Wisconsin Protests: HuffPost Readers Share Their Stories

Last week, we invited HuffPost readers who were participating in the Madison protests to share their stories with us.

This week, we put together a slide show of our readers photos and experiences. Were you in Madison, Wisconsin last week? Do you want to share your take on the protests with us? Submit a slide below!

 

Did you go to the Madison protests? Share you story below!

Are you at the Madison protests? Share your story

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Rally 2-16-11, State Capitol, Madison, WI

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Nicolas Boehm:
Despite the mist and fog, the energy was inspiring. Opponents to the budget quoted Martin Luther King and sang along to Bob Marley's "Stand Up for Your Rights".

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Nicolas Boehm:
Despite the mist and fog, the energy was inspiring. Opponents to the budget quoted Martin Luther King and sang along to Bob Marley's "Stand Up for Your Rights".

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Comments

[hoodie]

07:24 PM on 04/05/2011

People were incredible. I arrived with a broken wrist and cannot tell you how many times I could readily find a nurse in the crowd to happily re-set my sling. Made me so proud to be a Cheesehead!

[edlindaspy]

06:17 PM on 04/05/2011

Madison was incredible.. I personally didn't attend as I was ill but my friends did as we all grew up in Madison and they are teachers. They were really moved by it and can tell you that is how Wisconsin is,,ya know those little bars up north aren't just for drinking,,they are for socializing and getting the word out and gathering to help one another,,,Walker doesn't have a clue of what he is in for,,,and by the way,,,,

Brian Deschane, the son of a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association and a major Walker donor, is now earning $81,500 a year on their dime. And lucky him: In Brian's first two months on the job, he even landed a 26 percent pay raise, according to The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. It's a very generous percentage too -- unlike Wisconsin teachers, who typically make about half of Deschane's salary and see their pay increase only 21 percent every 10 years."

His qualifications: dropping out of college, working for a few Republicans, working for a lobbyist shop and getting busted a couple times for DUI. Most guys in their mid-20s would be staring down a decade of riding the bus after a couple drunk driving convictions. That one reason why Wisconsinites aren't a bit happy!!! Do you blame them?

[g-moi]

05:50 PM on 04/05/2011

Great Photos. I attended numerous rallies and all were peaceful and incredibly moving. The energy and the politeness was great. Oftentimes the crowd would just chant "thank you, thank you" after someone spoke.

[Eidolas]

05:52 AM on 04/05/2011

Ah.....So many memories. Buses rolling in from out-of-state filled with union agitators, Doctors writing fake notices, teachers dragging their teenage classes to Madison to protest against.................what are we suppoesed to protest against again??? But my favorite memory were the proud parents handing Walker/Hitler signs to their toddlers to carry around. Or the teacher from New Berlin screaming like a banshee, red faced and hysterical while a reporter attempted to file a news report. Madison is indeed a special kind of place.

[gallon]

06:03 PM on 04/05/2011

I really doubt you were in Madison. The protests were remarkable for their civility.

[ReflectionsOfMyLife]

11:17 PM on 04/03/2011

I just found this article, beautiful and amazing pictures.

To the gentleman whose wife had passed away on Feb.3rd, your sign (photo 43) at first made me laugh, then, the tears came. What a beautiful way to honor her memory. You must have loved her very much and I'm so sorry for your loss.

[bobbertino84]

07:21 PM on 04/03/2011

i have worked for privatized education in OH and this is the deal:
$40K Gross Pay Max. that's it. no union. no benefits. no retirement plan.
10 years or 30 years experience, it doesn't matter. no pay raises. ever. not even cost of living.
even with a master's degree, national certification, teaching certification and state licensure,
it's still the same deal.

[Ron333wood]

01:13 PM on 04/05/2011

So why do you tolerate it? There is more opportunity at MacDonald's.

[hudly]

12:17 PM on 03/31/2011

I have been at five Saturdays in Madison. Lots of interesting things happening. This is my favorite. On my 3rd Saturday, with about 80 to 100 thousand people there, my friends and I were circling the capitol. About 3 or 4 groups ahead in the dense crowd was a family with some younger kids marching. During long lull, one of the kids, a boy, probably 7 or 8, began the "what does democracy look like chant". At first, just his parents responded, and I suspect everyone else thinking like me. How cute. Then, as he stubbornly continued, more and more of the group began to respond, until several minutes later the entire crowd was roaring their response to this young man. I might add that more people than just myself were responding with tears in our eyes. I am sure this will be an experience that this young man will remember for the rest of his life. I know I will!

