Because the events in Madison are likely to be seen as a watershed, I feel it is important to remind readers that the last year has seen a slow, but steady growth in non-tea party political action. Luckily, I was there to record much of it.

Things began with the Deep Horizon disaster. Spontaneous, Facebook-driven grassroots protesting took place in more than thirty American cities, including Birmingham Alabama:

September saw Appalachia Rising, the culmination of years of work by anti-mountaintop removal mining activists, in Washington, DC. While the protest ended in front of the White House, marchers rocked the halls of power across the city:

Also, One Nation happened the end of that same week:

In November, the School of the Americas Watch was at a historic ebb when overreach by law enforcement played into organizers’ hands:

And December, when about 300 activists turned out despite heavy snowfall to demand an end to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq:

I’m actually surprised, and not a little gratified, by how much of this I was able to directly observe and record. I wish I could be in Wisconsin today — solidarity! Here’s the Koch protest in Rancho Mirage earlier this month: