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Sea of protesters fills Common, flows down Beacon Street and Comm. Ave.
By adamg on Sat, 01/21/2017 - 3:36pm
From Beacon Street to Boylston Street, from Charles Street to well past the Frog Pond, tens of thousands of people filled Boston Common today for a protest against the new administration. From Mayor Marty Walsh and Sen. Elizabeth Warren to women, men and children in the crowd, people vowed to fight for health care for all, for immigrants, for LGBT rights - and for science.
Walsh, Warren and Sen. Ed Markey vowed to fight Republicans at every turn, to protect Massachusetts immigrants, blacks, Muslims and Latinos, to stand up for Obamacare and to return Boston to its revolutionary roots and begin the fight for a kinder America, where the middle class begins to grow again as union rights are restored and the bigots are forced back into the swamp they crawled out of.
Beacon Street itself filled with people, so many so that some protesters created their own detour up Beacon Hill, and down its streets until past the knot of people at Beacon and Charles. Boston Police estimated the crowd at 175,000.
Attorney General Maura Healey, Sen. Ed Markey, philanthropist Barbara Lee and Sen. Elizabeth Warren march on Comm. Ave.
Three generations in one family with hats:
You could tell you were in Boston:
Intense hat on intense girl:
Lots of things to protest:
There's one in every crowd:
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
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Comments
You would think that belief
You would think that belief in science and equality would not be things we would have to fight for, but here we are.
Love the Leslie Knope sign.
This was a great day
This was a great day. I have hope again.
I have never seen so many people on the common. ever.
My favorite thing was them announcing that there were so many people that the filled the entire march route! The start of the march was back to the common and people were still waiting to march!
PS - My pictures will be up this evening.
Something I noticed
Aside from the Shirley Leung column on how high earning professional women were planning to go to the rally was the very positive support from the very upmarket real estate along the Common. Signs, flags, support messages, and people on their multimillion dollar balconies cheering the speakers and adding their huzzahs to the crowd.
I came away with the solid impression that a complete cross-section of our citizens were thoroughly ready to fight the good fight.
Pictures Uploaded!
I just finished edited and uploading pictures. And editing I mean adding my watermark, and getting rid of the bad shots.
Check out my panoramic shots. So cool of the crowd. I'd post one in-line but it would throw off Adam's CSS too much, so you'll have to look yourself.
http://bos.tn/5jyNJ
I didn't get many of the signs, was just over-wow'd by the amount of people there.
--
And Adam, like any picture I post/share on social media or flickr, you hereby have my blanket permission to use them in any way you see fit, providing the copyright watermark remains and I am given credit. You're the only news source I automatically give blanket permission to do so. Thanks, Kris (aka cybah)
PS - Ya I know I could add them to your flickr pool.. I'm lazy tho. :-)
Remember the Ladies
Nice, cybah. You didn't catch a great sign I hadn't seen yet: the Abigail Adams quote. Nice to see the Weymouth homegirl represented!
You did catch the Abigail Adams sign!
Sorry for the typo.
ha!
I had to look to see which one.. I think I only got three signs. That was as I was walking from Haymarket to the common. I actually took the picture because of the phallic item they were holding.. didn't even notice the sign.
we see what we want to see, cybah :)
lol
I'm a history buff so the Abigail Adams quote caught my eye...
I didn't even see the phallic object. Went back and now I see it's part of a scale of justice weighed against fallopian tubes!
Brilliant.
thanks, cybah!
I was in a great location, but so deep in the crowd on the Beacon Street side (& on crutches) that I couldn't move. I wanted to see what it looked like from somewhere on the hill.
to protest Massachusetts immigrants?
I mean, sure, some of 'em sound pretty funny, but they're people too.
Protect them!
Wish I could blame this on the too-tiny buttons on my phone, but, alas, I typed this all on my laptop, so no excuse. Fixed.
Protest
They should do that every week, it'd be great for the Boston economy.
150,000 people
Mayor's office says the final count may be closer to 175,000. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/01/21/womens-march-boston-common/
Marchers ate and drank so much that the eateries and shops were running out of food and coffee by 2-3pm.
That would be great for the economy.
Yes
Around 1pm, I got hungry and walked over to Five Guys on summer. They had a line.. Which is super unusual for a Saturday. Guy at register said they didn't plan on it being so busy and had to call a few people in.
I walked into the "Subway" shop across the street
and discovered the same thing. They, too, were almost out of food. I managed, however to get something to eat, to satisfy my hunger. I hung around downtown for awhile, and waited until the subway stations were less crowded.
