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Report on Nov 2 Los Angeles
Click here to see
a slide show the of November 2 Convergences and the
Westwood Rally and March.
An estimated 6,000 people throughout
L.A. took action on November 2nd to Drive Out the
Bush regime! This historic day was marked by rebellious
students but also many older people who feel that
they can’t take another day of this regime. At least
8 noon-time assembly points drew hundreds each. A
car caravan/funeral procession for the Bush regime
led by 4 donated hearses numbered about 600 people,
and a 5 pm convergence at the Westwood Federal Building
drew about 2000 – 2500 to a rally and spirited march.
Determined to drive out the Bush Regime,
a couple thousand high school students walked out
of over 30 schools throughout Los Angeles County and
made their way to World Can't Wait convergence points
all along Wilshire Boulevard. At major intersections
running for 20 miles from the heart of downtown L.A.
to the Pacific Ocean, their defiant spirit and bold
chants (“F**k Bush!” was very popular) electrified
the busy corners, and they inspired the older generation
with their consciousness and determination. Many of
the students risked suspensions, expulsions, and even
arrest; some had to break out of locked-down campuses,
braving school administrators, physical assaults,
locked school gates, and police threats.
Hundreds of people gathered at each
of the designated intersections along Wilshire: bicyclists
from Critical Mass, city hall workers in suits, clergy
and church members, professionals, office workers,
and entire families with little children in tow. The
Boulevard was jammed with cars and trucks, drivers
leaning on their horns, “beepbeepbeepbeep!” People
who’d never been to a demonstration before were agitating
on bullhorns, wading into traffic to leaflet passing
motorists, signing up new activists, selling t-shirts.
Teeming, bustling, jam-packed Wilshire
and Alvarado—McArthur Park, one of the hearts of immigrant
L.A.—was wild and beautiful! The whole park was covered
in stickers and posters. Sparkling World-Can’t-Wait-green
posters circled the park like a necklace, and Spanish
banners were prominently displayed on the corner and
in the park. The high school students were unstoppable.
They stood on the corner, fiercely shouting chants
into bullhorns. They literally couldn’t wait for the
march to start, so one group of students marched to
meet demonstrators who were heading toward McArthur
from downtown while another group went on two marches
around the park.
Walked-out students kept arriving from
different schools. As they got to the corner, their
schools were announced over a bullhorn, and they would
be greeted by cheers: Montebello, Belmont, Downtown
Business Magnet, Van Nuys, Reseda, Orthopedic Medical
Magnet…and more and more. Inside the park, there were
musical performances and speakers. Armando Navarro,
professor and department chair from UC Riverside,
was one of the speakers. Also speaking were people
from New Orleans, proletarians from Watts and Pico-Union,
students from some of the schools, and someone from
the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade.
Then the march began, 600 strong, lively
and determined. When marchers called out to onlookers
to “Join Us,” they did. Falling in behind the marchers
was a funeral procession—“the beginning of the end
for the Bush regime”—led by 4 hearses! After about
a mile of marching, one of the hearse drivers grabbed
a bullhorn and delivered an impassioned indictment
of the Bush regime for their crimes in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. After doing chants for a short
while at yet another major intersection, the marchers
filled up two school buses and three city buses, and
made their way to the Westwood Federal Building for
the big rally.
At the 5 p.m. convergence at the Westwood
Federal Building, the rally was emceed by Rev. Richard
Byrd (KRST Unity Center) and Tony Vargas (World Can’t
Wait student organizer). Thousands of people crowded
the lawn in front of the stage, stirred by the words
and performances of Bianca Jagger, Rickie Lee Jones,
Bill Mitchell of Gold Star Families for Peace, Richard
Montoya of Culture Clash, Code Pink, Joe Veale of
the Revolutionary Communist Party, Critical Mass,
and several Iraq War veterans. Actor/writer Calvin
Levels gave a powerful reading of the Call. The rally
was followed by a spirited march of 2000-2500 people
through Westwood Village, where they received an enthusiastic
response from onlookers.
The rally and march were covered by
CNN, Indymedia, Telemundo, all the local television
stations, plus the LA Times, La Opinion, Hoy, a number
of community and student newspapers, and Galavision
in Mexico!
One of the monitors leading the Westwood
march said, “I had no idea when I woke up this morning
that this is what I’d be doing right now.” She’d started
off her day passing by the intersection of Wilshire
and Alvarado on her way to work. She said she loved
the energy coming from the students. She said that
when she saw the high school students getting out
there like this, she decided that she couldn’t pass
them by and go to work. She took the day off, marched
with the students, got on the bus with them to Westwood,
and by the end of the day was leading the march with
a bullhorn in hand, calling on passersby to “Join
Us!”
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm,
For the very good video of the march from Wilshire/Alvarado
to Normandie and the Rally/March at Westwood from
TruthOut.org
To Read Reports submitted to us about
the Day from the Different convergence points and
news articles about the day Click
Here
Check back for further updates to this page. Also
checkout the national website
www.worldcantwait.org for reports from around
the country.
E-mail:
worldcantwait_la@yahoo.com
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