Just got back from the healthcare rally/march in Boston -- here are some pictures.
It was held at the gazebo on the Boston Common -- here are some of the first people we saw:
More below the cut.
My friend estimated there were a little over 1000 people there (1200?).
I liked this sign:
There were plenty of single-payer supporters there, including what seemed like a lot from Sudbury (home of the famous Sudbury School).
After about 20 minutes my camera battery died, so I didn't get any of the speakers. I remember Martha Coakley doing a pretty good job, and several stories by Bostonians who had had health insurance nightmares. A lot of it was translated into Spanish, and one woman's story was given in Spanish and translated into English.
It seemed like "Who Wants to Be a Senator?" auditions when all the Mass delegation was speaking.
These are all crappy cell phone photos from here on.
There were a lot of blue signs that said "Do it for Ted" with his image on them. We found them slightly creepy. But then one of the speakers (Ed Markey?) got us going with this refrain of "[problem we're going to fix] -- do it for Ted!" which was even worse. Later, Capuano gave a pretty damn rousing speech ending with, to paraphrase, I'm glad to be furthering Ted's legacy, and Obama's agenda, but this is about all you, all of us.
After the march, the Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band played in Copley Square. These guys are awesome -- I wish I could find a decent YouTube video to play.
But the best sign was this:
(Flickr set here, and two other diaries here and here)