I walked into the "Subway" shop across the street
and discovered the same thing. They, too, were almost out of food. I managed, however to get something to eat, to satisfy my hunger. I hung around downtown for awhile, and waited until the subway stations were less crowded.
The Tam
my husband asked our friends at The Tam if they would have extra staff on. The response was "Why?" He warned them, and they were slammed when he popped in later in the day.
Was the Star Wars cantina jazz band playing?
I'm sure the Tam handled it, one way or another.
Love that bar.
I used to work in the theatre district and I'd go out for drinks with a friend quite a bit. He was no shrinking violet and didn't mind going there but would only refer to it the as "the Star Wars bar."
Ha!
I could see that band playing there. I'll have to get it going on the Jukebox next time I'm in.
It was a wonderful day
So happy to see the overcast skies of yesterday's Inauguration sadness clear to bright blue and a sea of pink positiveness on the Common.
Marty Walsh gave the most emotional speech ever. God bless Senator Warren. Surely, Ted Kennedy was looking down smiling from above.
It's an ugly road ahead of us, but as Sen. Markey said, the fights for independence and equal rights started here.
All praise to BPD, the Parks Department, Public Works and transit workers who kept things moving and safe for all.
Proud to be a Bostonian!
Security
Beacon, Arlington and Comm. Ave. were all protected by a cordon of sanitation trucks (all filled with sand?), stationed at every intersection where traffic was stopped.
Truck came in handy when an
Truck came in handy when an EMS van needed to come through
Yeah, Walsh was amazing
Warren gave her usual fiery speech, but Walsh was passionately outraged (outragedly passionate?) to a degree I've never seen him.
Agreed
I was headed into the office but walked as far as the Garden when Walsh started speaking - I could hear him all the way to the Four Seasons - I didn't know he had it in him - nice job Mayah Maahty!
That was Walsh's union rally
That was Walsh's union rally voice.
Seriously
His speech really was amazing, full of the kind of passion we need our leaders to display more often. I was unexpectedly impressed, and regulars here know how much I can't stand the guy. I actually looked at my friends and asked where the hell that fire has been for the last 3 years.
Similarly,
I asked where the hell was all this passion during the campaign, before the election.
But hey, never to early to start for the mid-term campaigns.
Ehhhhh
It actually might be for him, he lost enough of us along the way already. But today isn't about that, and again, bravo to him for a terrific speech.
Also worth noting that Tito Jackson was in the crowd amongst us at the march, shaking lots of hands and taking lots of selfies.
I was impressed
Not a big fan of Marty but he was on fire. Sounded very human, very ready to get to work. He absolutely connected with the crowd and got everyone fired up.
The energy from the crowd was certainly a factor. More of this, less "Loon Mountain".
agree
with everyone else giving kudos to Mayor Walsh for actually displaying something you could call impassioned leadership.
Part of Walsh's speech
At Last, The Mayor's Mad, Angry Facial Expressions Are Right On!
A powerful and inspiring speech! — good for you Mayor Walsh!
Well Done Everyone
I've lived downtown for 25 years and this is by a long shot the best attended (non-sports related) event I've ever seen. Like WOW!!!! There were oceans of pink hatted people streaming by my door!
Apparently Boston is making news across the country as I just got a text from family in CA that we are making news out there.
dang that's a lot of white
dang that's a lot of white people.
glad people are on the streets, but disappointed by the focus on uteri, ovaries, and vaginas -- some of the most vulnerable women don't have them.
like the sign says, let's not go back to the 50s, when feminism was white and trans-exclusive.
c'mon people!
There were other people there
First time in years I've seen "SILENCE = DEATH" with pink triangles. And there were a number of "Black Lives Matter" signs as well.
Yeah -- the problem is that
Yeah -- the problem is that issues that affect the most marginalized populations are underrepresented and mostly ignored by the people forming the core/majority of the demonstration. And "pussy hats" being the uniting symbol shows that the march was pretty blatantly prioritizing ciswomen. [Isn't it about being united, not just about different people coming out and holding signs that speak for their identity group?]
Participating in these types of demonstrations is generally more accessible to white people, who aren't as afraid of being abused by law enforcement, so it's extra important that white activists don't just emphasize issues that affect them.
Of course there were other people there. Like, duh. But your pictures speak to the general nature of the event.
What city
Are you in, again?
Doesn't sound like you spent any time at the Boston rally at all.
Right?
Talk about missing the forest for the trees.
These people have the back of minorities and the LGBT community. That guy on TV bitching about the media at the CIA headquarters doesn't.
