[Five Day Bicycle Race raw: Outside the Garden]

This video contains raw footage shot for "Five Day Bicycle Race," a project comprised of live in-studio commentary and taped edited coverage of the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York City. Produced by independent videomakers calling themselves The Image Union (including many members of TVTV and Videofreex), it aired on Manhattan Cable for three hours per night for five days during the convention. In this video, we watch as numerous political groups protest outside of the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

00:00Copy video clip URL This tape begins with a blue screen.

00:35Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a group of gay rights activists outside of the DNC. As the group of men sing in protest, a man steps in front of the camera to block the shot, when asked by the camera operator to move out of view, the man says, “I figured maybe you could see the normal people too. Not everybody’s a monkey [pointing over to the group of protesters].” Upon seeing the man blocking the camera shot, one of the gay rights activists moves directly in front of the camera. The activist and the man share a brief exchange after the man says not to touch him or he’ll “have him locked up.” The activist responds by saying he will not touch the man. However, the man keeps provoking the group. Pointing his finger in the activist’s face, the man begins to say something to the group before getting angered by the fact that another activist had touched him. “Don’t touch me please. I’m not a gay.” One of the activists then calls the man a homophobe and begins to speak directly into the camera about homophobia and gay rights. The other man voices his concern over the gay rights activists taking too much attention away from the “normal” people at the convention. One of the activists then makes a comment about normality. “Normality is defined as what most of the people are doing most of the time, meaning it was normal in Nazi Germany to kill of all of the Jews. We happen to know that in Nazi Germany, they killed of over 500,000 homosexuals. It was a holocaust. And they killed gay people to and we know it, that’s why we wear the pink triangle. The pink triangle was the lowest of the low. So just because they say we’re not normal, it doesn’t mean we’re not human beings.”

02:38Copy video clip URL Cut to a prayer booth outside of the convention. The 100 Hours of Prayer for America is a group dedicated to promoting prayer as the solution to the country’s problems. A woman representing the group goes into a little more detail about the group and it’s purpose. “Well it says in the Bible to pray constantly and I think that especially here with all of the commotion and whatnot, it’s important to be in an attitude of prayer and mindful continually of where our city is at and where our country is at and the need for God and having open conversation with God and thinking upon him.” The woman goes on to talk about how the booth affects the surrounding public.

05:06Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a large bundle of buttons that read, “The Future is Female.” A woman representing the National Organization for Women is selling the buttons and t-shirts featuring feminist slogans like “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle” and “A woman’s place is in the House and Senate.” She explains that she came into this line of work to make a living after a divorce from her husband. She talks about the turmoil on the surrounding streets. She goes on to comment on her hopes for the feminist movement. “I hope as far as I’m concerned that possibly it will raise some people’s consciousness about trying to effect the change in this world to allow the human being to be.”

07:54Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a protest sign in favor of socialized health care. One of the videomakers speaks with the woman holding up the sign. The woman talks about the controversy the sign has brought into the area. She goes on to explain her position on socialized medicine and voices her concern over negligent medical practices.

09:24Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a Pro-Life representative voicing concern over Jimmy Carter’s stance on the issue of abortion. “How can Jimmy Carter be a man of God is he is preaching the Bible out of one side of his mouth and he is for abortion out of the other? You cannot mix religion and abortion. They’re directly opposed.” The camera operator gathers a few close up shots of the group’s pictures and setup. Some of the pictures are grotesque and hard to look at.

10:18Copy video clip URL Fade into a shot of a man in front of the Pro-Life booth who states that he doesn’t believe most Pro-Life people are willing to support unwanted children if they were to be born. A Pro-Life representative quietly listens to the man as he addresses the camera operator.

10:58Copy video clip URL Cut to footage of a Pro-Choice representative promoting his views. “It’s the woman’s right to choose if she wants to abort a child or not, or a fetus, whatever you choose.” He talks about the importance of this issue and his reasons for promoting the cause.

11:58Copy video clip URL Fade into a shot of California Delegate Elijah Turner. The camera operator asks Turner about the number of lobbyists on the street and how it affects the convention. He states that the high activity on the streets is great and a lot of fun. The tape ends shortly afterward.

12:43Copy video clip URL Tape ends.