Flooding the streets for immigrant rights

Posted by Matthew Wheeland at 5:22 PM on May 1, 2006.

Here's a quick roundup of what happened across the country today during the National Day of Action for immigrant rights. Most sites haven't updated since this morning, but the news that is trickling out this early is that the protests were huge.

On DailyKos, georgia10 attended the Chicago rally, and this was the scene where 300,000 or more protesters gathered:

For over three hours or so, the protesters chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!" Non-stop. Their chants were broken only by a thunderous roar of cheers as the trains on the Loop passed by.

I saw streaming in front of me a sea of people, carrying for the most part huge American flags. (I saw a couple of Greek flags too, which brought a smile to my face). A small boy, about 10 years old I would guess, marched with a handwritten sign that said "I am not a terrorist." A mother with a child had taped a sign reading "Deportation= Broken Families" to her baby's stroller. "We work hard for this country," read another bright orange sign. Many signs read "No Human Being Is Illegal." I'm sure there were counter-protesters, but I didn't see any from my viewpoint.

It's difficult to describe the energy that radiated from the mass of humanity before me. Their chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" caused this section of the city to pulsate. Whether you believe protests are effective or not, whether you agree with those protesting or not, it's hard to deny that these people, with their mere presence, have proved that the art of protest is still alive in the streets of America.

As the expected epicenter of the nationwide protest, Los Angeles this morning was eerily quiet. The picture above, taken by Will Campbell on the indispensible blogging.la, tells the story as well as the massive protest pictures from Reuters, AP and countless Flickr users can.

The Los Angeles Times has been live-blogging the marches all day, and over at the Nation's blog, Jon Weiner posted his observations of this afternoon's march:

As the downtown march kicked off at noon, it was mercifully cool. Drummers pounded, bullhorns blared, and marchers chanted "Si se puede!" -- Yes we can!" The American flag vendors were doing a brisk business. And since it was lunch time, the side streets were full of vendors grilling sausages, peppers and onions.

News radio was estimating 600,000 people downtown, while the LA Times was reporting "more than 100,000." These marchers were cheerful, peaceful, and mostly young -- many very young, alongside their parents. The signs showed that marchers know about the key legislation, a lot more than the great majority of Anglos. "Alto a la HR 4437" was a popular sign, and many young women wore tank tops that said "Contra 4437" -- referring to the bill passed recently by the House, offially "HR 4437," that makes undocumented aliens into felons.

When hundreds of thousands take to the streets on a day like today, it's thrilling. Clearly, we are witnessing the birth of a movement for social justice of historic proportions. But for me, the key moment downtown today came when a somber ten-year old girl marched by with her Mexican-American family, carrying a sign that read "We Are Not Criminals." I felt like cheering, and I also felt like crying.

Much more to come as the marches wind down and reports from around the country start to trickle in....

Matthew Wheeland is AlterNet's managing editor.