Forget the Alamo: Hate Group Bails

Dedicated to the Charlottesville 20+

San Francisco, August 26-I left my home near Alamo Square in the early afternoon today. As I walked the few blocks towards Divisadero, the main drag, it soon became obvious that the neighborhood was in lockdown. From Divis I could see that every possible route to Alamo Square was blocked by cordons of SFPD across the intersections.

Just yesterday the locale of the hate group's action abruptly shifted from Crissy Field, after the city was put uptight following the Charlotttesville massacre, by the group whose name is not worth mentioning's announcement that it was coming to SF after its appearances in Portland and Seattle had produced violence.

Evidently the powers that be had decided to prevent anyone appearing human to enter the square, leaving it to the of chatter of squirrels and whirl of pigeons.

I made my way down Divis to Fell and took a left. I wasn't alone. A crowd was doing the same, looking for a way in. But at every cross street it was the same story. Not only were the cops blocking our advancement, but also a view of where the haters might be gathered inside the park. So we had no choice but to continue tramping down Fell.

Finally at one intersection I could see a large mass of people holding banners and signs down that street, but still no view inside the square. As I kept plodding on, someone coming by us was saying, "You can get in on Hayes." We came to Fillmore where people were proceeding left. There were no cops to stop us. Then another quick left took up a steep hill on Hayes. We were doubling back towards Alamo Square.

Towards the top of the incline was the gathering I had seen before. There were thousands, illuminated by the strong afternoon sun. Among the lettered messages: Cops and Klan Go Hand in Hand; Smash White Supremacy; Nazi Punks Fuck Off. And much much more.

We were at the corner of Hayes and Steiner, with many of the assembled spilling down the latter. At the top of Hayes a number of Rainbow banners stretched across the street. From this vantage point I could see into the park at last. Cops were in formation but not that many of them. And the haters?

From amplified voices in the crowd it sounded like we were preparing to march, but to where was unclear. Chants went up "The People United, Will Never Be Defeated, El Pueblo Unido, Jamas Sera Vencido, Whose Streets? Our Streets."

But where were the creeps who supposedly had brought us together here? I asked a neighbor, "Where are the fascists?" He told me he'd been in the area since 6 a.m. and was certain he'd have seen them if they'd been around. Another person thought they might be back at Crissy Field or perhaps pop up in some other part of town.

As it turned out the haters forgot about Alamo Square, but did materialize in Pacifica later in the day, where they held a so-called brief press conference attended by a few hovering seagulls whose direct hits forced the so-called humans hasty withdrawal.

As for the rest of us, we joined with tens of thousands of other of our kind, to show the world what San Francisco really stands for.