marching in New York

I got chills tonight as we marched through the streets of New York City. It was the Million Hoodie march the crowd of mostly young black, white and Latino folks demanding justice for Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old who was shot dead in Florida by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman had called 911 to report suspicious activity by Martin, who was walking to his father’s house, followed him and described him as a ‘fucking coon’ before shooting him. Zimmerman has not been charged. Tonight, the crowd gathered at Union Square, where activists from Occupy Wall Street had been staying since a mass arrest last Sunday. Martin’s parents  spoke, his mother crying 'my son is your son. This is not about black and white; this is about right and wrong!"  The crowd slowly headed into the streets, holding their cellphones aloft and chanting “No Justice, No Peace,”  “We are all Trayvon!” Repeatedly directed off the streets and divided into sections by the police, the section I was in marched in a circle and returned to Union Square, where, using the ‘people’s mic’ of the Occupy Wall street movement, where anyone can speak and the crowd repeats each thing the speaker says, the group sort of decided to march to Times Square. Once there, we had another discussion under the billboards. The remaining 200 or so people were divided about whether to go home or keep marching – although there was no clear target.  I thought that most people wanted to go home – as we’d been marching for two hours – but I was wrong – more than half the young crowd wanted to keep marching – and on we went, back to Union square. The crowd walked really fast, as if we were trying to exorcise our anger. I saw a tiny little guy in his hoodie, maybe five years old, holding hands with his Mom, running along, his arm outstretched in a peace sign as he yelled, "no justice, no peace!" Kids held up Skittles and cans of ice tea, yelling "Don't shoot me, don't kill me, for Skittles and iced tea." Passersby filmed us on their phones - making us take ourselves more seriously. The calls for justice echoed off the buildings, pumping us up. One taxi that insisted on continuing to push through the crowd had its window smashed by someone. Everyone rapidly scattered from the sounds. It reminded me of being in New York in 1999, when sad and angry young people of color filled Manhattan’s streets after Amadou Diallo was shot 21 times by New York police officers. People’s rage and sadness wouldn’t let them leave the streets. We wanted something to change. Tonight felt the same in many ways. But this time there were fewer chants against the police. One person who started the familiar ‘fuck the police’ chant, was ignored.  Another big difference was that this movement is merging and intersecting with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, their tactics and their desire to keep the momentum of that movement going. This is where the potential and where the threat is. If a movement emerges that clearly links criminal justice and economic justice, it has the potential for deepening the engagement of people of color in New York. Over the past six months, leaders in both movements have worked together – but as OWS has waned, the different goals, styles and participation have divided them. Now it looks like there could be an alliance of a different nature here in New York, and potentially across the country. I expect that a threat like this could push some authorities to try to ensure that Zimmerman is charged. But perhaps I'm dreaming.