On Saturday, April 15 -- historic "tax day" -- somewhere between 5 and 10 thousand people marched down Market Street demanding the Great Tangerine release his returns. This local march was one of several hundred around the country.
Experienced protester that I am, I saw hardly anyone that I knew in the crowd. These were people with a grievance against the unfairness of things, against the fact that they play by the rules, but somebody can break those rules and end up running the country.
Though this march was good-humored -- one of those events where people relax because being part of the crowd shows them that they are not alone -- these are angry people.
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim was cheered for a speech that caught the mood of the gathering: "I'm not afraid to call Trump 'the enemy of the people.' ... Right here in San Francisco we see how people can no longer afford to live in their city; it's becoming a city just for the rich ..."
Since this was San Francisco, there were plenty of gay protesters ...
... but others seemed new to this game. You know something is happening when the majority of protest signs are homemade and heartfelt.
Before this event, some of my more leftist friends seemed bemused by the call for a Tax March. Their attitude seemed something like: don't we already know the whole system is rigged ... what's the point? This crowd had a slightly different attitude: they know full well that the system is rigged; there are special rules for special people. But that's just wrong!
I liked the Tax March. Resist and protest much.
2 comments:
Thanks so much for covering this and your observations about the crowd not being the usual suspects.
It interests me that these anti-Trump crowds are so white and that so many are middle aged women. Most of my friends of a certain age and older are very activist now.
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