Seven years ago, the museum where I was working as a temp opened in its new digs. Da Mayor, Willie Brown, was pulling a big cord in a dramatic reveal of the building while traffic was getting shut down on the other side of the plaza by several thousand protestors.  I was working inside, feeling conflicted, remembering that I was in high school for the last Gulf War, equally conflicted and far more disconnected.     For a couple nights, when I left work, I’d marvel at how I spent my days surrounded by 6000 years of history and San Francisco philanthropists only to confront another kind of history in the phalanxes of riot police marching down Polk Street.    Here’s another view, one that reminds me of a friend who had gotten arrested in Seattle when things got a bit rough there.  I believe he was wearing a suit, as well.   generic1: ihatethismess: warispeace: SFPD arrest a protestor on March 21, 2003 at a demonstration against the war in Iraq I wish I knew why this moment of civil disobedience irks me so much. I guess it’s the dead weight thing—as if most of the cops on the SFPD didn’t hate the Iraq War as much as we all did. 99.99% of the arrests were peaceable, unlike Señor Drama here. We filled up the jails. They had to use the piers for overflow. The cops handed out sandwiches. I traded a ham & cheese for a PB&J from a 40 year-old mom. I was wearing a suit. Most of us were trying to make a point to the media, the White House and our fellow countrymen. We weren’t there to play games with the guy in riot gear who was already pulling in overtime.
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Seven years ago, the museum where I was working as a temp opened in its new digs. Da Mayor, Willie Brown, was pulling a big cord in a dramatic reveal of the building while traffic was getting shut down on the other side of the plaza by several thousand protestors.  I was working inside, feeling conflicted, remembering that I was in high school for the last Gulf War, equally conflicted and far more disconnected.    

For a couple nights, when I left work, I’d marvel at how I spent my days surrounded by 6000 years of history and San Francisco philanthropists only to confront another kind of history in the phalanxes of riot police marching down Polk Street.   

Here’s another view, one that reminds me of a friend who had gotten arrested in Seattle when things got a bit rough there.  I believe he was wearing a suit, as well.  

generic1:

ihatethismess: warispeace:

SFPD arrest a protestor on March 21, 2003 at a demonstration against the war in Iraq

I wish I knew why this moment of civil disobedience irks me so much. I guess it’s the dead weight thing—as if most of the cops on the SFPD didn’t hate the Iraq War as much as we all did. 99.99% of the arrests were peaceable, unlike Señor Drama here. We filled up the jails. They had to use the piers for overflow.

The cops handed out sandwiches. I traded a ham & cheese for a PB&J from a 40 year-old mom. I was wearing a suit. Most of us were trying to make a point to the media, the White House and our fellow countrymen. We weren’t there to play games with the guy in riot gear who was already pulling in overtime.

Source: warispeace

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  1. tenderloingeographicsociety reblogged this from generic1 and added:
    Seven years ago, the museum where I was working as a temp opened in its new digs. Da Mayor, Willie Brown, was pulling a...
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