Dressed in their best tuxedos, top hats, evening gowns and pearls while holding up signs that read "Leave no billionaire behind!" and "Corporations are people, too!," an anti-Bush group is taking a different approach to the art of the protest by mockingly advocating for the rights of the wealthy.
Members of Billionaires for Bush, a group that protests corporations' influence in the government, oppose their targets by dressing up as them, and they are adamant that any hint of humor on their part is purely intentional.
National co-chair Melody Bates, whose stage name is Ivy League-Legacy, said activists try to use humor and satire to "expose politicians who support corporate interests at the expense of everyday Americans."
"We are often able to provide a media-friendly 'front end' for progressive causes, creating eye-catching, germane spectacles in the public eye in such a way that even people who consider themselves non-political respond positively," she said in an email.
National co-chair Elissa Jiji, who goes by Meg A. Bucks, said humor proves an effective means to convey a message because it energizes and engages people regardless of whether they agree with the group's message.
"When you're penned in behind a police barricade just for expressing your right to free speech, it's nice to have a reason to laugh, even if the reason you're there, like the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, is so serious it could make you cry," Jiji said.
"Besides - who doesn't like a tiara?" she added.
Betsy Leondar-Wright, spokeswoman for United for a Fair Economy, the nonprofit organization that helped create Billionaires for Bush, said the organization has been "totally effective" in accomplishing its goals by employing humor to stimulate interest in politics.
"Our political system is weakened by the great numbers of people who tune politics out and disengage, and the Billionaires' humor draws some of them back in," she said.
Boston-Metro chapter of Billionaires for Bush chairwoman Jill Kolva, also known as Ivana Moore-Enmoore, said people's reactions to the group vary.
"Some people don't get it and either get angry at us for being imperialist fascist pigs or praise us for supporting the administration," she said. "Some people get it and love us. Some people get it and hate us."
Kolva said she became involved with the group at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, which was held at the FleetCenter, now the TD Banknorth Garden. The local chapter was fairly inactive at the time of the convention, Kolva said, who added she then became inspired to get involved.
"I was so galvanized that I recreated the chapter from scratch," she said.
Kolva said the organization's Boston chapter has almost 400 people on its email list and between six to eight "core people," joking that recruitment is easy.
"We attract members with our glamour, with our wit and with our cool props," she said.
The Boston chapter participates in many small events, including a strike this past Monday evening at the Park Plaza Hotel, as well as larger events.
Additionally, the group says it has been able to grow with the support of politicians and activists like U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), as well as author, filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore.
As the organization continues to create chapters throughout the country, Bates said she is confident it will continue making its mark.
"As long as there are politicians to buy jobs to outsource, golden parachutes to wear, workers to exploit, countries to invade, corporate welfare to collect, foreign oil to tap and ice sculptures urinating Stoli[chnaya Vodka], the Billionaires will be there, lobbying for the corporate elite," she said.
Be the first to comment on this article!