April 2000

Prop 21's racist manipulation

San Francisco-On March 8, in the wake of the disastrous electoral approval of Proposition 21 (youth gang initiative), a truly multinational group of around 500 youth, and some older allies, gathered at Powell and Market. After a rally which included reference to the fact that the day was International Women's Day and that young women have been in the forefront of the battle against 21, we took to the streets and marched up Powell, stopping traffic, and chanting vigorously the whole time. The spirit was angry, militant and very organized.

There were many monitors, a majority of whom were young women, who worked positively to ensure that the group's plan was followed, that people who seemed disruptive were cooled out, and that the spirit remained high. Although most of the marchers didn't know the destination, when we arrived at the San Francisco Hilton, which had donated funds to Prop. 21, most people got with the plan and entered the hotel en masse, occupying the entire lobby area for about an hour. The speakers, chanting and teaching, not to mention media cameras, totally disrupted the Hilton's privileged space.

When the police gave their warning that all who remained would be arrested, about 100 protesters stayed. Most of the youth had planned this ahead of time and so their parents already knew what was happening. Under 18 folks were taken to Mission Police Station and demonstrators joined them in front of the station to show support.

Overall I was really moved by the combination of spirit and youth self-organization of this protest which I hope is generating a counter-statement to the ballot box's racist manipulations against youth in this state.

-Diana