No Mas Guerra!

[ The face of antiwar protest in Los Angeles. Aztecs surround a memorial of flag drapped coffins. Photo by Marcus at L.A. Indymedia. ]

A huge antiwar demonstration took place in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, September 24th., one of many that occurred aross the nation. Organizers placed the size of the crowd at 50,000 - around the same size of the mass march that took place in San Francisco. In the nation's capital, organizers claimed 300,000 attended the demonstration, with C-SPAN reporting the crowd at 500,000. Here in Los Angeles, we had a demonstration like no other in the country. The tens of thousands who took to the streets were a mix of all the different ethnic communities that make up the city, and they marched along Broadway Street in the downtown area of L.A. where there is a massive presence of Central American and Mexican immigrants.

Dozens of Aztec Dancers danced along the boulevard to the sound of drums, conch shells, and rattles. Xicano student groups from all over Southern California were in attendance, and Latinos in general made up a high percentage of the massive crowd. Unions, church groups, advocates for the poor and homeless, feminists and gay rights activists, artists, left parties and everyday people who had never attended a protest before - filled the streets with cries of "Stop the War!" and "Peace Now!" In the march were 60 flag draped coffins, each carried by four pallbearers. Those who carried the coffins marched silently at the end of the huge demonstration, and as the march came to its conclusion at L.A. City Hall, the coffins were neatly arranged at the base of the government building. Aztec dancers formed a circle around the coffins, dancing, praying, and offering incense to the gods. The entire march was an amazing spectacle to behold, and some say, just the beginning for an antiwar movement that is daily gaining in strength and numbers. To see more photographs from the L.A. demonstration, click here.