Happy Cinco de Mayo HRC fans..on the 7th!
Since my day job took priority, I thought I’d kick off the weekend with a recap of my experiences at Hillary’s rally on the campus of the East LA College, located on Avenida Cesar Chavez in Monterey Park. With Bill’s visit on Wednesday and Hillary’s on Thursday, the drive for the California primary is underway!
The doors of the event were scheduled to open at 3:00 pm, but crowds gathered hours in advance. A line of three to four people wide wove down the stairs, along the avenue and for as far as I could see down the street around the corner. People of all ages and ethnicities were there to celebrate and the enthusiasm showed! Many wore displays of the fabulous Hillary bling, others had crafted hand-made signs and banners. The excitement was palpable—even at my considerable age, I felt like this was the most exciting event I would ever attend!
There was the slight distraction of police road blockades and a large contingent of officers at the ready. That was expected. Protesters were gathering across the street. But for the time being, everyone was focused only on the excitement of the rally and counting down the time to see Hillary in person.
People began to enter the gym just before 3:00 and the lucky ones were able to get right up to the rope line. Having missed that opportunity, I selected a seat high enough up and directly across from the podium stage, hoping for a good view and a vantage point for pictures. I’m including those pictures throughout the diary, and apologize up front that the quality is not great. I chalk it up to my lack of photographic skill, but also to the glaring spotlights across from me that seemed to distort the focus a bit. But, none of that mattered a bit to me as I was shaking with excitement. I was there to see Hillary!
Several people were selected to sit behind the stage—it looked as though those with great signs along with a mixture of ages comprised the mix. I was thrilled to see the many young girls grinning ear to ear, waiting with anticipation. These were the kinds of faces I can only remember seeing from days at Disneyland, as children waited to see Mickey Mouse or one of their other beloved characters. What could they be thinking right now? Were they as excited at 6, 8, 10 and 12 as I was at 60?
Army Colonel in redA woman sitting next to me taught nursing classes 2 days a week at the college, and was a retired Army Colonel. She was 72. She, too, was smiling ear to ear.
Wellesley Friends and adorable father and daughterTwo women, one in her 20s and the other in her 30s, were sitting on my other side proudly wearing their Wellesley College tee shirts. More ear-to-ear grins.
Chatter was animated and dynamic. People were introducing themselves, telling stories about how Hillary had been an inspiration or had influenced their life choices and enthusiastically sharing many other reasons for which their presence at the gym that day was a history making event. We all felt like...we knew... we were about to see the possible next President of the United States.
Their Union was well representedAnd, if you think this was a phenomenon only affecting the women, you would be wrong. Several labor unions were there, represented overwhelmingly by men who were equally proud to show off their brightly colored shirts and Hillary buttons and signs.
Behind me a father sat in anticipation with his young daughter, explaining what was happening at each stage. His chuckles and her giggles were shared down the rows and on the floor with the many hundreds of people who by now had filled in the room. The news reports said there were over 1000 people and I’m sure it was at least that many.
The event organizers were great! Kudos to any of you who have done this at other events (or even this one—maybe I saw you!). They passed out stickers and signs and helped us get organized. When the music started playing some of them danced along. This was a rally in every sense of the word!
There was a momentary leveling of reality when the security team came over to the three guys sitting just one row up from me. They were asked to relocate to the back of the stands to assist the security team with protesters. This was not a physical task but rather a vocal one. The security team told us they had been advised that Rosario Dawson was planning to attend and, whether she did or not, they anticipated some disruptions. If and when this occurred, the men were asked to strongly start chanting ‘H i l l a r y ! H i l l a r y !’. We would all join in to drown out whatever the protesters were shouting about. We were tasked with over-riding any distractions with our enthusiasm for Hillary...and we were definitely up to the task.
The clock ticked down and the hours passed. As it got closer to 4, we were treated to the musical festivities of a Mariachi band.*
And then began a series of speakers, starting with ELAC President Marvin Martinez. Each was more rousing than the next, culminating in a wonderful rally call by California Senate Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon. He was notably impressive and I personally hope he goes far, in our state and beyond. Mayor Eric Garcetti then spoke with passion about the LA community and Clinton’s support of it. He coupled the enthusiasm with his announcement the day before that LA Unified School District had voted to make all LA Community Colleges free. Mayor Garcetti also led us in a chant of ‘Deal Me In!’, which was as fun as it was inspiring.
By then there was a fever pitch in the room and a lovely young ELAC student came out to introduce Secretary Clinton. She told her personal story, sharing her concerns as she grew up that the emergency list taped to the refrigerator would have to be activated should her mother be deported. I have to confess, I think there were several tears about to be shed when she quickly shifted to why she now had hope—hope in the Presidency of Hillary Clinton! The tears of empathy changed to tears of joy as Hillary walked to the stage. She warmly embraced the young woman and held her close for a good, long hug. After joined and raised hands, the young woman left the stage and Hillary beamed with pride as she literally drew in the breath of the explosive energy!
After the applause and roars of enthusiasm calmed a bit, she started off with her plans for immigration, and why it matters personally to her. In her youth, she babysat on weekends for migrant farm workers who needed to work in the fields and had children too young to go with them.*
As an aside, I also took note that a gentleman on the stage behind her was providing sign translation. I believe that might be due to a suggestion made by one of our delightful Washington State members(?).
She then turned her attention to Donald Trump, while pointing out the stark contrasts in our GE choices. Repeating familiar themes but targeting the direct application to the audience, Hillary was decisive in her policies to put love over hate.*
During this section, protesters did interrupt her, but the exuberant chanting prevailed. All told, there were several interruptions, enough that her speaking time was affected. But the mood was not. She ended her rally with a call to action: Get out to vote! She cited the many ways we can vote in California, including by mail, and urged everyone to tell everyone they knew to register and to vote.*
As the excitement wound down, we collected names and phone numbers of the new friends we had met and vowed to work phone banks, canvas and do anything else that was needed.
Striking a pose...After exiting the stage, Hillary spent quite some time shaking hands, taking pictures and signing autographs.
Thanking a union memberThere were smiles and hugs everywhere she turned. It was hard to measure how much time passed as I scurried about trying to catch a slim chance at the rope line, at least ending up with some fun, but blurry pictures. (Photography is hard in a pressed mob environment, I’ve decided!)
So many supporters...so little time….All told, it was the experience of a life time. It was every bit as magical as I imagined it would be!
Hopefully, all of you who have not yet had your chance to see her can share the excitement we experienced that day!
Enjoy!
*I had video clips for each of these sections, but they have been ‘processing’ in the image library since last night. I must have done something wrong, so I’ll check it out. But, I’ve given up for now. If they finish, or I figure out what happened, I will update the diary, or do part 2, so that her speech is available. Thanks for understanding—newbie error!