I got a lot of exercise on Saturday of the Netroots Nation conference, partly because there were two separate protest marches that occurred: one planned well in advance, and a second a nearly spontaneous response to the tragedy in Charlottesville. Proceed over the fold for more photos and an account.
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The first march occurred immediately after the morning plenary session, where Elizabeth Warren was the final speaker. It was also announced in the day’s schedule. The idea was to march to a building where a fake pregnancy clinic is located. The fake clinic is called the Cura Atlanta Women’s Care Clinic, which shames and persuades with unwanted pregnancies not to have abortions. Further information about this particular clinic and how it deceives women can be found here.
The march left the NN hotel around noon and headed toward the campus of Georgia State University, which is near where the “clinic” is located. Interestingly, as we left the hotel, I noticed a group of about a dozen anti-choice protesters across the street. Were they there to protest the fact that NN is unapologetically pro-choice, or was there some other reason for them to be there? I never found out.
As we proceeded to the protest location, we got a lot of positive response from the people we passed. Atlanta really is a progressive city.
I don’t have any photos of the march itself, but here are some from when we got to the protest location, across the street from the clinic, somewhere within a high-rise.
There were speeches and a song lead by one of the organizers. It was, I thought, well organized, and brought some attention to the cause. (Some news media were in attendance.)
Later in the day, we learned of the terrorist attack in Charlottesville, and at the final plenary, we were informed that there would be a march protesting this tragedy immediately following, hastily organized by local activists. We lined up in Henry Ivy Park, across the street from the hotel. Organizers were adamant that we stand no more than 4 abreast in order to keep the marchers safe from possible traffic accidents. By the way, this march was much larger than the previous one.
And so we proceeded toward the Georgia State Capitol.
We gathered at the steps of the State Capitol where a number of speakers denounced what had happened in Charlottesville, emphasizing the effect on communities of people of color. Among the speakers was Dolores Huerta, who had just spoken at the plenary.
I’ll have more to say about my adventures in Atlanta tomorrow night.
Now, on the the comments!
Top Comments (August 16, 2017):
From boiseblue:
Gareth has a hilarious suggestion for this scared and tearful white supremacist. From Jen Hayden’s front page post on the weeping Nazi.
From ursulafaw:
modernzel posted this comment, "He looks like a lounge rodent. Where's the cheese?" A number of people cracked up over this line. You must see the image in the diary, "Trump's War With CNN Escalates..." to realize how totally apropos it is. Some New Yorkers created an orange pompadored bucktooth, parade float type of doll, with short fingered tiny paws and it captures the tangerine turd's essence, which is that of a debased lounge lizard, a lounge rodent. Only in New York City.
and
I'm submitting this comment by Baileywick in annielli's diary about Trump crashing Amazon stock. I loved the comment about what a loser Trump is in every single department of life because it's concise, pithy, and yet inclusive. Wonder if I can get it on the back of a tee shirt?
From spinozasghost:
A comment by easong I thought was very funny and a bit brilliant:
David Duke is now the most honest spokesman for the Republican party.
From raptavio’s recommended post on the nonexistence of the alt-left.
Top Mojo (August 15, 2017):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (August 15, 2017):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!