Here in the East Bay near San Francisco, we had more than half a dozen #Families Belong Together rallies from which to choose without even having to cross a bridge. Another half dozen or more took place in San Francisco and the Peninsula, with still more in the South Bay.
I chose to attend the rally at Lake Merritt in Oakland. This was a family-oriented event, with kid-friendly sign-making stations, t-shirt screening stations, and more.
One of the best parts of this rally was that many of the featured speakers were children. Kids say the darndest things, like: “If I were the President I would try to help people.”
Of course, plenty of parents and grandparents were in evidence as well, tempering innocence with experience. An older Japanese-American woman stood quietly to the side with a sign reading “MY FAMILY SPENT 3.5 YEARS IN A ‘CAMP’”. Her husband’s sign consisted of a cage with little dolls inside, titled “GOP Family Values”.
I’ve been feeling pretty disheartened by the developments of the last week, but left this rally feeling fired up and optimistic.
The day is still young! If you’re in the East Bay and you missed the morning rallies (or if you want to get out there again today!), there is still time to get to the last one scheduled today at 4:30 at Grand Ave. and Harrison in Oakland. And if you’re willing to cross a bridge there’s also a rally scheduled for 7:00 pm at Gateway Park in Mountain View.
Perhaps I’ll see you there!