Yesterday, two volunteers joined me for a quick protest action in San Francisco.
The three of us (J, D and MB) headed to the Castro district, where we know that the police are used to diversity and expression, giving us a relatively low risk area to do our protest.
The faces have been blurred to protect identities. J and MB did pamphleting, while D documented the action with video and photos.
[8 images, 30k each, 250k total after the fold]
We met at 8:30am at the BART station on 16th and Mission. I was easy to spot as I was the only person in a suit for about 10 block radius.
D arrived first. She was beaming with joy and looked energized and ready to go!
We chatted a bit about the plan for the day. D was willing to help in any way, so I asked her if she would take photos and videos.
We then reviewed the "Photographer's Rights" sheet, to make sure we understood what we could and could not photograph in a public space and what to do if confronted.
A few minutes later, J arrived in a slick suit, dressed and ready for pamphleting.
J had volunteered to do the "crowd facing" job with me, so our little team was ready to go.
We waited a few more minutes past the agreed time. No one else showed up (I hope we didn't miss anyone), so we set off to the local copy shop and in the direction of the Castro.
I explained that my plan was to visit the Castro because it was an "easy" area for protest beginners. The local police are accustomed to speech, expression and diversity, therefore more likely to tolerate our presence and support our rights.
At the local copy shop making our flyers (In this photo: MB)
At the copy shop, I copied and gave each of the volunteers a little "packet" of information, including:
- The Photographers Rights
- The National Lawyers Guild booklet on what to do if questioned, detained or arrested
- A NY Times article on CA Supreme Court rulings on speech rights in public fora, including private spaces that serve as public fora (ie. Shopping Malls).
Then we started making copies of the flyers and cutting them (we printed two paer page, side-by-side).
With almost 300 flyers in our hands we set out to our first bank, the Citi on Castro
Candidate for SF Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, reading the flyer (In this Photo: MB, J's hand and Ross Mirkarimi)
Before we got to the bank, we saw a few of the candidates in the upcoming city elections. Ross Mirkarimi, running for Sheriff, the only civilian in the race was in the traffic median on Market St, with two campaign volunteers, talking to voters. He is our favorite candidate for the position, a sorely needed independent and progressive to oversee the SFPD which has recently faced challenges with Vice and undercover officers abusing their authority.
Ross Mirkarimi was very warm and friendly and was very interested and excited about our little protest. He remarked on our suits and protest style with a grin and read our flyer carefully.
After a few minutes, we moved on, not losing sight of our goal. One of the most morally corrupt institutions in this country, Citi bank.
Our first stop, Citi branch 444 Castro
At the Citi, we positioned ourselves in across the entrance, careful not to block traffic or impede the businesses around us. D stepped back about 20-30 ft, to take photos and video, again careful not to block anyone. Since she was also our "safety", we wanted her to be inconspicuous.
I suggested that if police or security were to arrive, she should increase her distance even further and remain completely silent, so as not to be perceived as obstructing law enforcement in any way, while she continued to film for our security and protection.
MB and J handing out flyers (In this photo: MB foreground, J background)
With huge smiles on our face, we started the pamphleting. "Good morning", we beamed, handing out flyers to passers-by.
Several people tried to ignore us and discreetly curved their paths to avoid intersecting us. I joked "Oh no, he will give us a leaflet, as they approached, which brought some smiles".
As people approached we said our mantra "The big banks are CROOKS, would you consider moving your money". At the first part of the phrase, several people who had been avoiding eye contact, paused, grinned and took a leaflet. Others responded "I'm closing my account today", or "I already switched".
One passer-by pumped her fist in the air and said "YEAH! San Francisco Fireman's Union", smiling broadly at our message.
Our flyers are read with interest. (In this photo: MB, J and two passers-by holding our flyers)
At least 80% of the people passing took a flyer. Only one objected, responding "I don't think so" to our assertion of the "CROOKS". We did not answer, follow, insist or press those who tried to ignore or disagreed with us. Instead we smiled and said "Thank you!" and "Have a great day". We assaulted them with kindness.
One of the most memorable moments was a gentleman who stopped when he heard our message. With great ceremony he took a persimon (a citrus like fruit) out of a bag and said to me:
"This is a persimon for you. Put it in a bowl on your kitchen counter and WAIT until it is bright yellow and soft. Then and ONLY then, you will eat it". He then walked up to J and repeated this.
We thanked him profusely as I commented to D: "I never cease to be amazed by people's spontaneous kindness to strangers".
Next stop, Bank of America, corner of Castro and 18th St.
Our next stop, the equally vile Banksters of America.
J had to get to work, but he grabbed about 100 flyers for later. He would be in the SF financial district, an area that is "a target rich environment" for anti-big-bank protests
D and I continued to the BofA.
Working the pedestrian traffic on the corner (In this photo: MB)
On the corner we had a lot more foot traffic. A man asked for change, explaining that he had been evicted from his rental. We handed him some of our change and a flyer. He immediately launched into a story of how BofA had charged him hundreds of dollars for not having enough money in his account. I handed him another 10 flyers and asked him to hand them out. One more recruit, on the fly.
Working the door and the ATMs (In this photo: MB)
Working the bank of ATMs was great. We got even more traffic and almost everyone who stopped for cash took a flyer.
At some point, one of the BofA employees came out to help a customer with the ATM. She heard us protesting and reacted in exactly the right way: she completely ignored us.
Quite unlike my previous experience where bank employees were furious and called security and the police, trying to persuade me that the sidewalk in front of the bank is "private property" (HA!).
After another 30 minutes of pamphleting we wrapped things up. A successful protest is not one that gets the police involved of course. This one was much less exciting than my last experience, but we ended up handing out many many more flyers to more bank customers - real people hearing our message. That is the measure of success and I hope that we will see the results in a few months as the banks release their quarterly earnings statements. Then we will know how many customers the big banks lost.
My sincere thanks to J and D for joining me in this action.
Next action in San Francisco, planned for Monday morning. See details in the mothership diary and join us