For years, social theorists have been debating the rapid disappearance of what they call the public arena or public space. It is argued that there is less space in communities where the public can freely express themselves or not be subject to the interests of capital. Translated into street lingo, it means that your free speech rights are going bye bye and any and all flat surfaces are potential space to sell you more shit.

If you have been to the outdoor concerts in downtown Grand Rapids this summer you will have seen how a public space--Rosa Parks Circle--has been transformed into a nearly privatized space. First, the concerts are brought to us by some corporation. Wednesday night Blues on the Mall are brought to us by Budweiser, which means that all night long, if I want to admire the musicians I have to look at a banner brandishing the Bud logo. Second, there are now so many "vendors" at these events that public space to stand, sit or dance has been limited. Third, during and after the show the public is admonished to "come join the band at the BOB." Like that yuppie watering hole needs people to tell them to come into their dress coded meat market for more entertainment. And finally, if you would dare to express yourself in this public space by handing out information about say, voting, you would be asked to leave. Funny how a space that was funded with public money and named after a Civil Rights hero doesn't recognize our public rights.

Not only is the sharing of information and ideas in a public space becoming more and more unacceptable it has culturally been associated with communicable diseases. If you have ever tried to hand out flyers in any urban area, you know what I am talking about. If people see you from a distance and know that you have something you are handing out and they will do one of the following: a) cross the street or walk as far away from you as possible, b) they will not look up so as not to have to make eye contact with you, c) will say "I'm not interested" even before you tell them that you want to give them free cookies, or d) say they will take your information if you take theirs. Their information will most often be a religious pamphlet that gives you the cliff notes version of biblical salvation. If you agree to take their handout then they will engage you in conversation about the existence of God and you will not hand out another flyer all day.

Even if you don't hand out flyers, but want to post them in public spaces you run the risk of harassment from business owners or the cops. Have you noticed in Grand Rapids how city staff are now used to go around town to tear down flyers by grassroots and community groups who have no budgets to communicate their events other than flyering? What the hell is up with that? I mean the city uses my tax money to "decorate" the downtown for the holidays, but I can't put up a stinking flyer? CBS billboards can sell ad space to the US Army telling me to be Army strong, but I can't post a flyer telling students about why they shouldn't join the military? I have been told that stapling flyers to a telephone poll is "unsightly." I guess the billboard for McDonalds tea is a work of art.

The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." So if anyone organizes a march against the US occupation of Iraq or Afghanistan they have a right to do so, correct? Not so fast. As someone who has participated in such activities, we are constantly told by the cops that we need a permit to exercise our Constitutional Rights. And guess what, a permit from the city costs money. So, you have no right to assemble unless you can pay for it and even then you have to follow the government's definition of what it means to assemble.

In recent years, the Ford Museum has made it "policy" that you can no longer hold signs or hand out information to people going in the museum. If you persist in wanting to share information with your fellow Grand Rapidians, the museum security people will call Grand Rapids' finest. Once they come you will be told that if you give people information you will be arrested. They politely tell me that if I want to hold a sign I can do so standing by the river. I once asked if it was any sign or just political signs. I said, "what if my sign said I love kittens, would I be threatened with arrest?" The response was, "I don't want to argue with you." This is the typical response that cops will give you when they know their enforcement is selective and ridiculous. But the point is, this public space, outside a publicly funded museum is not always friendly to the public.

Therefore, the idea of public space is quickly disappearing, but when I say public space, I don't just mean physical space. Public space can also mean cultural space, emotional or even intellectual space. For example, when I went to see the new Batman movie, I paid for my ticket with the knowledge that I would be paying for movie previews and the film itself. However, for several minutes I was subjected to a series of commercial advertisements that was not included on the ticket nor the digital marquee. An ad for Pond's skin cream started off the commercial frenzy. Pond's was using the film Mama Mia as a promotional tool to movie goers to feel bad about their skin. Next, a Sprint ad involved a couple who were obsessed with the Batman and Joker characters. A Honda SUV commercial ensued with the plot beginning with a family that just ran out of gas because they drove a monster truck. The Honda SUV driver gives them a lift and tells them that his vehicle gets a whopping 23 miles per gallons. Glad to see Honda is doing their part to curb global warming. The last commercial was for Mountain Dew and featured a series of silly "public" displays with the tag line of "finding your voice." Sweet, lime green fructose corn syrup can now provide me with the courage to take risks in public. At this point, I was grinding my teeth, but the next message sent me over the edge. The local movie theater then ran a message that read, "we are proud to bring you a commercial free experience." It was bad enough that they made me sit through these awful commercials, but then they want to lie to me on top of it. Holy Bat Poop!

You might be saying, "well Jeff this is a commercial movie theater, of course they are going to run ads before the film." I'm not saying that I was surprised by this fact, what I'm saying is that psychologically we give the private sector too much power to determine what the public can and cannot do. If you don't believe me, then try this the next time you go to the movies. During these commercials if you start to verbally critique them you may get asked to be quiet or the management might come and tell you to leave. Or even better, after the movie, instead of walking out go down to the front and try to facilitate a discussion about what people just viewed. I can guarantee that within minutes you will be asked to leave, since a cineplex is not a public place to share ideas, regardless of any insight you might have into the social pathology of the Joker or your objection to Hellboy drinking Tecate beer.

This hijacking of public space and public discourse by the private sector has even been injected into electoral politics. Last month, I wrote about how private money buys votes during an election, but I didn't mention how private money has also taken over other aspects of the electoral process. When this issue of Recoil is being distributed, both the Democratic and Republican Parties will have just finished their national conventions. What will not be mentioned by most of the corporate media is that the conventions are bought and paid for by corporate America. In June, the Campaign Finance Institute (www.cfinst.org) published a 10-page report on which companies had paid for the conventions. The usual big names were present like AT&T and the Ford Motor Company, but what the study also found was that 25 companies donated to both conventions. As I said last month, big money always hedges their bets so they win no matter what.

So what do we do? How can we reclaim the public? First, we have to identify what public space is and what we have a right to. Second, we need to really use our first amendment rights and not just refer to them as some document. In all my travels to Latin America, people took full advantage of public parks or the central plaza to express themselves with social, political and religious messages. Why in America are hot dog vendors on the street corners and we aren't? Third, we must act boldly when trying to reclaim public space. We must not be timid or intimidated by cops or the private sector that will attempt to silence us. The more we don't courageously reclaim public space, the greater the likelihood that we will lose what little we have left.

To share your ideas on ways to reclaim public space, send me an e-mail or find me on some street corner. jsmith [ -@- ] mediamouse.org