This is my first diary so I hope its a good one. I have to be honest, I was only expecting maybe 300 people to show up to this rally this past weekend because it seemed pretty low key. I came on here on Daily Kos the morning of, and saw a diary about it on the rec list. After reading the comments, I was again disappointed because so many people were lamenting over how this would look bad because it wasn't organized very well.
When I actually got to the event I was pleasantly surprised. No, we didn't have 50,000 people like the hate parade on display the previous day, but we had at LEAST 1200 people by my estimate. Considering we didn't have lobbyists and corporate sponsors organizing for us, or more than a month of planning, I considered it a triumph. What we lacked in numbers we made up for with enthusiasm. It was fun, positive, and empowering. Coming from upstate NY, where hardly any politicians seem to give a damn about, it was great to have my voice heard as well as the other people who came from all over the country.
We had people from California, Texas, New York, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, D.C. of course, and probably many other states. So as far as I'm concerned, it was a success.
Anyway, on to the pictures:
I got there about a half an hour before the rally was scheduled to begin, and people were already starting to gather, although only a fraction of the people that would participate had arrived at this point.
More people start to trickle in. Personally that last woman's sign was my favorite!
There were a couple of local T.V. crews interviewing people early on. If anyone has video of a segment they did, please post it!
When the event officially started, we began to march around the park. We only did one round around this pool area, and then stuck to the fountain.
This guy with the pins had a great shirt on, but I couldn't get a picture of it. It said "Read my lips! No new Texans!"
As you can see the crowd got pretty big.
Me with my impromptu sign. Thanks to whoever it was who brought extra sign making stuff! (P.S. - My handwriting SUCKS!)
Thats all the photos... but I also have video! Unfortunately my camera battery died after the first few speakers, but I'll share what I got.
Sorry for the shaky camera, I didn't bring my tripod with me to D.C.
Anyway, final thoughts. Despite not being as large as the Hatriot parade, we had many things they lacked. Civility for one. Diversity another. I was walking around D.C. on Saturday and one thing that struck me about the tea baggers was that they had no minorities represented, and 90% of them were 55 or older (kids who you drag along and brainwash don't count!). Our crowd came in all colors, religions, sexual orientation, and ages.
One other thing that set them apart was the weather. Saturday was very dark and gloomy, with practically overcast skies the entire day. As you can see from my photos, Sunday was sunny and bright. I don't think that was a coincidence!