Here are some pictures from the protest:
Some of the speakers were alright:
But, honestly, some of the speakers seemed more intent on reliving the sixties’ protest era than on actually making the case against SB 1070. For example, one enthusiastic speaker argued that SB 1070 was an example of heterosexism, and would in practice be both anti-queer and anti-woman. Another speaker urged us to follow the migrant children in order to find our souls. I’m sorry, but huh?
But, as with all protests, the point is to express one’s outrage and disappointment over an unjust action. And for many protesters, that was accomplished by protest signs. Here are some great ones:
But then, there were also some protest signs that were just ill-conceived and in poor taste. I do not agree with the sentiments in these signs:
And, of course, with every protest of this magnitude, you get the haters, who come to desperately represent the “other side”. This woman accosted the local news reporters who were trying desperately not to die from sunstroke, and remarked (rather loudly), “All they want to do is to open the borders. They’re trying to take over.”
And we caught a picture of one dude flipping off the protest as he walked by.
All in all, while the protest had its ups and downs, it felt good to hit the streets and express my own disapproval of SB 1070. I think it’s important that those of us who spend time blogging about injustice actually make the effort to extend our activism beyond the internet. It’s not enough to just point out inequity and racism around us, we must take the time to actually enact change — even if it’s just by adding our voices with others in civil protest.
