Notes from the protest, at the tail end of a tense day

by Neil MIck

"Whose streets?? OUR STREETS! Whose streets?? OUR STREETS!!"

I arrived at Powell & Market just after 5pm. This was to be my first time in this march, in SF: I was one of the "Capitola 13" arrested, but the whole affair was mostly symbolic. While the police presence was heavy, everyone was polite, and the police were gentle to all of us. They even let us all go, after citing us.

Today, however, I was more than a little anxious, having seen the photos of police wrestling young women to the ground with pain-compliance holds, bikers knocked off their bikes for simply riding by and yelling anti-war slogans. The threat of violence was sobering, but I couldn't just sit at home and listen. I had to attend this march, no matter the result.

The picture on Market and 5th wasn't quite what I'd expected: about 50 ppl were standing quietly, with 12 cops on bikes flanking Market,and one circling helicopter. A subdued anxiety hung in the twilight air; but I felt this tension everywhere I went today, and so it was unsurprising.

"What do we want...? PEACE! When do we want it...?"

Soon enough, a confused man yelled that there was "good news:" 2 American soldiers had been killed. No one cheered. I shouted: "That is NOT good news! NO death is good news!" Another protestor and I talked to this man and got him to see that we should support the safe return of our soldiers, and he soon agreed.

After awhile enough protestors gathered to march up Market. There were between 50-100 of us, not including our 50-100 man police escort. Still, the police were restrained and did not harass anyone. The one arrest I saw-- a man scaled a fire-escape right in the middle of the march-- was handled with a minimum of force by 3 officers. They even left us totally alone for awhile, as the marchers approached Church and Market.

"POLICE FOR PEACE!! POLICE FOR PEACE!!"

At first intimidated from the heavy police presence, the mood turned festive and celebratory when the police left the march. We turned down Castro and again on 18th, picking up a few marchers along the way, swelling our ranks to about 100.

"OFF OF YOUR COUCH AND ONTO THE STREETS!!"

Sometime down 18th we received our police escort again: a ten-car cavalcade with about 4 cops in each car (!) , followed by the required police van, in case the itch for arrest was too much to deny. Luckily, they never chose to scratch, while I attended.

Our chants took the tone of the neighborhoods we visited. In the Castro, it was "Out of the BARS and ONTO THE STREETS!!" Noe Valley was inclusive of everyone. We'd stop to re-concentrate the marchers, and I saw a yarn shop with a circle of knitters. And so I led with "KNITTERS for PEACE! KNITTERS for PEACE!" All the knitters held their peace signs high, in solidarity. In fact, most people we passed smiled and waved. Cars honked, and much of SF's denizens expressed their approval.

At the basketball courts, Dolores Park: "Basketballers for peace!!!" And of course: "POLICE for PEACE!!"

When we got to the Mission, it was "No mas Bush!! No mas Bush!!"

The long walk, and the rancid, inescapable funk of the Mission took its toll on the march: we lost a few ppl by the time we approached 24th St. By the time I signed off, we were all tired and whittled away to less than 20. Still, the remaining marchers soldiered on, heading up 24th toward Valencia, and out of my view.

This movement may well not be enough to stop this war: I'm not sure that it can. But we do not march simply to stop the war: we march because we cannot sit idly by while our country engages in such a flawed policy. We cannot go about our normal business-as-usual, while Iraqi men, women and children are murdered, with our tax dollars.

In short, we march to be true to ourselves.

Won't you join us? There's room, for everyone.