So that was fun. Yesterday I joined some good friends at the #NoHateSF rally that converged marches from the Castro, the Mission and what seemed like everywhere in San Francisco to counter this “Patriot Prayer” thing that was supposed to bring scary Nazi dudes to the city known for its love and tolerance for humans of all stripes. In the run-up to this invasive species threat there had been a lot of discussion among San Franciscans of how to respond to whatever version of white persecution complex these particular snowflakes were going to visit upon us. Dancing or Dog Poop? However, it was ultimately decided to avoid the confrontation and outnumber them with a big love fest at Civic Center as far away as possible from their fashy lamentations.
Well, let’s just say the “Patriot Prayer” had neither patriots nor a prayer. First, the organizer guy who had put together their Free (Hate) Speech rally at Crissy Field (white grievance posing with the Golden Gate Bridge? Nope!) rescheduled at the last minute for some sort of a press conference at Alamo Square (white grievance posing with the Painted Ladies? Nope!). When that didn’t bring out too much hospitality in the neighborhood, dude and a few of his buds trudged 15 miles south to someone’s apartment in the small town of Pacifica to whine about (Mayor) Ed Lee, Nancy Pelosi, and San Francisco’s left, for painting him as a “crypto-racist” before stating that he’s “known racists that are good, law abiding” and who “have raised good families.” Okay, whatever dude, your 15 minutes are up.
What it comes down to is that — just like in Boston last week— the racists, outnumbered by the tens of thousands, flailed and fizzled like fireworks in a bath tub. So rather than waste more of all our time with these pathetic basement kvetchers, I’d like to showcase my creative, loving, and resisting fellow San Franciscans with some photos that my partner-in-not-really-digging-on-trumpofascism, liberated spaces, and I took during the course of the afternoon.
It all started early with some good general reminders…
fantastic adornments…
and just plain old fun…
My own warning sign from someone whose people have been there before (No Power to Hate!) got a lot of great matches, from the quirky…
to the in-your-face…
The energy level really spiked when the marchers from the Castro arrived…
with a lot of powerful imagery!
There were a lot of people who’d decided to dedicate this picture-perfect Saturday afternoon to pounding the pavement for peace, love, and understanding...
and to punctuate it with San Francisco values…
When Michael Franti & Spearhead came on, the crowd went absolutely wild…
People were synced up with the songs’ messages of tolerance and inclusion…
Michael kept coming out into the crowd, firing us up to love each other and all those on the receiving end of injustices even harder. He kept bringing up people on the little podium, hugging and dancing together. No hips remained unswingin’, not even the security guards’…
Liberated spaces got really close to Michael and his well worn guitar…
before all the kids got to go on stage to sing the last song with the band…
There remained no doubt that San Francisco had come down 100% on the side of diversity and inclusion, but with this kind of a showing one could almost sense an even more fabulous manifestation...
In the end, we all left feeling like these two guys…
However, the last and lasting impression belonged to the clean-up crew, who seemed to be quite happy to finally be putting the alt-right into the dustbin of history.
