First off, you may want to skim through this page for background of the event (speaker line-up on the right)...

I woke up Saturday morning, turned on Rage and during Zack's chorus of

it hit me...

And so I was off, I woke up late and the rally began at 2 pm, so only hours to spare.  I tracked down some friends and found some

• markers
  
  
  
• weights (water botles)
  
  
  
• rope
  
  
  
• a large sheet
  
  
  

With the voice of Zack de la Roca echoing in my head and the inspirational site Freeway Blogger in my mind I went out to make a statement.


The rally was held at Marion Square Park which used to be the front lawn a military college and at an eagles eye view looks similar to the rebel flag.  This was not our territory.  Across the street in a complex with a fancy roof-top restaurant... Target Identified.  It was on the intersection of two of the heaviest traveled streets in Charleston.  An area heavily populated and visited by tourists.


We just walked in, got a beer, paid the tab, dropped the banner and rushed to the rally across the street...   It stayed up for well over an hour!




So we went to the rally, it wasn't huge but far bigger than what I expected.  As seen from a distance (notice the old citadel in the background)...




And closer up...






The atmosphere was friendly, there were art exhibits from local Elementary Schools on what peace means to them.  One child drew a basketball court with a scoreboard reading Duke = 100, Illinois = 100...








There was a huge white sheet that people put their hand-print on (in red) and a message, it was covered with hand prints...



And even an K-9 activist was in attendance (shirt reads drop bush, not bombs)...



Unfortunately, since I was busy in the early afternoon, I missed the early speakers.  When I got there Juscaus was reading a political poem.  After that the names of the fallen soldiers of South Carolina were read aloud by this woman...




Then Mrs. Harriet Johnson spoke about her 22 year old son who was KIA as a result of hostile fire on a helicopter that he was riding in.  She described the condition that her son was returned to her in and her confrontation with Mr. bush over why her son had died.




Her speech was very moving...(notice the local media in the background)




Overall, the rally was a success there were no problems.  Public traffic through the park was not disturbed, we even had some tourists join in.


Thanks for reading/looking and visit us for more pics and information on upcoming events.


There, I just did what most local media won't...

peace