I was at the Philadephia rally/protest/march yesterday afternoon, played hookey from work to get out to it. I felt it was important to show up to support the efforts of so many across the country as well as document this first hand. Plus, I’m a measly temp worker who was supposed to be offered a job by this company, but they’ve dragged their feet for half a year [no vacation days, no healthcare] so I think I’m entitled to a day off here and there to support a great cause.
I joined an estimated 10,000 fellow American residents in Love Park, the same park where Bill Clinton came out on the campiagn trail for Kerry just before the 2004 election. We didn’t get as many people as some of the other rallies, but that didn’t stop this crowd of descendents of Mexico, China, Sierra Leone, Puerto Rico, Liberia, Columbia, Korea, El Salvador, Ireland, Bangladesh… from proudly sharing their culture and energy with their fellow people.
DuctapeFatwa wrote up an account, so did Man Eegee. Duke1676 wrote on what the protests were about.
Unfortunately, none of the big elected politicians from the city nor the state were there as speakers. I did not notice any of them milling through the crowd either, but they could’ve been there. The mayor’s son and the mayor’s #2, City Managing Director Pedro Ramas spoke; that’s as close as it got. Too bad. No Villaraigosas here leading the march.
Why did you go out? How did your people end up in the US?
I’ve made an initial edit of my 350+ shots down to 173 and they’re up in a flickr set, but let me share a few of my favorites in addition to the Mexican dancers at the top of this post.
There’s a growing set on flickr here from around the country.