Photographer and tech developer John Parres attended yesterday’s historic marches in Los Angeles. His photos are here, here, and here, and his personal account follows:
It was an amazing and at times emotional, even gut wrenching, day.
A
few moments from today stick out — the marchers with a huge USA flag
were having
a blast… they would carry it over their heads, then stop and
drop to the ground, then in unison jump into the air and cheer: "USA! USA! USA!" – which of course ignited the surrounding
crowd.And when they were done the group took care to fold
the flag into a respectful triangle as any citizen would.The downtown rally closed by playing Neil Diamond’s
"America." For me the lyrics hit some emotional strings
seeing all these people who came here for a better life.."..Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we’ll say our grace
Freedom’s light burning warm
Freedom’s light burning warm…"
I fully expect the crowd to erupt with Neil at the song’s peak:
"Today!" but alas it was lost on the crowd. Neil needs to
record a Spanish version. Or better yet someone from East LA. In
Spanish.The Red Line subway trains were standing room only with people in
white shirts draped in USA flags making their way, like me, from City
Hall to MacArthur Park for the Wilshire march.There is a slight
climb from the station to Wilshire Blvd. which bends and crests at
Westlake Village.
At that point the sea
of humanity came into view and more than one person around me
started laughing. Suddenly we saw the sheer magnitude of what was
unfolding…. and we knew we were making history.I was struck by the number of home-made signs. That’s always a big
bellwether for the politicos. Unions and Big Business have the
money to make and distribute signs but what truly matters are the
hand-made and carried expressions…The
mother who worked for over 20 years without rights and raised a
family. The
father who doesn’t want to be separated from his children born
with USA citizenship. The
children who don’t want to be separated from their parents. The
student who seeks knowledge to further enrich society and her
future. Young
couples, strawberry
pickers, hot dog
vendors and, as you highlighted, the
young iron worker who displayed the very shirt and sweat of his
labor.
All of them challege the notion of native
land.Today was an historic and great day for the United States.
My next
door neighbors stood
up against bullies like Lou
Dobbs and James Sensenbrenner to oppose
HR 4437.American
workers didn’t march for Communism — far from it — nor do they
demand higher pay. They march for their families and for dignity,
respect, and acceptance. They marched because of their enduring and
undervalued labor.On May Day 2006 millions
of day laborers marched for the American dream.
Previous BoingBoing posts about the May 1 marches: Tampa, Los Angeles part 1, New York City, San Francisco, Tijuana, Portland, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles part 2. An update on reports that police used excessive force on protesters in MacArthur park is here.
