On Sunday, June 11, it dawned on me as dawn was actually approaching Los Angeles, that life had become (Unusually) Usual. I was up at 4, I was the first shift of volunteers for the Resist March and had to be at my post on Hollywood Blvd between Highland and La Brea. In tourists terms that high priced block has some of the more famous and truly talented names in stars for the Walk of Fame. I arrived at my volunteer location around 5:45 and witnessed the last of the homeless citizens being gently evicted from their make shift spaces and persuaded to find another location to spend the rest of the morning. The men and women helping with removal of a simple fact of life (homelessness) had jackets adorned with the words (Curtesy Patrol), Time must have been of the essence as most of the empty boxes which had for a moment been dinner or lunch were left in place, and a few very ragged blankets and i suppose outerwear were still bunched up in as cozy of a manner possible (when one sleeps on the streets).
When I arrived on one of the most famous busiest boulevards in LA, I noticed that at each end of Hollywood, Highland and LaBrea piled next to one another (as if to form a wall) were very large dump trucks almost inter locked like Lego’s, standing next to the trucks were men and women dressed in military fatigues, I thought they were the National Guard, but was assured by another volunteer they were only the LA Sheriff Department. The volunteer also told me this is (their combat outfit, just in case). I waited for my Volunteer Leader and as he reminded me via text, I could identify him as he would be the person (wearing angel wings and very high pink shoes and a large pink hat). My volunteers back in my communal worker days usually would be identified by wearing their I Am a Proud Bubbe, T-Shirt, or I love Katz’s Deli red T-Shirt. The volunteers for the Resist march met and out major job was to direct the participants toward the start of the 3 mile march and to answer any questions possible. We had the usual contingency of the LGBTQ community, but what intrigued me most were the families who wanted their kids to be a part of a community that seemed a bit different to what their family structure was like but at the same time kind of the same…you know, (Unusually), Usual.
The March finally kicked in, we had about 30 thousand marchers and for the next three miles we chanted, we sang and we all had an opportunity to shout loudly about resting a man in the Oval Office, who has little regard for human and civil rights. Of course along the way we met the Evangelical Born Again protestors who seemed to believe they owned God, and their God was going to send us to Hell. An interesting side note, a few of the crowd stopped and actually said hello, using the first names of the protestors, reminding the crowd that Howard and Edward have been regulars art the Pride events in the past. We finally hit our destination, and the Resist March ended and the speeches began. For a brief moment, I stood in the center of WEHO, my kids with me, my husband holding my hand and I looked around understanding that I was (a part of a majority), and how wonderful was that. Then the moment flittered away and I realized moments like that in this day and age are (Unusually) Usual. It is the day after LA Pride, and there are so many wars to be won!
