Okay so something has come up (family thing–nothing terrible 🙂 and now I’m not sure if I’m going to get video up before I have to leave at noon. So I thought I would at least share some images from yesterday while they are still fresh in my mind.
Last night’s march was a huge success. The whole thing was peaceful and the cops didn’t even have their riot gear out. (They sure had a lot of cameras going though!)
The Chief of Oakland Police even came out to say “hi.” Okay, he didn’t actually come out and say “hi”. Several people recognized him, but he just looked at us from inside his men-in-black looking car while we all said “hello” and smiled and waved.
It sure was a long walk to the docks from the West Oakland Bart station, and I gotta start remembering to always wear my walking shoes to these events. Of course, it could have seemed longer because I had a coat on that I didn’t need (with the sun shining so bright and all). I was also carrying my camera and tripod the whole time, and they got progressively heavier as time passed along.
Once we had secured all of the docks (and “secured” just means that there was a little picket circle of people out in front that would politely ask drivers of cars and trucks coming up to the gate to please turn around — and yes, they were all turning around, from what I could see), we walked clear from one end of the docks to the other — apparently with the blessings of a police escort the entire time. At that point, things felt stable enough for me to go home.
Luckily, a VW bus of cheerful older ladies gave me a ride back to the Bart station. I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of them — I must have been too exhausted from being in the sun too long. Hopefully I’ll see them at another protest soon and can get a snapshot then. They were a cheerful bunch. The youngest one must of been at least 65, and they said they had been there for most of the afternoon and they had been doing stuff like this for over 60 years. How cool!
I promise I’ll have video up in a day or two! Hope this gives you a feel for what happened ’till you can see for yourself!