Intro
I've been browsing AT for the last half hour and reading opinions and observations about the boycott and rallies that occurred today. Most people on this forum, or at least the people who post often, seem to share similar opinions about today?s happenings and the people involved. I just thought it would be prudent to share my thoughts and experiences today as I attended and marched in the rally in Seattle, am the child of a former illegal immigrant, and I am a proud Latino-American. Don't worry, there will be cliffs, but I, unfortunately, do not have any pics. This is not in P&N because it's not about the debate, but about the actual rally. I also introduce myself formally.
About me
Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Adrian. I am 19 and currently attend the University of Washington in Seattle. I was born in Seattle, and attended public school there all my life. Just to indulge your curiosities, I'm 6'3" 180lbs, I do have a girlfriend, and I am a closet geek.
My mother is of Mexican descent, born in Yakima, Washington, not sure how far back her relatives crossed the border, it may have crossed them. She is currently a principal at a local elementary school. My father was born in Purranque, Chile, in '65. He emigrated from Chile at the age of 12 because his father, a former government worker under Socialist Salvador Allende, escaped internment and torture after the military coup of 1973 that allowed General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. My grandfather worked as a fisherman to support his wife and 4 children while they were taken in and given shelter by a local church. All of his children went to school and learned to speak English. My father became a legal Citizen about 12 years ago. He is currently an administrator at the University of Washington.
The rally
I didn't go to school, didn't go to work even though I was scheduled to. I'll probably post tomorrow whether or not I was fired, it's company policy that if you don't show up on a scheduled day without notice it qualifies as a voluntary quit. It wouldn't really bother me though, as I need to start looking for a higher paying job or some internships in my desired major. My father took the day off, used a vacation day. My mother decided it was justified for her to go to work as our belief in the value of education surpasses our desire to make a statement.
We met up at my place; my father brought my 17yo brother and my 16yo sister who, believe it or not, is the most outspoken political activist out of all of us. My dad broke the rules and stopped at McDonalds because he was hungry, I didn't see any minorities working there.
We arrived at the starting place at 3pm. Almost everyone was wearing black, I was wearing a white UW Huskies T-Shirt. At the last rally everyone was wearing white, I wore black. We were gathered on a large field, with a baseball diamond in one corner and a bunch of sound equipment out in foul territory in left field. The speakers were yammering on, in English and Spanish, about how this was a peaceful, silent protest and that we shouldn't fight or resist arrest if the problem arises. They also said that if we notice anyone being arrested we should call a number or report it to some guys in green hats who were "peacekeepers". Not once did they mention specifically why we were there.
At this rally, economics came up a lot more than the last. The speakers mentioned that it cost a lot of money to organize and that people with fluorescent hats were coming around with buckets to collect contributions. I don't think they got very much money. Someone said we were supposed to be boycotting stuff the whole week; nobody told me it was supposed to be a week. Someone was speaking about solidarity and riling up the crowd when a plane flew by, right above center stage, with a banner behind it that said Ads Aloft.com. I chuckled, bastards.
The part that I thought was most appropriate was when religious leaders were asked to come to the front. They spoke about how in the Bible it states that you should treat foreigners in your land as you would want to be treated, and that we were once all foreigners in the land of Egypt or something like that. Sorry if I misheard, I'm no Theological scholar. It was mostly Ministers who spoke, I couldn't tell what types of religious leaders were up there, but there were a few. The final two speakers mentioned people who we should be thankful to and told us to yell "PRESENTE" after they spoke their names. The first guy mentioned people who died in recent demonstrations, and the second guy, a white minister, mentioned civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and a few Biblical references.
We began marching at about 3:45. We got jammed when going into the little street from the big field and we waited about 30 minutes before we were moving again. At the last rally we waited an hour because everyone went through the side streets and blocked the main street entrance. Luckily, we were slightly more organized this time so we kept to the main street and stayed off the sidewalk. There weren't as many people trapped in their cars waiting for us to go by this time because more people new about what was happening today. This also made for fewer onlookers from the sidewalk because most people were avoiding this area.
