March

[lydy]

I did make it to the Minneapolis Keep Families Together march.  It was...ok, hot was an understatement.  I accepted a fairly generic sign, and mostly used it to block the direct sunlight.  I had a 32 oz water bottle, and went through all of it, and accepted an additional 8 oz of water from some blessed person at the end of the march with a big-assed bag-o-water on his shoulder.  Bless him forever.   

The march was led by Native Americans in very fancy dress, who danced at the beginning, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life.  I do not know what tribe or tradition.  The feathered head-dresses looked like Mardi Gras Indians, but I am no expert.  It was incredibly appropriate.  These people have also known attempted genocide through child stealing.  The sound system sucked, and I couldn't hear the speakers.  I believe that none of them were white?  

The news says that the march was about 7,000 people.  Not a bad showing, perhaps?  Not sure how it compares to the Women's March, frex.  A new spox said something about "trying to get a message to Donald Trump."  Dunno about that.  Maybe some people were.  Me, I was trying to get a message to my congress critters.  I don't think that it is possible to communicate with Trump.

I didn't make it the full way of the march.  I stand less well than I walk, and had been standing for about 45 minutes when the walking finally started.  Then I walked for about 45 minutes.  Things that make me want to keep on walking: drums, music with a beat.  Things  that do not make me feel like walking: chanting.  I find chanting tiring and a bit embarrassing.  I bailed at 4th street, sat on a bus stop bench and watched the rest of the people march past, then went home.  I slept for 12 hours, and don't feel too terrible.  

Other random observations:
 - Banana Boat SPF50 sunblock blocked the sun, but does not come off in the shower.  I am still a bit tacky from the stuff this morning.  
 - 32 oz of water was not enough for 95+ degree weather, but I'm not sure I could have carried much more weight.  
 - I get points for not engaging with the 3 anti-abortion protestors.  
 - I get very emotional at protests, and that may be one of the reasons why I don't like them.  I feel very vulnerable.  
 - The crowd was very, very, very white.  I get that this is Minnesota.  
 - I am generally cheerful about being photographed and filmed, but the guy in an Empire Strikes Back t-shirt that looked very much like a fan or a gamer taking video creeped me out.  That was the first time where I thought about people using facial recognition to try to hassle marchers.  I hope I am being incredibly unfair to Mr. Empire Strikes Back.  

Comments

[redbird]

Well done, both for going and for knowing when you needed to leave.

It didn't seem like anyone in particular was leading the march here: there were speakers, and organizers, but the "let's start moving" was a bit slow and chaotic. I am very glad that our started at 11 a.m., though it was already very hot then.

[lydy]

Had it been important, I think I could have made it the whole two mile walk. But I was there long enough to be counted, and I was in pretty significant pain by three p.m., so it seemed to me that leaving was not crazy. All in all, there will be more things that need to be done. So, yeah, I think leaving was the right thing.

Even with a clear start to the march, it seemed disorganized and chaotic. and something weird was happening with the stop lights that I didn't understand. The parade route was blocked off by the cops, so possibly the fact that the stop lights made no sense was immaterial. I have not done many marches. Maybe they always seem chaotic.

[pameladean]

A quick search seems to show about 90,000 people for the Women's March in St. Paul.

I suspect resources in general are stretched already, but it sounds like marches in hot weather need water stations and people handing out bananas as if it were a marathon. For a lot of us, it is.

P.

[redbird]

The Boston one didn't have water stations, exactly, but there were people handing around bottles of water. As in, here are twelve bottles wrapped loosely in plastic, take one and pass the rest along. I grabbed one (even though we had brought some water), and the three of us finished it pretty quickly. I almost tripped over another batch on our way out of City Hall Plaza, and took another bottle, which also helped.

For smaller marches/protests around here, Food Not Bombs sets up tables with apples, bananas, water, peanut butter, bread, and the like. I said something to the person there, at what I think was my first Boston protest, and he told me that they "cater all the Boston protests," as something that of course everybody knows. But that doesn't exactly scale: feeding whoever among 300 people forgot to eat lunch or wants an apple is a lot cheaper as well as logistically easier than doing so for marches that draw tens of thousands.

[lydy]

I have very visible evidence that the sunblock worked: an irregular patch of bright red on my right shoulder. It looks a bit like a bat trailing a veil. Ok, it looks like a Rorschach ink blot, but moving right along. It only hurts when touched, or laid on. So, not too bad.

[haertstitch]

Its good you marched, I don't have shoes that would be good for it, been havign a hard time finding ones I'd keep on my feet. Mashing my toe didn't help that either.

I went looking for pictures of the Indigenous leaders and it was heavily censored. there was a flash at the beginning of a video then poof.
I saw a "fancy dancer"regalia and the feathered outfit that the men prefer.

we do have an active aztec dance group in Minneapolis, I saw them PBS/s Minnesota Original. they are spectacular in their plumage. "http://www.compas.org/artists/kalpulli-ketzal-coatlicue"