celebrate mifflin. celebrate voice.

A couple weekends ago was the Mifflin St. block party, where more recently, students and people drink from sun-up to sun-down, and then some. The party spans the length of the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin St., which is only a half block from our house and perpendicular to Bassett St. For saving everyone from describing what basically was a day of intoxication and inebriation I will just talk about a particularly fun part of the day. Around 2pm, my friend Pat came over and played the banjo while I played the guitar. From there we were joined by a group that included a mandolin, ukulele, snare drum, and accordion. Basically, we were a rowdy blue-grass singing machine that didn't stop until 8:30pm when the police kicked us off the street. We were told the party was over and if they heard the snare drum one more time, they were going to write us tickets. Fuzz kill. Mizzzzz

Although I regularly hear that the Mifflin St. Block Party was originally an outdoor protest against the Vietnam War, I wanted to know a little more about the organization and choice of Mifflin Street and the time of year for the protest. Most of this information is just from wikipedia, but since I have more people viewing my blog than wikipedia, it just makes sense to put it on here. The block party's debut, in 1969, was set to coincide with the French Student Rebellion, which occurred one year prior. The student rebellion in France was a general strike that virtually put the economic market to a standstill. This call to strike focused on the progression of politics and a criticism to the modern consumer world. Largely anti-capitalist and critical to authoritarianism, the key points focused on education and employment but also incorporated newer ideals such as sexual liberation. The strike began with students and quickly incorporated almost two thirds of France's workforce. The difficulties that ensued for the government were numerous as the strike lasted for over two weeks. Though much of the violence and civil unrest was quelled, the ideals of French society had moved towards a more leftist practice.

It seems as though the Mifflin Street Block protests, almost entirely comprised of students, found its place in history along with other left-wing movements. I recently overheard a capitol protestor explaining how the Mifflin Street Block Party is a disgrace compared to what it used to be and people should focus on more important things. In many ways, he was right: there are much better things to be doing than throwing beer off balconies, binge drinking and murdering our brains for the day. But in some ways, he was wrong. Yes, the protests are now entirely a party, but it serves as a reminder how younger people in society can have an impact on the country's political movement and the block party celebrates this idea. Criticize Mifflin and it's boisterousness all you want, but consider the fact that many people recognize why it started. Albeit, there are probably many who do not recognize its roots. It's idealistic, at best, to assume this. The only way for people to know is to read and talk about it, which is the purpose to this post. You can say Mifflin is a disgrace, but I urge you to consider that fact when you are taking a three story beer bong to the face. For those who still think it's a disagree, I applaud you for probably understanding the history behind Mifflin. If I haven't made you think about its significance, just consider this: what Mifflin did was bring people together. Originally for the desire to bring peace and termination to a distinctly horrible war. If it ceased to exist, the memory of what type of voice students and community had and can have would slowly fade. Just simply celebrate coming together as people, for whatever god damn reason you want.

Our single voice and a voice as thousands has had thunderous historical changes to societal ideals and will continue to do such. It's the silver lining to democracy, however screwed up, broken, weakened, and confusing ours may be (BMFSO to Elise Mann). People have a voice, it just needs to be heard. And our politicians have ears, they just need reason to listen in our direction.

Just a couple of images from the protests earlier this semester:






Now let's get drunk.