Immigrants on the March

Immigrants on the March by GABRIEL THOMPSON

In the weeks leading up to the March 21 demonstration for comprehensive immigration reform, organizers were careful to tamp down turnout expectations, stating only that "tens of thousands" would descend on Washington. It was just a few days before the event--with reports of countless buses heading toward the nation's capital--that they hinted that the crowd could reach 100,000.

So, on a beautiful spring day, with an estimated 200,000 people breaking into raucous chants of "¡Sí Se Puede!" on the National Mall, there was reason for optimism. "I walked and walked and walked," a man behind me excitedly told his wife and daughter in Spanish. "Finally I found the end of the crowd--way back there!" He pointed toward the Washington Monument and the general direction of his travels, but all his family could see was a solid wall of people, many of them teenagers proudly wearing Undocumented and Unafraid T-shirts.



http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100412/thompson

[Posted by Melissa Cuen]