let me clarify a few things. this act on saturday wasn’t the only civil disobedience. the various marches around the city (most w/ police escort) were not permitted or approved–at least that is my belief. so, those were acts of civil disobedience as well. thousands marching in the streets and impeding traffic. the police just happened to decide to let them carry on (though i was pushed a bit by one officer when they decided they didn’t like us on the opposite of traffic anymore). the act mentioned above was an act that police decided to arrest over. so, for all those folks who think they couldn’t ever do “civil disobedience” yet took part in one of the marches…guess what!

also, the opening of the post above gives me the impression that while most actions have been peaceful (doing what we were told, staying on the route, etc), this highway blockage was different. actually, you can have civil disobedience AND be peaceful. this group did exactly that. i just wanted to clarify b/c the way the story was introduced, it made it sound like highway blockage by sitting down was not a peaceful action.

thanks all!

I’d like to say something about why the action took place in San Francisco. Personally, I felt it was important to do an action in the place I lived — not only because it is my community – but because, in a sense, I thought at the time that many eyes would be on San Francisco. I would love to see people organize actions in their own communities, or in other communities that they are moved to take their message to. Importantly, I really hope that people are encouraged to take to the streets to express their feelings, have their voices heard and share their personal stories. Above all, we will not be silent. As Harvey Milk once said, “hope will never be silent.”

“PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” -Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Common Sense, 1776

True, only wish soulforce could be bigger to be able and visit all the campusus. Even though they get arrested, they ussually get ppl talking, which… if maybe not a whole lot, is better than the whole lot of nothing concerning gay rights. Might even get some students thinking instead of simply breathing in the ‘tradition’.

Acts of civil disobedience can still be perfectly peaceful and principled, as I think this example illustrates. I’m going to keep that in mind when I see the religious right attempt to paint this with words like “lawlessness,” “riotous,” and “violent.”