{"article":{"id":128072,"heading":"On the Garden Grove 5 Rally","author":"Leslie","created":"2005-06-03 18:54:08","modified":"2024-09-11 01:34:34","last_modified":"Wed, 11 Sep 2024 08:34:34","article":"\n

Santa\r\nAna—<\/span>Last\r\nweek I sat on the steps of the Santa Ana police station in vigil for five\r\narrested protestors inside, while a group of about thirty of their exhausted and\r\nforlorn supporters chanted their support and hoped for their release into the\r\nearly morning hours, alone except for a handful of police almost casually\r\nlooking on. The five arrestees were facing felony charges for protesting\r\nthe encroachment of the racist anti-immigrant Minuteman Project into\r\nCalifornia, at a demonstration in Garden Grove against a organizing meeting with\r\nthe Project's founder, Jim Gilchrist.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yesterday\r\nI returned to many of those same people and a hundred more marching outside the\r\nDistrict Attorney's office in Santa Ana. The mostly young, mostly Chicano\r\nand Asian-descent protestors had pulled together the May 25 Legal Defense Group\r\nand presented a letter to the Orange Count District Attorney demanding the\r\ncharges against their comrades be dropped; that charges be re-filed against the\r\ndriver of a vehicle that plowed into six protestors, and that the Garden Grove\r\npolice be investigated for their actions on that day. They gave the D.A.\r\none week to answer. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rally\r\norganizers had done their work. Signs and T-shirts echoed the demands,\r\nchants of ¿Que queremos? ¡<\/span><\/span>Justicia!\r\n<\/span>¿Quando? ¡<\/span><\/span>Ahora!\r\nresounded through the county government district, and <\/span>three\r\nyoung men with cuatros riffed on the chants. M<\/span>archers\r\nparaded down the long city block and back up the other side. Half a dozen\r\ntelevision cameras showed up, KPFK covered the rally live, suited newspaper\r\nreporters crouched on paving stones scratching out notes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

This\r\ntime the mood was determined and powerful, harmonious, with a hint of righteous\r\ncelebration. The group worked with the media, providing backdrop to\r\nprepared press representatives, posing with their signs, responding with both\r\nclarity and outrage to the reporters' questions. Lacking the provocation\r\nof the Minutemen or a visible police presence, the well-disciplined and peaceful\r\nprotestors completed their mission and dispersed at the 6:00 pm announcement.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Two\r\ndozen marchers attended a community follow-up meeting. We briefed each\r\nother on the arrestees' situation, the Save Our State plans to return to Baldwin\r\nPark in June, the Minutemen's border plans this summer, and the May 25 Legal\r\nDefense Group's next actions. Everyone took a few minutes to speak about\r\nwhy they were there. Several spoke in horror at the lifetime implications\r\nof felony convictions for the Chicano brothers; a young man spoke of using\r\nGarden Grove to educate the community about the police state; una abuela told of\r\na career of victories over school boards and police chiefs, while her\r\ngranddaughter spoke of her first protest. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We\r\nhad differences that should have splintered the group, across race, between\r\ngenders, among generations and classes. But these young adults are of a\r\ngeneration that intuits that they must isolate and annihilate old white peoples'\r\nracism. Some of us had been at Garden Grove, some at Baldwin Park, and for\r\nsome this rally was their beginning. But we all understood: la policía\r\nhad locked up la raza and freed los racistas.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On\r\nthe ride home, my mind flitted from All Power to the People! to Solidarność\r\nto ¡Ya Basta!, and even to the naive and idealistic \"Make love, not\r\nwar.\" And then I got it. Last night, I had been privileged to\r\nwitness the birth of a pueblo. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"lradford@radiojustice.net","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Commnetary on the May 25 Legal Defense Groups rally for the Garden Grove 5.","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2005\/06\/128072.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":128112,"heading":"THANK YOU LESLIE","article":"Great report thank you","author":"Alphonso","parent_id":128072,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-06-04 10:18:53","modified":"2005-06-04 10:18:53","fileurl":""},{"id":128114,"heading":"the community in santana","article":"great report, and true. the people from this community, predominately youth of color, have been BLoWing away mainstream liberals by these amazing qualities for years. it's nice to see more of "mainstream" activism recognize this--since the "anti-war"movement typically ignores the everyday wars and battles that exist in el barrio for these same young people of color..","author":"phuk minutemen","parent_id":128072,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-06-04 12:02:37","modified":"2005-06-04 12:02:37","fileurl":""}]}