The Masses: Consider Them Risen Up

You know, it's getting so that we can't leave the house these days without running into an angry mob. This evening, during our nightly constitutional through downtown San Francisco, we were startled to turn a corner and crash into an absolutely massive procession - about a thousand people - furious about, well, the usual stuff. Bush; Iraq; capitalism; racism; 12 cruxgrozenical galaxies. One moment, nice quiet downtown stroll - the next, a huge mass of shouting San Franciscans, many distributing literature.

We were simply dumbstruck by how gigantic the crowd was - it just kept coming...and coming...and coming. The best bit came when the head of the procession passed by the strikers at The Palace Hotel on New Montgomery. For a couple of minutes, the giant crowd paused in the street and joined the shouts of the workers - oh, those uppity San Francisco liberals; they've never met a protest they didn't like. But joking aside, it was pretty remarkable to see a small 20-person strike line swell its numbers fifty-fold within a matter of moments. In case there was any doubt, the strikers want contracts, they want them now, and a crowd of 1,000 people think that they should get just that. The march was organized by International Answer, which keeps itself plenty busy 'round these parts and would be very pleased to have your support.

Exclusive photos of the protest are available at contributor SFist Matt's Flickr account.