It's real fucking simple. Same the wonkiness for hammering out policy with reps when we are back in power.
Signs just within my line of
Signs just within my line of sight:
Protect Our Sisters, Not Just Our Cis-ters
Trans Lives Matter
Here, Queer, and Mad As Hell
Trans Rights Are Human Rights
So...I didn't see what you're assuming happened.
There's a lot of truth in
There's a lot of truth in what you're saying-- one of my concerns about the march in DC as it was first formulating was that it looked like it was going to be dominated and organized by middle class white women who had rooms booked for the Inauguration, who had made plans assuming that it was going to be a historic first for women.
It took too long for the DC organizers to reach out to women from all backgrounds and histories, but I'm glad they finally did. I think the Boston march tried to be more intersectional from the beginning, with some-- but mixed- success.
However, the pussy hats were a direct response to a provocation by Trump, not a symbol chosen at random. And not every pussy is on a person born with it.
I was at the DC march
And there was a very wide cross section of people, just like Boston. And there is no shame at all in being a middle class white woman. Yes, the march evolved as it was planned, so that's a good thing. Remember, the election was only a couple of months ago.
People
around me had signs for climate change, immigration, equal pay, supporting the NEA etc. If you had been there, you would have seen a variety of displays.
Yup.
Very true, cw in boston. In addition to the various signs for Climate Change, Immigration, etc., there were people of all racial, ethnic and religious groups there. While there were mostly women, there were quite afew men there, as well, which is also a good sign.
There were people from all over the Bay State, including Western Massachusetts, as well.
I saw a "trans rights are human rights" sign
And "LGBT rights" got mentioned by a few of the speakers. I agree it was mostly white; there were some POC scattered about. I saw a few interracial families of various configurations, too. A reasonable diversity of speakers, imho, though you'll never please everyone.
It's a start; we build from here.
There were
a lot of people of all colors and backgrounds. I saw a ton of BLM, LGBT, climate, and even science signs/chants/supporters.
Including a little old white haired, white lady, with a BLM patch pinned to the back of her jacket.
I guess you didn't attend?
It was a pretty good cross section of Eastern MA from what I could see.
MA is a fairly white state. There is a BIG difference between "representative diversity" and "majority minority".
Yes and no
Eastern Mass., perhaps. But Boston is 50% PoC and at least the parts of the crowd I saw were far, far from anywhere approaching that number. Not to detract from anything that went on today (the first public speaker was, in fact, a black minister who grew up in Dorchester), but going forward, it might be worth addressing why that was (and who knows? Maybe it is being addressed; it's not like I know the first thing about the organizers of the protest or their plans going forward).
Protest
I think the protest was particularly accepting. I understand why people choose not to attend these events, but I'd have a hard time thinking anyone would have been ostracized based on their racial or sexual demographic.
There was even a few frat boys yelling Trump slogans early on and the crowd near me completely ignored them. They seemed pretty disappointed no one was paying attention.
People will always criticize large event planners for not doing more to attract one minority or another. Given that up to 175,000 people come out, I'd consider today's protest to be a great success.
Yes
I didn't mean to imply people of color were not welcomed or that having 175,000 people show up for a protest was anything less than a success, but that it's something to consider going forward - especially given which groups might be most vulnerable as the new government settles in.
Second that, Adam
Going forward, those of us who are white women on the organizing committees not only need to do more to address needs & participation of WoC & LGBTQ, but WE need to show up & give more in support of everyone else on the sh*t end of the stick under Trump, starting with events for BLM & first nations actions. I've been at rallies that were as organized and peaceful as yesterday's march, but were mostly non-white. The media coverage, the public reaction, & the police response were not as friendly or forgiving.
For the movement to succeed in toppling Trump in four years.
We need a lot more of Maura and Marty and a lot less Madonna and Michael Moore. There must be a concerted effort to recruit rust belt mothers, military wives, women in law enforcement and the millions of faith based women who are Catholics , members of Black churches and immigrant families who tend to be more conservative and who are not impressed with the Hollywood or DC elite.
Problem is, Michael Moore got things Totally Right.
http://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/
Then again, he (as most of the 'anti Trump' sorts) are actually 1% ers themselves, making their fortunes on the gullible.
Well, he's now half right
He got, um, lucky this time. In 2012, he predicted Romney would win.
Yes
I'm excited about Brianna Wu running for congress. She's exactly the sort of people we need: Young, smart, and accomplished for things beyond making documentaries and giving speeches.
