Because there's only been one diary on it (in which many people commented that they either hadn't even heard about it or hadn't seen much coverage on it) I decided I would put together a quick overview of some of the more poignant pictures of the day. Most are from Twitter and a couple of friends' photojournalism.
Something is definitely underfoot in this country right now, sprung from the cold stark reality that justice is not functioning anymore. Though the catalyst is institutional racism it goes a lot deeper (bobswern was getting to it in his diary today). I spent the week in various places around NYC, including an town hall discussion between activists from Ferguson and NYC and local Brooklyn residents, various die-ins and the incredible huge and diverse march yesterday. I intend to put a diary together in the next couple of days.
The Baffler's "The Disruption This Time" described it this way:
"I’ve been attending and observing protests for thirty years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like what I’ve experienced in New York City over the last week.
In the days after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to charge police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the choking death of Eric Garner, thousands of grieving and angry people have marched all over town, taking over streets, blocking intersections, disrupting holiday shopping, and repeatedly overwhelming police attempts to steer or stop their movement. The crowds—impassioned, racially diverse, with on-the-ground tactical direction from young people of color—have not only been venting rage and sorrow at yet another unpunished police killing. Along with their counterparts all across the country, these protesters have been staking out a bold new kind of street action, a fierce and uncompromising activism for our time. "
"But try as I might to think of a precedent, I can’t come up with another time when protesters have engaged in as much spontaneous and simultaneous disruptive action as they have in the two weeks since Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for shooting Michael Brown.
The first few nights after the Eric Garner non-indictment, it was nearly impossible to keep track of how many different groups were marching through the city: while one crowd was pouring over the Brooklyn Bridge, another was disrupting the West Side Highway, and another blocking the streets around Times Square. Marches splintered, then rejoined; they met police blockades, and defiantly swarmed around them; they stopped to block key sites, then quickly moved on. The protests have been mobile and deft, steered by tactically savvy organizers for maximal disruption and minimal arrests. Crowds blockade intersections until the police get antsy, then quickly march off to a new target; they swarm high-profile sites like Grand Central Station and Macy’s Herald Square, disrupt with loud chants, shift to a silent die-in, and then move on.
The tone of these actions has been striking and distinctive, too. The protests I’ve seen in New York have been entirely peaceful (I was in Oakland for the marches after the Michael Brown non-indictment, which is an activist world unto itself). This isn’t a passive kind of peacefulness, though: it has been fearless and resolute. Something about the combination of grief and anger, and the seriousness of purpose with which it is being expressed on the streets, strongly reminds me of the heyday of ACT UP. Now, as then, the protests were led by people taking action with the knowledge that their lives and those of people they know and love were very concretely and immediately at stake. Signs declaring “I Could Be Next” drive the point home.".
Here are some excellent photo journals to start with:
Devious Insanity
Stacey Lanyon's FB album
Nomad New York followed the protests through to the Barclays Center.
The NY Times predictably low-balled the event's numbers at 25k. But throughout the day there were varying reports of higher numbers ranging from 70k to 100k. This time-lapse video gives an idea of how massive it truly was:
People were united, to say the least.
The eyes of Eric Garner
Massive outpouring of love, anger, solidarity and union.
The sanctioned march ended at One Police Plaza, but the real fun and action happened after.
Great video capturing that moment fraught with tension and excitement when the lead protesters confronted the cops protecting the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bklyn Bridge #ShutItDown.
The march continued through Brooklyn, and shut down the main parkway that cuts through the middle of it.
In front of the apartment building where Akai Gurley was murdered last week,
and in front of the precinct where his killer works.
http://images.dailykos.com/...
UPDATE: with news coverage/footage/video
on the Brooklyn Bridge footage