Providence YWC Attends RI Tea Party Rally

Providence YWC capped off a busy week of activism by making an appearance at the third annual Rhode Island Tax Day Tea Party Rally held on the back steps of the Statehouse this past Friday April 15.  It was a fantastic event, and there were in my estimation around 500 or so dedicated activists in attendance.  This is significant because the biased leftists who run the local press were reporting that only a few hundred people were in attendance.

Providence YWC arrived with our black Gadsden flag and consorted with many of the local activists exchanging literature, and making future contacts.  We also reconnected with many local activists who are old friends of the organization, and caught up on the local scene of right wing activism.  Many folks recognized our shirts and came up and started talking to us about the organization.  Every time we go to a rally, more and more activists recognize us or remember events we have hosted or inform us that they read our blog.

Although most of the speakers rallied the troops with the healthy staples of no more taxes chants, one who particularly interested me was Yan Bielek, an expatriate who lived through the terrors of communism in Czekoslovakia.  For me Mr. Bielek was the premier speaker of the event as I was captivated as he outlined his life under a communist regime.  Having a chance to speak with him after his speech, it was interesting to hear his analysis of the current state of affairs in the United States compared with his life under communist oppression.

Another interesting tidbit was that many at the rally seemed to be in a great consternation that neoconservatives were attempting to take over the movement, yet I could not find one person there wearing a David Frum pin or talking about why bombing Libya is imperative to global democracy.  To the contrary, a close friend of mine, who is a premier activist in RI, and a staunch right winger, was receiving very positive responses as she handed out cards with zombified pictures of Bush and Obama that stated “Tyranny Is Bi-Partisan”. 

Another positive development pertinent to YWC was that many of those in attendance had signs relating to illegal immigration, and seemed extremely concerned about that issue.  There were also plenty of other far right or off the beaten path conservative thinkers who were mingling with the more mainstream Republican blue blazer types. Maybe it’s a sign that the right no longer feels the need to apologize to the likes of Keith Olbermann for their associations with patriotic Americans.

There were a few agent provocateurs in the crowd holding up hyperbolic signs that stated something along the lines of “Close Down All Schools” (I wish) or “I Don’t Care If Kids Starve, Cut My Taxes!”.  On the outskirts of the rally was a smattering of really cool SWPL’s from the local Coffee Party with signs spewing leftist slogans so ironic that even the coolest hipster in Williamsburg would be jealous of them.  Sifting throughout the crowd like the plague that they are were those big bad Antifa activists, who were pretty quiet considering their perpetual overtures of violently protesting events where ever Providence YWC has a presence.

All in all, it was a beautiful day to be outside and a great networking and activism opportunity for Providence YWC.  After the event, we all headed to a local pub for an after party held by our friends from the Rhode Island Young Republicans.  Although Rhode Island has a reputation for a far left political disposition, it was nice to see those preconceptions altered at least for a day as so many great activists converged en mass. The Rhode Island Tea Party, like many others around the country, is beginning to decentralize and break off into smaller interest groups.  Many different signs were on display from different organizations that have sprouted up that did not exist three years ago.  Hopefully they do not become complacent or distracted by political personality cults, and instead continue to put pressure on the political class in this state to make the right decisions and represent Rhode Islanders.