After 6 hours Lucky Boys podcasts’ and 422 miles of California highway - I finally arrive at the steps of San Francisco’s city hall at approximately 1:30pm where I’m greeted with an crowd of over 750 people according to AsAmNews
A group of attendees waiting for the march
Local organization, F12, volunteering to help the rally
Everyone online - looking good. These t-shirts seem to be a hit with the crowd.
China Mac reminds the attendees about the incident involving the burning of an 89 year old grandmother in New York that sparked #TheyCantBurnUsAll
William Lex Ham soon begins chanting,'Stand up' as the crowd answers back with 'Fight Back'
"Sasanna Yee knows all too well the pain of losing someone to senseless violence. Her grandmother Yik Oi Huang died one year after being senselessly beaten by a 17-year old as she was exercising at the playground across from her San Francisco home." -Louis Chan
Like a river flowing into the ocean the ultrawide intersection fills with protesters.
The sunshine energizes the rally as they step into the light.
Seeing San Francisco's signature trolley lines was neat.
The march pauses for a brief moment as protest organizers ensure that the path ahead is safe.
I drift from the front of the line into the center for more photos of the center of the march.
Social distancing makes it easier for me to squeeze through as the protesters walk by
'Justice for Black and Brown Victims of Police Violence Now' reads a sign.
There were lots of these 'Proud AF To Be Asian' t-shirts
We all need to give each other love," Yee told the crowd. She asked the crowd to repeat her grandmother's name along with the names of Brionna Taylor, George Floyd and others who died at the hands of the police.
An attendee with the China flag draped over himself gets my attention for a second as the crowd passes by
'We don’t need no escort from nobody because they wasn’t there when our grandmothers got attacked and they didn’t want to respond, so we don’t fucking need you to respond now,'' yells China Mac as he responds to the police escort that shows up during the march en route.
WLH yells 'Whose streets?' as the crowd yells back, 'Our streets.'
Supreme store customers cheer on the rally as they pass by
About at the halfway mark to Chinatown at this point
Protesters carrying an 'I AM NOT A VIRUS' sign reminds me of the beginning of this pandemic.
"Whose streets?" yells WLH as he draws the attention away from a nearby incident with an anti-protester heckling the rally
"Our streets!" yells a nearby attendee into the crowd. Soon the back and forth begins.
Two protesters who would later go on to both give speeches on behalf of their groups at the rally's finale.
With the gates to Chinatown in view at this point, WLH and China Mac begin to ready the crowd for the homestretch of the rally
And with that the rally began to make it's way forward again
"Stand up! Fight Back!" yells William Lex Ham as he marches forward to Chinatown.
China Mac chanting 'Stand up! Fight Back!' with the protesters as they march towards Chinatown.
I make my way back towards the front of the march, just in time to capture the rally breaking through into Chinatown - dragon gates in the background and all.
They finally break through San Francisco's Chinatown's dragon gates.
We pass by small businesses and restaurants - many with customers outside becoming curious about the large crowd
The streets become lively with chanting
A resident cautiously makes their way out onto the balcony to find out what the commotion is about.
The rally lets the residents of Chinatown that people are listening, watching and helping.
Final stretch before we make our final stop at a nearby park
China Mac and William Lex Ham thank organizers and attendees for their actions today.
William Lex Ham introducing the next speakers
China Mac and William Lex Ham start introduce speakers from different local organizations.
Sadly, I haven't been able to find a clear recording of the speeches yet
And unfortunately, I zone out a bit when I'm taking photos
I think you just have to get into another state of mind
But I couldn't help but to be shocked back into reality
when I heard two words as the answer to a rhetorical question asked to the rally...
What they thought was the biggest problem today...
and that problem is -
White Supremacy.
I don’t know why.
It’s not the first time that I heard the term, especially these past 4 years.
But this time, it shocked me because I was hearing it with my own ears and from such a young person.
I would love to hear all the speeches again, so if you have any info on where I can find them, please feel free to send me a message.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this photo story. If you would like to check out more of my photos and stories, please follow me at uxui@instagram
