Thousands fill SF streets against the war 11/3

Night after elections, thousands fill SF streets for Not in Our Name march: Out of Iraq now!

Not in Our Name—Bay Area

San Francisco (November 3, 2004)—Over 3,000 braved dark rain clouds to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq—“now!” Organized by Not in Our Name with the support of dozens of regional peace and justice groups, the protest garnered “Bay Area kicks the hangover” and “Beginning of a new era in the anti-war movement” headlines.

Beginning in late September, Not in Our Name put out the call to demonstrate that “No matter who is elected, we say no to war and repression!” the night after the elections. Despite rain and hail, despite forgoing our stage for a soapbox, despite microphones shorting out and the overall inadequacy of our sound system, the plaza packed shoulder to shoulder to cheer a broad range of speakers who had a single theme: The entire “Bush Agenda” is unjust, their claimed “mandate” for it is illegitimate–and we’re going to fight it at every turn!

Speakers included: Araceli Lara, St. Peter's Housing Committee; Rayan ElAmine, Global Intifada; Mel Pilbin, Heads Up Collective; Maura Kubrin, angry 15-year-old from Lowell High School; Sunaina, Global Intifada; Larry Everest, author and Revolutionary Worker newspaper writer; Samina Faheem, American Muslim Voice; Riva Enteen, KPFA Radio Board Chair; Richard Becker, ANSWER SF; Uda Walker, Middle East Children’s Alliance; Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War; Toni Mendicino, Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party; and Andrea Prichett and Shelly Doty sang the Not In Our Name Pledge of Resistance.

Meanwhile a thousand more people spilled out into Market Street. Spontaneous group discussions erupted over the Bush reelection, “What does it really mean?” and “Was every vote really counted?” people asked each other. One thing everyone agreed on was that it felt great to be casting a vote against the war in the streets.

Behind the fresh beats of a dozen Loco Bloco drummers on a huge flat bed truck, Siafu, Heads Up Collective, and Global Intifada headed up an amazing “Anti-Imperialist Contingent” of over 300 strong to lead the raucous march down Market Street to Valencia and down through the Mission District.

Spirited and bold, people chanted, “This is what resistance looks like, Bush is what hypocrisy looks like,” “US troops refuse to fight. Fighting for empire just ain't right,” and "Not our president, not our war!" Chants in Spanish and Vietnamese bounced off of neighborhood buildings—all demanding justice, peace, and the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Asian groups, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese and other groups clustered carrying drums and banners. Anarchist youth carried black, and black and red flags. Dozens of others carried earth flags to make the point that we stand with the people of the world, not our government’s war on the world.

Along the march hundreds dropped to the pavement for mass die-ins to symbolically represent the aftermath of U.S. air strikes—now occurring daily in occupied Iraq. Bodies laid still and silent while sirens cried. Each die-in ended with people jumping to their feet shouting “Rise up with the people of the world!”

The march slowed at one point to allow members of the Women's Community Center to join in, and later the march come to a halt in front of the Mission police station for a short program to express solidarity with displaced communities in the neighborhood.

“Our theme for tonight’s march is the "Ghosts of the dead and the disappeared". In the tradition of Dia de los Muertos, we mourn the victims and honor the lives of those killed at the hands of U.S. Imperialism. Imperialism is the global system that causes the war abroad and the war at home in the U.S. We come together tonight to help make visible the struggles of Third World peoples around the globe as well as the policies that make those struggles necessary,” said Mel Pilbin of the Heads Up Collective and the Anti-Imperialist Contingent.

As the march arrived at 24th and Mission, Maryjane for Not In Our Name delivered a closing speech from the truck flat bed. After the closing of the brief rally, youth set fire to an effigy of Bush in the middle of the intersection while chanting “Bush, you liar, we’ll set your ass on fire!” That was not part of our program, but it did represent the feelings of many who were still out in the streets. Afterwards, about 200 hundred youth continued to march back up Mission Street towards downtown. Police eventually detained and cited 45 of them for "unlawful assembly" a couple of miles away.

"As an organizer of Wednesday's march and rally, I was heartened by the diverse, lively, and defiant outpouring into the streets. There was a lot of talk in the media about demoralization and depression among progressives in the wake of the Bush victory at the polls. However, we’re not going to succumb to despair. We’re going to continue organizing, continue to be in the streets, and continue to stand with the people of the world against the immoral, unjust war in Iraq and the entire deadly trajectory of our government. We have a mandate from the people of the world to do no less," said Max Diorio of Not in Our Name.

Other organizers offered that this evening of resistance had much of the same spirit as the October 6, 2002 convergence of 10,000 in Union Square, San Francisco. Also organized by Not in Our Name, that was part of the first national protest against the coming Iraq War. Today, with the re-selection of Bush junior, we again face a new beginning for our struggle against this ongoing, brutal, and unjust war and the gathering repression right here in land of the decreasingly free.