Hi Friends,
The San Diego Rally ranged from 700 to 800 participants, (perhaps more as various groups of people would come and go between 4:30pm and 7:30pm). This is a great turnout for a Tuesday evening in January in
of our progressive movement as compared to other major cities in the
On a clear beautiful evening in San Diego, people of all ages and colors and sizes came to Horton Plaza to make noise and express the need to drive out the Bush Regime. Gathering as early as 4:30, as tables and sound was being set in place, the very motivated group wanted to get this demonstration going. A wonderful beat was provided by a Reggae group, who played various numbers including one written especially for the occasion, expressing their feelings about how the Bush Regime was failing.
Many people had brought percussion -type “instruments”, that varied from Home Depot buckets, to frying pans and Native American percussion pieces, etc. Whistles were on sale by San Diego’s World Cant Wait, along with hand held signs and laminated signs in Spanish as well as English, for immediate use as well as for displaying in windows, cars, etc. , available for a donation.
The sandal footed, black clad Abu Graib torture victim, standing on his raised wooden box, with electrical wires hanging from each hand, was a very eerie reminder to all of the botched Iraq war, and its’ many victims. Many people held up their day-glo green and black signs behind and around him and snapped photos.
The speakers included:
Randall Hamud, author, activist and attorney;
Rhiannon Good, a community educator for reproductive rights, and
Gloria Daviston, a veteran with Veterans for Peace, along with several others.
The WCW call was read, Aida Reyes from our local group emceed, and people were ready to make some noise. The drumming was rhythmical, the whistles piercing; the pots and pans just plain noisy, and an interesting mix filled the air for quite some time. Many people were in the mood for some good ol’Bush bashing chants, and ‘Bush Step Down’ along with others filled the air.
The energy of young and old was a great blend, with a long conga line of young participants spontaneously marching down the front of Horton Plaza, crossing the street at the light, and marching down the opposite side in front of the prestigious Grant Hotel, crossing at the other end and making a continuous loop of marchers. This worked well as the side walks on one side had become too crowded to contain everybody.
Drivers-by honked in agreement, held up their hands with peace symbols, and the bus (this is on the city’s main bus route) drivers honked and waved in solidarity. Sometimes entire busloads roared their approval and agreement.
Here are a series of Photos posted by “Jonathan” on our local extremely supportive www.Indymedia.org web site.
More photos on DemocraticUnderground.COM
In Struggle,San Diego, CA Chapter, WorldCantWait.ORG