Protester’s next stop: the Democratic convention

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- She’ll join thousands of activists and anarchists

outside the Democratic National Convention next week, carrying a sign in

her hand and her daughter on her shoulders.

“There will be a lot of people uniting under the same umbrella of

social justice,� said Hermine Bender, a Costa Mesa-based labor rights

advocate. “A network of environmentalists, teamsters, human rights

advocates. But it all boils down to social justice.�

The Cal State Long Beach psychology major said the convention -- where

wealthy corporate donors and lobbyists schmooze and toast candidates --

is symptomatic of what’s wrong with the United States.

“We’re supposedly a nation of democracy,� she said, craning her head

to watch her 4-year-old pigtailed daughter Cassidy play on the swings at

Shiffer Park. “But the only people who have a say here are investors,

CEOs and the rich elite. The average worker does not get represented.�

Bender, 24, said she was driven to activism two years ago after

reading books by Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky -- two spokesmen for the

downtrodden. She’s become an outspoken -- and nonviolent -- supporter of

labor unions and opponent of multinational corporations. And she’s

connected hundreds of like-minded activists on the Internet.

She’s hosting three protesters she met on the Internet in her small

apartment. One is a college professor, the other a law student, the third

a medical student.

Los Angeles law enforcement officials are preparing for the worst, but

Bender said she is not worried about getting hurt. She plans to protest

peacefully and expects most others to do the same -- although she

acknowledged that some people will try to cause problems.

Wearing a neat black shirt tucked into pressed brown slacks, Bender

looked much more conservative than the throngs of dreadlocked and pierced

protesters who shut down World Trade Organization conferences in Seattle

in December.

But she was there -- and in Washington, D.C. during the International

Monetary Fund meetings in April.

On Sunday, she plans to picket the beach next to the Santa Monica

Pier, where delegates will be hosting a party. Monday, she plans to march

from Pershing Square to the Staples Center with thousands of other

demonstrators.

“At least as close to the delegates as they let us,� said Bender, who

said she has no intention of getting arrested. “We have a message to be

heard and they’re going to hear it.