Marching for each other

After three weeks of beautiful summer-like weather, it rained. Clouds filled the skies, a winter chill was in the air and a dull feeling hung about. Not exactly the best conditions to go to a protest; to be honest I was dreading it.

Yet I feel committed to doing so. I have been participating in the bay area marches since April 10, 2005. The first march was a catharsis for me; to finally be out in public, letting out so many frustrations and stating "here I am".

For this march there was also the reward of meeting some of my fellow DAP members, fellow DREAMers. Geronimo and Gateway, who having never been to a march before, were excited. Personally, I did't have a good feeling about this time, having seen the slow decline in participation at events like these, and factoring in the weather conditions, I knew our turn-out would be low.

So when I saw the light crowd at the starting point of the march, part of me almost hit the abort button. Thoughts of "what will this accomplish?" and "ugh" filled my head.

But in the end we marched. We yelled. We cheered. A crowd of mostly students, mothers and hopefuls. We found support in one another, and even if this time no one may have been listening to us, we were listening to each other.

Which reminded me why I came out after all.

We don't have to go at it alone anymore, not like before.
- El Random Hero