(Report sent in by a World Can't Wait organizer in LA) 

The streets of Los Angeles belonged to the people on March 25, 2006. 

They came in buses from all over California and points east.  They came with their families and with babes in arms.  They came dressed in white shirts to symbolize peace and solidarity.  They came with drums and chants. Like a river flooding its banks, the streets and thoroughfares of downtown Los Angeles filled with people and overflowed, spilling into each other with thousands upon thousands; fists raised, faces set in determination and voices lifted in chants of repudiation and solidarity. "Si Se Puede!" (Yes we can!)  The planned march route could not contain them.

The police reported a figure of 500,000 to the Los Angeles Times. The organizers estimated the number at two million. Experienced counters report a figure closer to one million.

Two chapters of The World Can't Wait, San Diego and Los Angeles, pooled resources to join with these impassioned voices of dissent, and to get our message 'The World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime!' out to the thousands upon thousands who know they must act to repudiate and resist attacks on immigrants and stop the passage of the profoundly inhumane Sensenbrenner Bill HR 4437.

100,000 flyers as well as the 500 placards we had made were swept up into the sea of people and carried through downtown.  World Can't Wait signs in English and Spanish joined a variety of handmade signs. One memorable sign read, "I AM NOT A CRIMINAL.  I AM NOT A TERRORIST.  I AM EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!"  Other signs articulated opposition to HR 4437, or support for the Kennedy McCain Bill.  There were many pro-amnesty signs.  There were a great number of American flags waving to signify, we were told, that immigrants had a right to be in the United States, and that they were good citizens.  A strong sentiment echoed throughout the day was that the United States economy depends on immigrant labor, and there were some we spoke to who thought that a general strike of immigrant workers would underscore this concept sharply.

Our contingent carried aloft a fifteen foot World Can't Wait green banner on ten foot poles that read, "El Mundo No Puede Esperar! Hay Que Sacar Corriendo Al Gobierno De Bush!"  We also carried beautiful Not In Our Name flags of the earth, to emphasize that The WORLD Can't Wait ( and to show our solidarity with the people of the world, and to draw a distinction between the people in this country and the government that is committing war crimes around the world.  San Diego brought some smaller WCW banners, as well as some great piñatas with cartoon faces of Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld cleverly attached.  We had drums and bullhorns to help drive and reinforce rhythmic chants that we learned from the crowd as well as we instigated.  As our contingent attempted to join the planned march route, it became apparent that alternate streets were being claimed by the sheer numbers.  Traffic stopped. Horns blew and fists raised in support of the marchers, in spite of the fact that people were virtually stuck in their cars and most likely would be for a long time!  Some got out of their cars and cheered us on!

Our booths at either end of the march were incredibly busy. Though we had limited Spanish language capability in our crew, we found it easiest and most effective to cast aside our faltering Spanish and simply say "NO BUSH"!  This would bring people up to us with smiles, and then we could show them the Spanish text flyer. People responded with enthusiasm. We collected pages and pages of new contacts.  We also found that most people spoke much better English than we did Spanish, or that people were fluent in both languages, and so they asked for materials in English.  One woman told us she wanted a poster in English because she wanted the news media and the general public to easily read and understand the message: "The World Can't Wait!  Drive Out the Bush Regime!"

A small group of high school aged students were passing by one of our tables, holding small American flags.  Some of us called out to them that those flags mean walls, minuteman and detainment and deportation and they should put them down.  They smiled and lowered them and walked over to our booth.  They were very interested in organizing a walkout at their school.  As we talked more with them, they threw the flags down and took up several organizing packets, some dvd's of the movie SIR! NO SIR!, stickers, and signed our contact sheets.  They said that people had just been handing the flags out and so they took them, but they liked The World Can't Wait stickers much better!  And the smaller NION flags of the earth. And Drive Out the Bush Regime!

The World Can't Wait (Drive Out the Bush Regime was very present at this march. San Diego and LA worked together effectively.  Our combined efforts got 100,000 flyers into people's hands, but we could have used one million flyers! We have more work to do to inform people of our movement, but we had an impact on this day.

March 25, 2006 was a historic day in Los Angeles. The people owned the streets. They exerted their power, and saw it reflected in the determined faces of multitudes walking side by side.  This tremendous force shows the potential for setting into motion a different dynamic in society, one that relies on the independent political action of millions, one that can drive out the Bush regime.

"Si Se Puede!" (Yes we can!)

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