[Mpls] Uptown to Loring anti-war parade

[Lynnell Mickelsen]

I went to the anti-war protest today too---and it was also the biggest crowd I've seen in a long time. I arrived at Lagoon and Hennepin around 1: 15 and people were already densely packed on the sidewalks. I don't know if the organizers had a parade permit---or if it just happened. But around1:30 or maybe 1:45 p.m. (this is all speculative, I wasn't checking my watch) I heard a big cheer and suddenly all the people around me moved into the street and started walking down Hennepin, across all lanes of traffic.

There were so many people, there was no way the sidewalks could hold them. Even when the march moved and took over Hennepin Avenue, it was still a densely packed crowd--sort of like the State Fair at around 5 p.m. on a weekend. Wall-to-wall people for a few blocks.

So anyone driving a car on Hennepin was just stuck there for awhile. But most drivers seemed pretty relaxed. A couple people stuck in their cars told me they had been driving to the peace march, but hey, now the peace march was coming to them. I didn't see a single driver screaming or frothing at the mouth. But I was near the back of the march, so maybe by the time I got there, the drivers had given up and/or calmed down..

Within about four blocks, the march moved over, allowing one lane of traffic for cars heading south on Hennepin---and there was a steady stream of cars beeping, honking and people flashing the peace sign. But otherwise, protestors filled all three lanes on Hennepin Avenue from Uptown to Loring Park although once we were five block from Lagoon, you could walk at a fairly brisk pace.

It was a wonderful crowd. Peaceful. Pumped up. Lots of signs--Who Would Jesus Bomb? How Did Our Oil, Get Under Their Sand? Thank you, France and Germany and many more. Some people played instruments. There were a few ad hoc drum corps. A few big heart-of-the-beast-style puppets. I saw at least six people carrying United Nations flags.

There were lots of families pushing kids in strollers. Lots of students. Lots of old people. A real mix of ages.

It felt good to see so many people in Minneapolis turn out and know people were marching in cities all over the globe today.

How many people marched in Minneapolis? It's all guesswork, so who really knows? I heard estimates ranging from 10,000 to 20,000. I went to the peace march in St. Paul that took shortly after Paul Wellstone died and went from St. Paul's Cathedral to the Capital and all I can say is, today's march was much, much bigger.

Lynnell Mickelsen
Linden Hills, Ward 13




Lynnell Mickelsen
4233 Linden Hills Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55410-1607
612-920-2076
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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