On the way up to the protest I put my suggestion for part of the solution on the sign from the Green Party convention in Texas. I'd seen facebook messages the gist of which was that Jill Stein was up in North Dakota getting busted for standing in the way of the Dakota Access Pipeline. I figured the least I could do was carry her sign at a NO DAPL event in San Francisco. Besides, probably there would be good pictures to take. After I had my sign the way I liked it another train rider offered me a new sharpie. I explained that I like the contrasty drawing. Besides, "It draws out the messages 'me, why?' and then 'our fuelish ways'."  After he left I turned up the "ME" and "Y" so they wouldn't look like an afterthought.

        

I think the thread of reasoning is that fracking the oil field will make what had previously been tightly locked down oil deposits into mobile fluids that would eventually mix into the drinking water, poisoning the Dakota area beyond the ability to support human life. Also, pipeline leaks could easily do bad things to surface water in rivers. The pipeline really is a threat to the tribe's clean water later on.

        

        

              

           

     

        

The organizer got our attention and said we'd be marching on Citi Bank soon. He was glad to report the crowd was big enough to take to the street. His advice was follow the big red and white signs that said "WE STAND WITH THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX" and "RESIST THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE".

        



        

Our sacred duty is to "DEFEND THE MOTHER", "LOVE WATER", "STAND WITH THE PROTECTORS", and "SHUT DOWN PIPELINES" according to her sign.

     

     

        

After we got to citi bank controversy broke out. Some wanted to stop there, block the street, and tie up traffic until they were hauled off to jail. Others wanted a peaceful protest where our points were made as visible as possible with law abiding behavior.

        

The guy in the green striped shirt said "I was marching with these union people the other day, and as long as you keep moving they can't do anything about it." He seemed to imply that blocking traffic would not win us points with anybody.



To make a long story short, love prevailed and we got moving before anybody go that upset.

     

The march ended about where it started, give or take about five feet.

   

I remember the closing remarks as something like "Don't let them divide us! It's hard enough to get to agreement when you're coming from a good place."

After it was over this young woman gave me this flier. I told her I'd try to be there. Still sounds like a good idea!