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The nearest manifestation of the worldwide 7 p.m. local time candlelight vigil for peace was, literally, across the street.
About 15 minutes in,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cattitude climbed up onto a wall and counted heads, getting about 120; since there were people he couldn't see and some arrived later, we're guessing 140 or 150, not counting the dogs (who didn't have candles). There were no speeches. People just stood around with candles, and talked a bit with those they knew. We got to say hi to the local organizer, because we walked into the park at the same time: a man named Steve who lives in the building next to ours. A freelance reporter asked me if I knew who'd organized it, and after three or four tries I got him together with Steve. Eventually a group started singing, quietly. At first I couldn't tell what they were singing; I identified it when they switched to "We Shall Overcome", and joined in. I left after that, because I no longer felt that I was a safe person to be playing with fire.
Someday, maybe, but I didn't think I'd have to sing that song my entire life. [Edit: The problem isn't with the song: it's that I would like to live in a world where I don't have to spend my entire life protesting because the government is doing stupid, dangerous, and sometimes criminal things.]
About 15 minutes in,
cattitude climbed up onto a wall and counted heads, getting about 120; since there were people he couldn't see and some arrived later, we're guessing 140 or 150, not counting the dogs (who didn't have candles). There were no speeches. People just stood around with candles, and talked a bit with those they knew. We got to say hi to the local organizer, because we walked into the park at the same time: a man named Steve who lives in the building next to ours. A freelance reporter asked me if I knew who'd organized it, and after three or four tries I got him together with Steve. Eventually a group started singing, quietly. At first I couldn't tell what they were singing; I identified it when they switched to "We Shall Overcome", and joined in. I left after that, because I no longer felt that I was a safe person to be playing with fire.Someday, maybe, but I didn't think I'd have to sing that song my entire life. [Edit: The problem isn't with the song: it's that I would like to live in a world where I don't have to spend my entire life protesting because the government is doing stupid, dangerous, and sometimes criminal things.]
From:
no subject
It's that I was hoping not to have to spend the rest of my life demonstrating against the stupid actions of the government of my own country.
And at some point it's hard to believe that "we shall overcome someday" when you've been saying that all your life, and little seems to be improving.