The banners and signs and flags were numerous. Most of the signs said stuff about immigrants being humans too, the border crossing us, and that we're all immigrants except Native Americans. One interesting but stupid sign said "Roses are red, violets are blue, if there were no immigrants, what would white people do?" American and Mexican flags made up about 90% of the total amount of flags, with more American flags than Mexican. I noticed at least 20 different countries' flags including some African, European, and a few Asian countries. There weren't too many Asians in attendance, though there were many among the onlookers, as we did stroll through Chinatown, or the International District by its PC name. The Chilean flag, which looks like the Texas state flag, was there too. Most of the Chilenos know each other, so I had to shake hands with and hug at least 20 people who I barely knew or hadn't seen in a while.
Every once in a while we stop for apparently no reason. Sometimes someone or something would try to pass through us. A UPS guy was making deliveries downtown and we let him through and gave him some hoots and hollers, he looked a little nervous, but he had a smile on his face. I remember seeing an ambulance pass through as well, I was surprised that we could clear that much space in that little amount of time, there were at least 25,000 of us packed in that stretch of road.
Sometimes onlookers from the sidewalk would cheer; they seemed to be amazed at our numbers. We were pretty quiet the whole time, only cheering or chanting when passing under bridges or when the people on the sidewalk cheered. The chants weren't interesting at all. Last time there were at least 6 or 7 that were repeated constantly. This time, we only said "Si se puede" every once in a while, we were mostly silent the whole time. "Si se puede" means "Yes you can." The other rally we chanted "Bush, escucha, estamos en la lucha!" Bush, listen, we're in the fight. "Que queremos? Justicia. Cuando queremos? Ahora. What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." and others. I have no idea why we were supposed to be silent this time.
We ended at the federal building, where there was another sound system set up and more speakers attempting to rally the crowd. We left early and didn't really listen to what anyone was saying. We walked another 20 blocks just to get back where we started. Traffic was crazy.
Final Comment
Man, that took forever to write. I started at 10:30 and it's almost 1:30, I hope I didn't waste my time. The reasons behind this aren't as clear as we'd like them to be, and I don't speak for everyone when I say these things. What we were protesting is HR 4437, Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. We do not agree that it should be a felony to be caught in the US without proper documents, we do not agree that 700 miles of fencing is necessary nor cost-effective, especially since it will only be on the Mexican border while the only slightly more than half of all illegal immigrants are Mexican. We don't want to see the elimination of the Diversity Immigrant Visa, which allows green cards to be granted to workers from low emigration nations because it would marginalize diversity in the US. We do not want families to be split up because their children were born here while they weren't citizens, like my family would have been. We simply want due process for all people within the US. We do support some changes that are being made to the bill in the Senate. Illegal immigrants and legal immigrants alike do agree that our borders should be safer, but we believe it should be safe for both sides of the border.
Please feel free to ask any questions. I didn't post this in PN because it's more about giving an insiders perspective and observation of the rally than about the debate. I will also update and say whether or not I'm fired, I decided not to communicate with work on May 1st.
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************************************************
Cliffs
1.I am a Mexican-Chilean-American citizen, my father was an illegal immigrant.
2.Father and Grandfather escaped dictatorship in Chile and came here.
3.We went to rally in Seattle, Washington.
4.Religious leaders spoke at rally, mentioned statement in Bible about treating foreigners on your land as you would want to be treated.
5.Odd banner behind plane from Ads Aloft.com, rofl. Like we use teh intarnetz and need to advertise.
6.General craziness during rally, people working trying to get through us, ambulance goes through us.
7.Many different flags, most US flag.
8.Protesting HR 4437, boycotting to show power and solidarity.
9.Am I fired? Will update later.
Update: I was not fired, our contract states that they can't fire me for not showing up, but they did enforce the voluntary quit rule, so I am out of a job.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be only one thread allowed on this subject over the next few days.
This one is stickied for that purpose.
Violaters take the chance of being on vacation for failure to read.
