A picture of an alternate timeline

[sovay]

Especially since the crowd spilled back at least as far as the Museum of Natural History, my godchild and I got much closer than we had expected to the head of the Mall surrounded by signs themed from penguins to the Constitution, accompanied by intermittently organized political chants and a noise which turned out to be one dude processing through the crowd playing the Wii home theme on a shofar, which is honestly the kind of weirdness I want at my protests, along with the vocal defense of trans rights and science. selkie witnessed a bagpiper in parade dress blasting the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." We were near a marble bench when my godchild needed to sit down, after which he acted as a sort of gateman helping protesters and their signs and their backpacks over or under the thigh-high chain of the fencing. We saw a lot of veterans, a lot of people who looked as though they had protested on this same mall in the 1960's. A lot of kids. A lot of rainbow flags. We had no signs, but our queer/trans/disabled selves. We were tired and counted.

Comments

[skygiants]

I was hoping for the usual brass band at the Boston one; I'm sure they were there but we were nowhere near and didn't hear them (nor did we hear the Dropkick Murphys although it still delights me that they were there. BOSTON STRONG.) But we did catch a strain of fife and drum which honestly seemed even more appropriate in some ways.

[sovay]

But we did catch a strain of fife and drum which honestly seemed even more appropriate in some ways.

It does! And makes me think of this skeet. I read about the Dropkick Murphys and was delighted, especially the part where they explained that no one who listened to their music should actually have been surprised. (I too would listen to their Woody Guthrie albums and had actually no idea he had provided the lyrics for "Shipping Up to Boston.")