Report on Orange County Protest

I have been anxiously awaiting a posting and pictures of the Anti-War Rally & March that took place yesterday at Hart Park, in the city of Orange. I have only seen one picture and a few words dedicated to it, so here is my take on it. I attended with two of my protester comrades: Manny (an 80-year old spitfire who has attended 100’s of rallies and protests) and Gearhart (an energetic 18-year old excited and dedicated to getting involved). We pinned signs to our backs that had a quote from Howard Zinn, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people”.

There were some great speakers before the march. The two that stood out in our minds were Dr. Jarrett Lovell and Reverend Stephen Mather. During the speeches, some of the protesters could not wait and lined the street above the park with their signs. As a result, the speeches were constantly filled with the honks of support of drivers passing by - the park is located right next to freeway on and off ramps so there was a steady stream of noisy support which got everybody more excited to get going!

It took a while, once we started walking, to get the crowed thinned out to single file – there were so many people! It was reported that the protest in Yorba Linda on 01/18 had 1,200 attendees – this event had about triple that number! I know that to outsiders that may seem measly but for Orange County it’s quite impressive! (The Orange County Register is reporting 1,200 and 2,000 attendees – keep in mind that they also reported that there were 15,000 at the Los Angeles protest so) We walked from the park through the entrance of the old town area right into the center pedestrian area of the traffic circle. Police directed traffic in the circle during our stay (thirty minutes is my guess). Traffic was held up and many of the people driving by rolled down their windows to voice their support and encourage the protesters as well as honked their support. I only witnessed three people voice their opposition to the protesters. We were one of the first groups to make it to the center area, and it was amazing to watch the crowd pour in – with a constant stream of them, it took almost 20 minutes for all of the protesters to finally arrive. There was music and many chants going on – a very positive ‘vibe’. On the way there and back many of the store employees came out to the sidewalk to offer encouragement.

Once we got back to the park, there was an open mic for the protesters to speak. We enjoyed listening to all of them but two really got the crowd going – a Vietnam veteran and a British citizen. On the way to lunch at Rutabegorz in Tustin (fabulous food by the way!), we listened to the KPFK broadcast of the Los Angeles event and got inspired all over again. We heard a speaker quote General Dwight D. Eisenhower, here is his full quote, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” Thank you to everyone who participated in the organization of the event, all of the speakers (formal and informal), the attendees and supporters. When do we meet again?!