[cogswellronC]

04:35 PM on 04/07/2011

WHAT DOES DEMOCRACY LOOK LIKE, LIKE THE ELECTION OF A RESPONSIBLE GOVERNOR WHO IS TRYING TO LIVE WITHIN HIS BUDGET. I WISH WE HAD A PRESIDENT WHO DID THE SAME. FDR WAS AGAINST PUBLIC UNIONS, WHY SHOULD SOMEONE BE ABLE TO NEGOCIATE A CONTRACT WITH SOMEONE THEY ELECT.

[hudly]

08:55 PM on 04/08/2011

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

[Cabo600]

11:23 AM on 03/31/2011

These stories and the dignity and fighting spirit of the protestors brings tears to my eyes. Democracy in action is a powerful force to behold.

[standard]

07:57 AM on 02/23/2011

Kudos to your photo editor! This selection of images really captures well the feeling of the events on Capitol Square in Madison and in the Capitol rotunda all last week! Nice work.

[moutonnoir]

02:52 AM on 02/23/2011

My girlfriend and I traveled from Chicago to Madison yesterday. We rented a car with our own money and spent our own time to go stick up for the teachers and public workers. My sign read "Collective Bargaining is Capitalism for Workers". It was a very interesting day. Video for those interested: http://vimeo.com/20266398

[pollclaire]

09:09 PM on 04/04/2011

Great video. Was there one day before you.

[Florida Truth]

04:34 PM on 02/22/2011

What's so heartwarming and yet disconcerting here is that many of these people are presumably not even from Wisconsin, but have been bussed in by Union sympathizers who know how to church out people with signs and "pack the halls." Even if they are all representative, well, now's the time for them to remember a favorite saying, ummmm, "minority rights"! So, whether the union is in the majority or the minority, it looks like the days of pandering to people who think it's their RIGHT to DEMAND certain wages and compensation, think again Minnesota teachers, get out there like everyone else and learn to COMPETE for a job in today's world. And for the teacher who think she'll bring sympathy by telling everyone she teaches the governor's son--I'd have my kid in private school so fast--her head would spin. Private school teachers know what it's like to teach because it's a vocation, a calling. And they don't THREATEN to quit every time it gets tough. You get all this from a former public school teacher who started in Missouri in a district where pay was low, but respect and structure was HIGH, who went to Georgia where pay was high, they couldn't keep teachers, and education was a joke. But, by goodness, they had RIGHTS!!!!

[standard]

08:15 AM on 02/23/2011

As to your first sentence: Virtually everyone demonstrating at Capitol Square in Madison (well over 90% I'd estimate) has been from Madison and elsewhere in Dane County or, at least, the colleges and universities here. Friends running into friends has been a frequent and commonplace event all week. The only buses in evidence were those hired for the two thousand or so Tea Party counter-protesters, who were there only on Saturday. You're just guessing at what's actually going on here and making up stories--the way Fox News does.

As to the rest of your comment: I find it hard to believe that you taught school in Georgia, home to Emory and Georgia State, fine colleges filled with the products of Georgia public education. But I'll take your word for it.

[LDF]

10:05 AM on 02/23/2011

As a fellow Dane county resident, I couldn't agree more. Question for FLA Truth (sic): Have you been here to see for yourself?

As a former teacher, I'll say this: If I had been going into a calling instead of a profession, I would have become a priest.

[ceigenberger]

03:52 AM on 02/24/2011

What rights are you talking about? Georgia is one of 5 states that does NOT have collective bargaining for teachers. I'm sure it's true that they could NOT keep good teachers under those circumstances. You're also right about the quality of education-just like the other 4 states that don't have collective bargaining for teachers: results ARE dismal. Perhaps you can start drawing some conclusions between the lack of collective bargaining and those states performing so poorly.

[Florida Truth]

01:55 PM on 02/24/2011

I think it's interesting the one would question what I have in GA and doubt I've taught there, in one response, and in another response, ask if I had been in Wisconsin to really see what happened in another. Yes, I taught high school south of Atlanta. Some of my students went on to UGA and other schools. I didn't need anyone to bargain for me, I could see that I was in a losing district. My departure told them so--even though I got every thing I asked for and more. It sort of made me sick. The people who stayed were part of a teacher's union at the time who supported a fellow educator who actually embezzled funds from them for a personal family situation. Never interested in a union mentality but hoped to use my own skills at the negotiating table.