the tiny—200 to 300 people—crowd, carrying banners and chanting for marijuana-law reform made their way down Broadway and reached Battery Park, it quickly became apparent that this year’s annual pot rally was going to be a lot different from years past.
In the last few years, New York had more arrests than any of the approximately 200 cities around the world that also held rallies on the first weekend in May, with an army of police surrounding Battery Park and undercovers wandering through the crowd. This year, there was just one arrest, an unidentified woman, according to police. The crowd was peaceful and very obviously not smoking pot, at least not openly. “I had to go around the block to smoke a spliff,” a dreadlocked, middle-aged man told HIGH TIMES. This made for a day of rest and relaxation for protesters and police, both sides enjoying a sunny day in the park, warm and clear-skied despite warnings of storms.
“I’m out here cheerleading for weed,” said Maya from Brooklyn, dressed in a two-tone green cheerleader’s outfit. “I see hope for an end to this war in the young people out here. I see it in their eyes.”
“The system is just a bunch of walls that need breaking down,” said Liz, a New York State worker from upstate. Out with her friend Avi, they said they were “representing for the chronic. Why are we spending taxpayers’ money filling jails with people on pot? Child molesters get less time than do people for pot sometimes. It would help the economy drastically if we ended this stupid war.”
“We’re supporting the cause by protesting, calling emphatically for an end to the war on pot,” said the Rev. Pedro Pietri and Papoleto, Lower East Side poets. “I have glaucoma,” said the Rev. Pedro, “and I can still see, thanks to marijuana. Eventually they, the powers that be, will see it our way, or they’ll self-destruct. Even the President’s daughters get high.”
“I came down to help legalize the plant,” said Jim from Connecticut. “Protest helps show the world that some of us here in the US have normal heads, and don’t support prohibition of plants nor fighting wars.”
“I’m protesting the hypocrisy of the US federal government making money off their scam of a War on Drugs,’ noted Richard Zuckerman from New Jersey, “The little folk, the people in the streets, are getting arrested for buying small quantities of the drugs that our intelligence agencies help hit US streets by their support of murderous drugs cartels all over the world.”
“It’s ridiculous that people are getting arrested for such a trivial thing,” said 19-year old Grace Kim from Long Beach, New York. “The Higher Education Act [barring federal loans for college students convicted of any drug crime] is a prime example of the ridiculousness of this entire war. I think eventually decriminalization, or even legalization will come about, but I have some fears about this too, in that our government has a history of exploiting everything and everyone, so there’s a danger from that angle. But in the end, I really am for the total legalization of pot.”
“I’m tired of getting arrested for having fun, for enjoying myself and not hurting anyone doing it,” said George from the Bronx. “I’ve been coming out here since 1997 to show support for the idea that this plant grows from the Earth, so why can’t we enjoy it?”
“I’m here to try to shake some sense into our government polices,” said Marisa from San Jose, California. “Marijuana could be helping so many people instead of putting them away to rot in jail. My aunt died of breast cancer, and the pot she smoked was the very best thing for her before she died.”
“We don’t need to be out here,” one undercover officer said with a rueful shake of his head. “I mean, there’s obviously some need for some police presence, but not like this.” Tall with blue eyes and crew-cut hair, he flashed a big smile when told he was talking to a HIGH TIMES reporter. “These people are harmless. They aren’t hurting anyone. There’s other things we could be spending our police time and your tax money on than by being out here in such force.”
On the other hand, the officer who made the one arrest called me a jerk and tried to block me taking his picture.
The rally in Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan, went smoothly, with the High Times Cannabis Cup Band ripping out a long set of tight reggae, Buddha Fulla Rymez playing a scathing set of electronic rap/rockand short speeches by New York NORML head Ruth Liebesman, HT senior editor Steve Bloom, Steve Silverman from FlexYourRights, and Randy Credico, a leading activist against New York’s harsh Rockefeller drug laws and a brilliantly funny social commentator.
The size of the event was a bit discouraging to many. Some postulated that what with the many protests over the prior few months, people are feeling a bit protested out.
“It was a small march. Blame it on the police. Some people have been hearing about busted protesters,” Yippie Aron “Pieman” Kay told the New York Times.
“We just weren’t able to effectively get the word out this year. We had a new group of people without much experience helping and they just weren’t able to pull it off,” says Dana Beal of Cures-Not-Wars, the march’s founder. “There were cities with massive turnouts, such as Mexico City, but in New York, we just didn’t have the advertising out in a manner that reached enough people in time.” Next year, he adds, “we’re going to have to do it a little differently.”
The T.O.K.E. Organization IMPLORES you
Regardless of what Barney Frank feels and expressed at NORML, the tradition of Civil Disobedience and Protest is as rich and engrained in the "American" tradition as Hemp and cannabis use! And a VERY GOOD MEASURE of the Hard Core of Activist Activity!! The time has come to put aside our differences, and MARCH, one and all for the CAUSE!!!
For the past 30+ Years, in NYC, The BE-IN became the Smoke-In, became the GanjaFest and finally became The march for Medicinal marijuana AKA Million Marijuana March. For the historical change of time, it became the Millenium Marijuana March and this year, 2001 The Space Odyssey....
This Year, May 4th, 2001, in New York City ...Join Brother John B-High, Host of IndieSent Exposure as he tapes the March for The T.O.K.E. Organization as well as his own Public Access shows!!! Show your support for the Sick and Dying who are forced to make a choice.....get medicine and become a CRIMINAL or DIE!!
In 2001, THAT is criminal!!!!!
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Call 212-388-7405 for New York Info