No Kings in San Francisco
"Vaccines are safe"
was reminiscent of the anti-war marches of more than half a century ago (from personal experience).
It seemed like the whole city was headed to the start of the march at Dolores Park in the Mission District, fittingly an immigrant workers' neighborhood. Buses and light-rail trains became sardine cans, so much so that they weren't picking up additional passengers and the prediction screens at stops were showing an unusual 3-person icon for the next vehicle (2 is for busy).
Many of us walked to the park when it became clear the sardine cans were not stopping. This along with people coming out of their houses on the side streets feeding into the main thoroughfare created the memorable scene of multiple marches amalgamating into a huge flow of humanity toward Dolores Park.
The Muni transit system certainly broke records today, but that likely won't show in the fares collected, because people couldn't get through the sardines to the fare boxes or tap-in recorders onboard. However, the drivers will surely report on their busy day.
Dolores Park, San Francisco, June 14, 2025
Many riders came with a message, carrying signs mostly homemade on the sides cut from cardboard boxes. However, some hadn't done their homework and if they had sufficient elbow room, were sharing markers to pen their messages in transit. A woman next to me was fashioning her "Fuck Trump" on a rather small piece of cardboard when I said she needed a bigger sign. A guy next to us and his girlfriend decided that was the appropriate message for the occasion and made two more Fuck Trumps, but they embellished with "and ICE." Ah, diverse creativity.
Mission High School near the park was encouraging marchers who hadn't done their homework to go in and pick up a board - nice large white boards, too - and marker to make a sign. They'll probably have to pay back any federal funding they had.
The media won't do justice to the marches today. I've already seen some of the insipid coverage that didn't convey the event's enormity in San Francisco. It took 23 minutes to navigate from the park onto the street to start the march. Although my not-an-iPhone did not capture it, the procession stretched as far as could be seen to the front and back.
It took more than twice as long as the scheduled hour to go the 1.3 miles to City Hall. By the time the whole march got there, it was already past the scheduled end of the rally with speakers. Many of us left before anyone spoke, which is just as well, because we don't need no stinking speeches from politicians to tell us why we were there.
And that's what politicians do. They stink up the place. Instead of encouraging the people to express themselves by marching, the mayor yesterday only focused on warning against any violence. Not a single Waymo was torched today, Mayor! And I didn't get arrested. I did see one guy dressed all in black with a concealing mask, cap, and backpack - inappropriate for a sunny day, so he should have been detained for that at least.
The media footage of the San Francisco event will include a lot of blur-outs for the usual reason. There were some creative signs. A tame but good one was, "We voted for lower egg prices. We got measles." There was one "Vaccines are safe." I couldn’t get through the humanity to interview the authors.
© Henry A. Choy. All rights reserved.