About ten this morning people meet at olympic park in East LA to protest the war. About a 1000 people showed up. THe march started about 11:00 am due to the late arrival of the highway patrol. THe chp blocked traffic so the march could go on They restricted the march to one side of the street. People streached out for a few blocks and as far as I know no arrests were made and there was no violence. There was lots of support from people in cars. Lots of leaflets were given out to people on the streets and in cars. A flat bed truck led the march with amplification and organizers chanting. There was a diversity of people: lots of Chicanos, old hippies, young hippies, Socialist organizations, little kids, workers, a few black brothers, the Bus riders union, about 6 anarchists and "normal people".THere was about a dozen people doing Danza Azteca from different dance groups from san diego and around LA. The BUs Riders Union also did drumming during the marchand sung songsTHe march lasted about a hour and a half. It started at olympic park and the march went down WHittier Blvd past the grave yard and ended at the baseball diomend in Salazar Park with speakers and vending booths. THere might have been music latter on but I didn't stick around.

La marcha stretched out for more than a quarter of a mile. La raza poured out of shops and homes to wave in support. Thousands of drivers passing by honked support to the 2,000 or more people who walked down Whittier Blvd. with signs and banners against the war on Iraq.

The majority of those marching were from the community... but there were many Asians, African Americans, Anglos, and others involved. Lots of Vets came out to show opposition to Bush and his war mongers. There were many older activists from the Vietnam and Central American conflicts, but an astounding number of young militant people were involved.

I said this was a historic day because this has been the largest demontration in East L.A. against the Iraq war to date. There have been many actions like the neighborhood vigils, or the Chicano Moratorium (which numbered around 700)... but today was really BIG. Along the route, thousands of flyers were handed out for the upcoming marcha on the 15th in downtown Los Angeles. See you all there! Viva la Raza! Viva la Paz!