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!
