My increasing appreciation of the link between Holy Week and political awareness and action, led me to partake in a vigil in Oakland, a neighbouring town, last Tuesday. It was more a vigil than a protest - legal street theatre where we lay representing those killed on all sides in Iraq as names were read out. It was to raise awareness and acted as extended, dramatized intercessions.
I'd never done anything like this before but I learnt about it from a flyer in church on Palm Sunday and wanted to go since it looked peaceful and harmless. The police in the Bay Area are very used to protests and I was assured that they make it very clear where to move to when if you don't want to be arrested. So I found a white bed sheet, nervously got on BART and found the Federal Building in Oakland. There were only about 8 of us on the ground. The police were there but didn't mind what we were doing or where we were positioning ourselves. It was only going to last one hour.
The photos below show the rest. We were in the Oakland newspaper the next day and on the local news and a few people lying on the ground were interviewed. It was mainly people in about their 60's. I'm glad I went since there weren't many of us.
Above: the Oakland Federal Building
Above: close up of some of the participants
Above: media taking photos
Above: the red bag is where I set myself up