The established activists have done a great job but it's time for fresh blood, fresh ideas, and fresh faces. More Obama, less Moore.
For the movement to succeed,
For the movement to succeed, the Democratic primary process has to come up with a more popular nominee in 2020. Isn't that what went wrong in 2016?
"More Popular"?
Need I remind you that the Democratic nominee WAS more popular: she received over 2.5 million MORE votes than the GOP nominee.
Also, as a general reply to several comments already, will the Left stop looking so far forward to winning in 2020? There's another important election in 2018. That's the problem: Democrat voters seem to disappear every two years between presidential elections and that's part of the reason how the GOP gained control of both the House and the Senate.
How is that relevant? A
How is that relevant? A third a Trump voters were more motivated in voting against Clinton than voting for Trump. That contributed an order of magnitude more to the election's outcome than did electoral math, the FBI, Putin, or 3rd party spoiler candidates.
The Democratic Party had a stronger candidate available in 2016, consistently predicted to be stronger than Clinton in a general election, but the party (and the Commonwealth) nominated the flawed one. Democrats in Mass also lost control of the Governor's office in 2013 because the party nominated the same bad candidate who in 2010 lost a US Senate seat kept warm by dead Kennedys to an unknown guy with a pickup truck.
That's a clear sign that the nomination process is broken. That's the reason there's a President Trump. If you're going to protest something, don't protest the outcome, protest the cause.
Relevant?
How is that relevant? Simply put, you said "the Democratic primary process has to come up with a more popular nominee in 2020" and I responded with the fact that the Democratic primary process came up with a nominee that earned over 2.5 MILLION popular votes than the opposition.
I would say that one person that is receiving 2.5 million MORE votes than the other person is more popular.
A third of Trump voters might have been more motivated to vote against Clinton than for Trump, but that still doesn't erase the simple fact that she received 2.5 million MORE votes.
If a winning margin of 2.5 million doesn't constitute "more popular" in your book, what does? 3 million? 4 million? 25 million?
Popularity was not the issue here. Clinton WON the popular vote. Your "popular" argument simply doesn't work here.
Clinton did not "win" the
Clinton did not "win" the popular vote. Nobody won the popular vote. No candidate received a 50.1% majority. About 6% of people voted for 3rd party candidates, and with single vote ballots, we have no way of knowing how those votes would have swung between Clinton and Trump if they had to choose.
That is the crux of the problem. If you want to protest something, protest our election system. Protesting Trump may have been very good for the mental health of everyone who felt crushed and alienated by the November election, but politically speaking, it accomplishes as much as Occupy Wall street.
Alternative Facts
Nobody said she got a majority.
She did, however, get a plurality. In most states, such a vote for governor would mean that she won.
In many countries, that 50% is not a threshold, either.
I guess you are entitled to your own alternative facts, if it makes you feel better.
If you think that 5% of the population of Eastern MA deciding to take a walk together accomplishes nothing, guess again. Any Republican in statewide office probably won't share your views when it comes to capitulation with Trump now.
IMHO The Democrats need to
IMHO The Democrats need to field stronger nominees in state races in places outside of the North East and the West Coast. Things like Secretary of State in Florida, Attorney General in Michigan.
"The movement" != electoral politics
For the movement to succeed, we can't rely on electoral politics, particularly not with people in power with a vested interest in voter suppression. It's part of the picture, but my gut says that the Democratic Party failed mostly because of over-focus on electoral politics and not enough on policy.
Hat tip to Boston Police
Once again, we're reminded that the Boston Police Department is a classy, highly professional outfit. I encountered a number of police officers, no doubt many having political views quite different from mine. Universally, they were polite, respectful, in many cases smiling, and obviously there to protect me rather than to harass me. Crowd control, and opening and closing of the side streets, seemed to go off without a hitch.
Great Job
I saw a state trooper giving fist bumps to kids and their parents. Also Boston cops walking the crowd solo and chatting with the protesters. Nice.
Yes
I was at the DC march, and there, too, the police offers were very polite and respectful, and some even posed for photos.
I agree.
The Boston Police were very professional all around and kept everything under control, since they were in control themselves. They did a fine job.
The showing today is a good reminder
that there's a lot of goodness in Boston.
Before it got really crowded
Greg Cook took photos at the march, too, including this aerial shot around 10:45 a.m. (before that little brownish-green spot in the upper right, and much more, filled in):
Additional photos
Got some of mine on-line...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbum/albums/72157677691275511
Great Photos!
That's the best set of sign shots I've seen so far.
Thanks...
Thanks...
Great photos!
