It's never what you think.

So, in my seventeen months of living in SF, I have experienced many things. I have seen all the tourist sites, ate in many fine restaurants and cafes, and even had my hair cut by a gay hairdresser who has had 19 husbands! Only in SF. This weekend, however, I had the full SF experience: I participated in a political march!

First, I met the rest of the group at the Embarcadero. I arrived early and was treated to the sight of many white-collar workers making their way to the ferry so they could go home to Sausalito, across the water. All the well-dressed people bustling to and fro was different from my life as a school-teacher that’s for sure! Front and center for entertainment was an elderly black man (told us it was his 62nd birthday, so maybe not ‘elderly’) with a music system, blasting us with some good old oldies, like “Georgia on my mind.” Also enjoying the singer were the skateboarders. They were maybe in their 20s and 30s, and very impressive with their stunts.

Eventually a few of the other members of the group show up. One is a young white male, a struggling actor named Eric, one is Robert, a mixed-race musician, also young, and the third is a man who I had never met before, dressed from head to foot in an orange robe, so that at first glance you mistake him for a Buddhist monk. His name, I found out, is Achutheranda. Upon closer inspection his fleece was an “Oakland A’s” fleece, so maybe he’s not a Buddhist monk after all. In fact, typically San Franciscan style, Eric wasn’t exactly who he introduced himself to be either. He told me he did stand-up comedy and acting. I found out later, when I saw him on the national news, that in fact he worked for Pinterest, earning many millions. (As well as doing stand up comedy in the evenings.) At Pinterest, he became aware of unethical practices involving Freedom of speech, and he became a whistle-blower, which is why he ended up on the national news! It’s never what you think.

“What’s the plan?” I ask. Eric was in charge. He got out his sidewalk chalk and I thought, “Cool, someone’s going to draw a picture!” No, nothing so easy. In fact, it was the four of us who were going to do sidewalk chalking! So, we started writing various slogans in the Embarcadero area and then we moved down to Market Street. So there I was, thinking I was sidewalk chalking when Robert said something about this being “political activism.” Thanks Robert, I don’t think I would have figured that out! So all that sidewalk chalking my kids did when they were little was really just preparation for some political activism when they got older!

The political activism efforts that evening did not meet with much resistance. There was one man, an older white man with salt-and-pepper hair who poured his bottled water on our slogans and tried to rub them out with his shoe. I tried to engage him in a discussion but he was wearing headphones, clearly not wanting to talk. Eric and Robert told me that, ironically, it’s always the old white men who have the most problem with the pro-life cause. Really? I was surprised, because the papers always say that old white men support our cause. But then, fake news seems to be de rigueur for the entire country these days.

Saturday I went on the march. It was only one and a half miles but because of the other 50 thousand people there it did take several hours. It was the first march I’ve ever been on, so yes, I’m having the SF activism experience! The interesting thing was the diversity. Lots of racial diversity and age diversity from the very old to babies in strollers. There was also religious diversity. I’ve never seen so many Catholic nuns and priests in one place! The group I was marching with, however, is a secular group. “Secular” is the first word in their name, "Secular Pro-Life of San Francisco." One of the people I was marching with is a gay woman named “Herb.” She is quite possibly undergoing gender transformation, but for right now she is a woman. She flew in from Pittsburgh, where she works with “Rehumanize International,” a group which supports many causes including banishing the death penalty, and ending euthanasia, police brutality and abuse in all its forms.

The walk was a very moving experience. We actually had one observer on the sidewalk who asked my colleague for a poster and joined in the march to walk with us. Another older woman sidewalk observer was in tears. To be honest, I nearly cried when I saw her crying. Some people were not supportive; they took to yelling counter slogans. Other passers-by, like the three well-dressed young black men with dreadlocks, were very supportive, and were leading us in pro-life chants.

Political activism is very rare for me, but I am glad that I actually was able to take time to support something which I believe is important. Also, since mine is a minority view in San Francisco, it was so very wonderful to know that at least 50 thousand other people in San Francisco and the bay area are also pro-life. It's never what you think.