Press Release Post-GrassRoutes Caravan

September 2008

Contact:
Kristine Pettersen
tel. 608 316 5822

The GrassRoutes Caravan was a 40-person non-violent bicycle village of resistance that traveled over 300 miles from Madison to St. Paul to confront the Republican National Convention. Along the way, participants in the Caravan did community service projects, performed a puppet show about grassroots organizing as an alternative to electoral politics, and engaged locals in discussion and information exchange.

The Caravan promoted grassroots organizing and direct democracy as a method for resisting the power the DNC and RNC have in American politics. By demonstrating in motion the power of the bicycle as an alternative form of transportation and as a tool for social liberation, the PNC2RNC bike ride fulfilled its mission of getting participants safely and cooperatively to St. Paul without burning gasoline.

While violent confrontations between the police and activists are the focus of major media, the GrassRoutes Caravan remains a story that needs to be heard by the American public. Police brutality must be covered by our independent media, but people organizing democratically in their communities is also an important story for the world to hear.