AnandTech Mod
I've been browsing AT for the last half hour and reading opinions and observations about the boycott and rallies that occurred today. Most people on this forum, or at least the people who post often, seem to share similar opinions about today?s happenings and the people involved. I just thought it would be prudent to share my thoughts and experiences today as I attended and marched in the rally in Seattle, am the child of a former illegal immigrant, and I am a proud Latino-American. Don't worry, there will be cliffs, but I, unfortunately, do not have any pics. This is not in P&N because it's not about the debate, but about the actual rally. I also introduce myself formally.
About me
Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Adrian. I am 19 and currently attend the University of Washington in Seattle. I was born in Seattle, and attended public school there all my life. Just to indulge your curiosities, I'm 6'3" 180lbs, I do have a girlfriend, and I am a closet geek.
My mother is of Mexican descent, born in Yakima, Washington, not sure how far back her relatives crossed the border, it may have crossed them. She is currently a principal at a local elementary school. My father was born in Purranque, Chile, in '65. He emigrated from Chile at the age of 12 because his father, a former government worker under Socialist Salvador Allende, escaped internment and torture after the military coup of 1973 that allowed General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. My grandfather worked as a fisherman to support his wife and 4 children while they were taken in and given shelter by a local church. All of his children went to school and learned to speak English. My father became a legal Citizen about 12 years ago. He is currently an administrator at the University of Washington.
The rally
I didn't go to school, didn't go to work even though I was scheduled to. I'll probably post tomorrow whether or not I was fired, it's company policy that if you don't show up on a scheduled day without notice it qualifies as a voluntary quit. It wouldn't really bother me though, as I need to start looking for a higher paying job or some internships in my desired major. My father took the day off, used a vacation day. My mother decided it was justified for her to go to work as our belief in the value of education surpasses our desire to make a statement.
We met up at my place; my father brought my 17yo brother and my 16yo sister who, believe it or not, is the most outspoken political activist out of all of us. My dad broke the rules and stopped at McDonalds because he was hungry, I didn't see any minorities working there.
We arrived at the starting place at 3pm. Almost everyone was wearing black, I was wearing a white UW Huskies T-Shirt. At the last rally everyone was wearing white, I wore black. We were gathered on a large field, with a baseball diamond in one corner and a bunch of sound equipment out in foul territory in left field. The speakers were yammering on, in English and Spanish, about how this was a peaceful, silent protest and that we shouldn't fight or resist arrest if the problem arises. They also said that if we notice anyone being arrested we should call a number or report it to some guys in green hats who were "peacekeepers". Not once did they mention specifically why we were there.
At this rally, economics came up a lot more than the last. The speakers mentioned that it cost a lot of money to organize and that people with fluorescent hats were coming around with buckets to collect contributions. I don't think they got very much money. Someone said we were supposed to be boycotting stuff the whole week; nobody told me it was supposed to be a week. Someone was speaking about solidarity and riling up the crowd when a plane flew by, right above center stage, with a banner behind it that said Ads Aloft.com. I chuckled, bastards.
The part that I thought was most appropriate was when religious leaders were asked to come to the front. They spoke about how in the Bible it states that you should treat foreigners in your land as you would want to be treated, and that we were once all foreigners in the land of Egypt or something like that. Sorry if I misheard, I'm no Theological scholar. It was mostly Ministers who spoke, I couldn't tell what types of religious leaders were up there, but there were a few. The final two speakers mentioned people who we should be thankful to and told us to yell "PRESENTE" after they spoke their names. The first guy mentioned people who died in recent demonstrations, and the second guy, a white minister, mentioned civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and a few Biblical references.
We began marching at about 3:45. We got jammed when going into the little street from the big field and we waited about 30 minutes before we were moving again. At the last rally we waited an hour because everyone went through the side streets and blocked the main street entrance. Luckily, we were slightly more organized this time so we kept to the main street and stayed off the sidewalk. There weren't as many people trapped in their cars waiting for us to go by this time because more people new about what was happening today. This also made for fewer onlookers from the sidewalk because most people were avoiding this area.
