Freedom Rally Memories
Sow the seed of liberty, reap what you sow
The 36th Annual Boston Freedom Rally will be staged Friday 9/19 (from 3 pm) and Saturday 9/20 (from High Noon), on Boston Common. As always, it is being produced by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann).
I helped make the Freedom Rally happen for over a decade, as a volunteer, a member of the MassCann board, and as the Coalition’s president for five years. Here are some Freedom Rally memories from “backstage.”
Field Research
9/15/01-- The Boston Freedom Rally is held as scheduled, four days after the 9/11 attack. Boston Mayor Tom Menino calls MassCann president Bill Downing and asks that the event be canceled, meanwhile Menino is working with the directors of a dozen local museums, to arrange for free public admission that weekend. Downing refuses, MassCann's board has three members resign in protest of his decision. A ban on air travel means Featured Guest Woody Harrelson would remain in Ireland, and did not make it to Boston.
After Party Madness
Yippie activist and cop-magnet Dana Beal drew the Boston Police to the High Times 2003 Boston Freedom Rally after party in a residential Boston neighborhood. His curbside encounter was serendipitously witnessed by a MassCann board member who recognized “the guy in the cowboy boots” from that afternoon and warned me. NORML board member and attorney Norm Kent's impromptu conversation with the cops staved off dozens of potential arrests.
Slabs, Slabs, Slabs
There was an open-air, hash oil bazaar in the central triangle (shielded by vendor tents) in 2014, which made the dimes, eighths, quarters, and zip-slinging at previous rallies look minor league. Stacks of cash (thousand$) for slabs, free samples for interested parties.
Busted!
NORML Founder Keith Stroup and High Times Publisher Rick Cusick were arrested in the first hour of the 2007 Rally for sharing a joint. Both were scheduled to speak and legally, the BPD could take them to a holding cell to wait for arraignment on Monday morning. Fortunately, they were released before their scheduled speaker times. They were perhaps the last two people found guilty by a Mass. jury for possession of less than a joint.
Police Are a Problem
When MassCann stopped paying for police details in the mid-1990’s, the Boston Police started arresting Freedom Rally attendees for smoking weed. I suppose they had to cover the overtime somehow. Thing is, it built into a reinforcement loop. More cops meant more arrests, which meant more fines collected. Despite the criminal prohibition, by the 2000’s simple marijuana possession had diffused into normal deviance and cops had sole discretion as to the degree of enforcement. I attempted to discourage the abuse by finding out how many people were arrested, and then multiplying that number by 1,000, when asked by the press for attendance numbers. They more they busted, the more popular our event became!
A special memory was Rob Potylo getting harassed by the BPD just minutes before he was to take the stage as Robby Roadsteamer (he had no weed on him because he had never tried it!). The 'Steamer took the stage and demanded, “It’s time to legalize cocaine!"
Under the Bandstand
Whenever the Freedom Rally has two stages, and occasionally, when there is only one, we utilize the Parkman Bandstand. The bandstand is wired for electricity, so it makes for a simpler production, save for having to hire a city-licensed electrician to turn the power on. The electrical panel is under the foundation, and accessible through a padlocked, iron door, which the electrician will leave unlocked for the day if you pass them some weed. That gives those in the know a safer place to smoke or engage in other activities, out of public view.
2004: The Freest Freedom Rally EVER (until 2010).
Storm dampens a rally for marijuana. Event draws fewer than hoped
by Jack Encarnacao
Keith Saunders had expected to use a microphone yesterday to address tens of thousands who support the decriminalization of marijuana. Instead he needed only a megaphone to be heard by the several hundred who showed up at the gathering, the 15th annual Boston Freedom Rally.
”You folks came out in a hurricane because you believe in this so much,” Saunders said to the cheers of enthusiasts who were jammed into small tents on a corner of the Boston Common, many of whose feet were buried in mud.
Saunders and other organizers of what is normally one of the nation’s largest annual marijuana culture festivals didn’t get the 40,000 people they had expected. Only about 400 showed up in the driving rain, and only 4 of the expected 50 vendors turned out to hawk T-shirts, posters, and CD’s.
Leaders of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition which had organized the event stayed light-hearted about the dousing that set back the turnout.
Bill Downing, president of the coalition, cited the hazard of using electricity in heavy rain. Though some musicians turned out to beat drums and strum acoustic guitars, several bands scheduled to perform with electric instruments could not plug into generators.
”All the major bands couldn’t play,” Downing said, leaning against a trailer of equipment made useless by the persistent rain. “We lost basically all the entertainment.”
Downing lauded those who still turned out as “hardcore.”
Boston Police, who, organizers said, normally assign dozens of officers to the gathering, had a much smaller presence as well. Because the cannabis enthusiasts did not hold a major rally, the police presence planned for the event was not necessary, said a police spokesman, Nadine Taylor-Miller.
Those who attended did not allow the weather to dampen their spirits.
”It’s not about the amount of people that showed up,” said Mark Spielman, 26, who made the trip from Toronto and had no problem wading through the muddy grounds in his sandals. “It’s about the cause.”
God Grows Grass
Performed more than any other song on the Freedom Rally stage, by songwriter Dave Tree or whomever happens to take the honor in a given year. If there is a Boston-local anthem for marijuana reform, it is God Grows Grass.
Sow the seed of liberty, reap what you sow.
Sow the seed of liberty, watch your chances grow.
The Reform Tutu
Your voice becomes much bigger than you are, I recall Mick Jagger explaining. That’s why he chose to wear brightly-colored American football pants during their Tattoo You tour, and I also wanted to find a way of making my appearance stand out while on stage in front of acres of people. The Reform Tutu was created by Susie Kandt, and for a stretch of several years it was part of my reform festival uniform at the Boston Freedom Rally and Seattle Hempfest.
Safety Meetings
Walkie-talkies are still the preferred means of communication for festivals as they are faster that texting. Radio signals are intercepted by the police, who are listening in of course. How then to talk about meeting up to get high? The folks at Seattle Hempfest used the term “safety meeting,” and that was readily adopted by Freedom Rally volunteers. I am sure the cops figured out the code, but we could always claim we were very, very concerned about hosting a safe event.
Despite all the Reefer Madness, in 35 Freedom Rallies, not one arrest has been due to an act of violence.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition continues its mission through the Educational Village at the Freedom Rally. As part of its public service MassCann assembles leading experts from across the spectrum of cannabis specializations and makes them accessible without conference or seminar fees. This year’s Educational Village lineup is here
