Incredible atmosphere! An absolute ocean of people, and all good-tempered, optimistic, energized.
Joanna
At 08:03 PM 01/18/2003 -0800, you wrote:
A chilly and sunny day in San Francisco saw a HUGE turnout to oppose the war on Iraq.
The Bart trains were packed, extra ferries were laid on, buses chartered.
It was difficult to exit Bart to Market street because the space above was jammed. Once on the surface we walked to meet the contingent of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
The direction of march was west, but as we waited for the start, large throngs walked east, past us down Market street to join the end of the parade. They kept coming.
Finally the march began and we merged in to the happy, funny crowd. Yelling, drums, shouts, whistles, drums, cymbals and drums.
Creative and funny signs carried, lots of little kids, on foot, on shoulders, and in strollers.
I'm not sure when we actually started walking. We'd arrived on Market street about 10:30 am, and probably merged into the march about 11:40. Very, very slow pace. Our group reached the Civic Center Plaza --- the destination -- about 1:25. The plaza was packed with the people ahead of us so we kept our banner high right there on the corner, rather than pushing into the plaza. For the next hour and a half the parade of people behinds us kept arriving, going where we couldn't tell. I guess the crowd kept spreading.
The sound system was bad. Very few, I think, could hear the speakers but no one cared as far as I could tell. The spirit, the happiness, the shouts and the drums, and the comradery was strong.
A great day. I await the crowd estimates. My estimate of the crowd, based on a statistical sampling of the numbers passing our banner within a timed interval: Very large.
Gene Coyle