The banners and signs and flags were numerous. Most of the signs said stuff about immigrants being humans too, the border crossing us, and that we're all immigrants except Native Americans. One interesting but stupid sign said "Roses are red, violets are blue, if there were no immigrants, what would white people do?" American and Mexican flags made up about 90% of the total amount of flags, with more American flags than Mexican. I noticed at least 20 different countries' flags including some African, European, and a few Asian countries. There weren't too many Asians in attendance, though there were many among the onlookers, as we did stroll through Chinatown, or the International District by its PC name. The Chilean flag, which looks like the Texas state flag, was there too. Most of the Chilenos know each other, so I had to shake hands with and hug at least 20 people who I barely knew or hadn't seen in a while.
Every once in a while we stop for apparently no reason. Sometimes someone or something would try to pass through us. A UPS guy was making deliveries downtown and we let him through and gave him some hoots and hollers, he looked a little nervous, but he had a smile on his face. I remember seeing an ambulance pass through as well, I was surprised that we could clear that much space in that little amount of time, there were at least 25,000 of us packed in that stretch of road.
Sometimes onlookers from the sidewalk would cheer; they seemed to be amazed at our numbers. We were pretty quiet the whole time, only cheering or chanting when passing under bridges or when the people on the sidewalk cheered. The chants weren't interesting at all. Last time there were at least 6 or 7 that were repeated constantly. This time, we only said "Si se puede" every once in a while, we were mostly silent the whole time. "Si se puede" means "Yes you can." The other rally we chanted "Bush, escucha, estamos en la lucha!" Bush, listen, we're in the fight. "Que queremos? Justicia. Cuando queremos? Ahora. What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." and others. I have no idea why we were supposed to be silent this time.
We ended at the federal building, where there was another sound system set up and more speakers attempting to rally the crowd. We left early and didn't really listen to what anyone was saying. We walked another 20 blocks just to get back where we started. Traffic was crazy.
Final Comment
Man, that took forever to write. I started at 10:30 and it's almost 1:30, I hope I didn't waste my time. The reasons behind this aren't as clear as we'd like them to be, and I don't speak for everyone when I say these things. What we were protesting is HR 4437, Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. We do not agree that it should be a felony to be caught in the US without proper documents, we do not agree that 700 miles of fencing is necessary nor cost-effective, especially since it will only be on the Mexican border while the only slightly more than half of all illegal immigrants are Mexican. We don't want to see the elimination of the Diversity Immigrant Visa, which allows green cards to be granted to workers from low emigration nations because it would marginalize diversity in the US. We do not want families to be split up because their children were born here while they weren't citizens, like my family would have been. We simply want due process for all people within the US. We do support some changes that are being made to the bill in the Senate. Illegal immigrants and legal immigrants alike do agree that our borders should be safer, but we believe it should be safe for both sides of the border.
Please feel free to ask any questions. I didn't post this in PN because it's more about giving an insiders perspective and observation of the rally than about the debate. I will also update and say whether or not I'm fired, I decided not to communicate with work on May 1st.
************************************************
************************************************
Cliffs
1.I am a Mexican-Chilean-American citizen, my father was an illegal immigrant.
2.Father and Grandfather escaped dictatorship in Chile and came here.
3.We went to rally in Seattle, Washington.
4.Religious leaders spoke at rally, mentioned statement in Bible about treating foreigners on your land as you would want to be treated.
5.Odd banner behind plane from Ads Aloft.com, rofl. Like we use teh intarnetz and need to advertise.
6.General craziness during rally, people working trying to get through us, ambulance goes through us.
7.Many different flags, most US flag.
8.Protesting HR 4437, boycotting to show power and solidarity.
9.Am I fired? Will update later.
Update: I was not fired, our contract states that they can't fire me for not showing up, but they did enforce the voluntary quit rule, so I am out of a job.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be only one thread allowed on this subject over the next few days.
This one is stickied for that purpose.
Violaters take the chance of being on vacation for failure to read.
AnandTech Mod
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