As someone that was home fixing broken water pipes today, I appreciate the power of social media and the interwebs. Everything I saw today on here, twitter and instagram was incredible. Great pics and even better signs!
But did anyone get a picture of Adam? The person behind the best website in the city?
I am the ghost in the night ...
Nobody sees me - I'm the ultimate in non-descriptness :-).
OK, Greg Cook spotted me, but I don't think he took a photo.
Are you rocking the Clark Kent glasses?
That would do it.
(And how does Superman transform these days w/o phone booths?)
I tried
I've met Adam before so I have a good idea what he looks like. There were just so many people there, it was very hard to spot anyone I knew.
I was trying to meet up with a buddy of mine, but between cell service that sucked and just so many people.. it took me a while to find him. I finally told him, we'd hafta meet near Park Street just to get away from the sea of pepole.
Neat photos, johnmcboston!
Way to go! Thanks for posting them.
Cowardly Faker
The governor was nowhere to be seen. That's his second recent cowardly action. According to him, he didn't cast a vote for president at all.
He's been put on notice
150,000 to 175,000 people (BPD and Mayor's office counts) is enough to do some serious damage to his future prospects should we all become displeased.
IF that number is entirely
IF that number is entirely from Boston. I'n really pulling for Tito (unless someone even better steps up) but my expectations of the voting public remain low.
Wow.
Yes, please vote for Tito for Governor, just don't vote for him for Mayor.
His popularity makes no sense to me
Last polls I saw had him at 70% approval rating. 3rd most popular gov in the country.
He's such an empty suit speaking management consultese.
I've yet to hear him give an honest straight-forward answer. Ever.
Can someone explain the appeal?
Regarding Donald Trump's popularity:
A lot of people liked what he said about illegal immigrants and so on, and they fell for his BS rhetoric, hook, line and sinker. Isn't it funny that Trump sold his voting base down the river as soon as he got their vote!
Sadly I had to work today.
Was so pleased, though, to learn that my restaurant's owner texted us to put up some signs offering treats for folks who participated in the Rally.
Was so pleased to hear from folks about their experiences. From what I heard, it was a Happy, Peaceful, Family - oriented sort of event (albeit crowded).
Great coverage, Adam
Thanks.
Really needed to see this here and around the world after that disturbing speech yesterday.
I have faith that this presidency will go down in history as a short and futle dead-end wrong turn that America took before quickly getting back on track.
Adorable!
Warren's speech
( a little closer camera )
She Did NOT Lie And "Check A Box" To Get Her Job!
That is a vicious, ignorant lie!
"Power to the P*ssy"
Well, if you liked that sign in pic #22, you'll love this stuff:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/01/signs-of-madness-a-look-at-the-wome...
That's nice dear
Such tripe is to be expected of a blog that is wholeheartedly endorsed by Rush Limbaugh, of drug dealing and swilling and offshore underage prostitute raping with someone else's viagra fame.
You might also like this article on fake news: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads....
You don't stop at alternative facts but go full bore into alternative reality!
smh
.
"That's nice dear"
- nice put down there. Condescending much?
"Such tripe..." Right. Tripe is what the respected professor at Cornell Law is all about.
Way to describe the Legal Insurrection blog--NOT! It isn't some army of Rush-like automatons that follows this blog; rather, it's more like people who see MSM BS and announce (like Madge in that '60s commercial) that "[we're] soaking in it" and get their news fix elsewhere.
"You don't stop at alternative facts but go full bore into alternative reality!"
Well, I hope you liked the very public, very indecent pictures of some of the signs carried by the marchers.
Condescention is warranted
When faced with alternative facts and non-credible bloviation, condescending is the order of the day. Particularly when the reference is extremely condescending in and of itself.
Grow up and do your research like a man, and you won't be treated like a child.
Clutches Pearls
OMG WOMEN HAVE ANATOMY!!!
THEY WERE SHOWING THEIR ANKLES TOO!
You poor scared little man
Of course human rights include your rights, unless you are including that fictitious right to be special.
Maybe you need to go to your safe space that is free from horrifying female anatomy.
Boston made a good impression
I wasn't sure how fast things would fill up, so I got in early (at 8 am there were seats to spare on the Red Line). I saw the people of Boston being very helpful and welcoming to marchers. One great moment: a DTX Ambassador who asked a couple of women what they wanted (looking for a non-chain coffee shop), and then calling in on his walkie talkie to make sure a particular coffee shop was open at that time. The bemused and delighted expressions on their faces will stay with me for some time. Well done Boston - be proud of yourselves!