One of my favorite topics to write about are ones that spark passion, activism, and community building.  This weekend I particularly got to experience all of that by documenting the rallies of No on Prop 8 this weekend.

The first rally I attended was right here in my neighborhood in Long Beach Friday night.  15 minutes prior to the rally I showed up with a video camera ready to go and film a part of history.  With my head in the game ready to approach people for an interview, all of it suddenly disappeared in a matter of seconds.  Maybe it was the cold air coming up the street of Redondo Ave from the ocean, but a part of me knew it wasn’t time yet to approach people.  As 7pm rolled around I was one of the first people to jump in the street.  People swarmed me approaching from all four corners and sidewalks as you’ll see in the video.   As I marched with the crowd, my head was back in the game. The documenting began, and I was finally able to approach people for interviews. Instead of telling exactly what happened, I’d rather let the video speak for itself because I received some great comments this weekend on sites I’ve posted the video on, some negative but many positive.

The next day I went to the rally in Silverlake which was a very different experience.  I still documented this rally, but it was nothing like the one in Long Beach.  There was something about the one in Long Beach that was very real and you can see it in the people who attended.  They were young, old, married, couples gay & straight, and families traditional & non-traditional.  It was an evening that didn’t just send messages of “no on prop 8″ but sent messages of no more hate & discrimination, entitlement to equal rights, and humanity.

NIECEE’s TAKE AWAY:

• THANKS!!! My take away in this video is THANK YOU! I have gotten some great compliments from people about documenting these rallies, but I want to say Thanks to everyone who made these videos possible.  As a blogger, I think bloggers & journalists forget to thank the people that make what you write about happen. So thank you to the people that I interviewed, thank you to the people who organized the rallies, and thank you to the people who attended and wanted to get their voices heard.  I hope if anything I let your voices be heard through these videos.

My Video from Silverlake Rally: