This Ain’t Charlottesville.

It was on and poppin in DC Sunday, as thousands of protesters gathered in Lafayette Park across the street from White House waiting for the unwanted guest to arrive. I arrived around 3 pm., where I found the streets teeming with people of all colors, and walks of life. As I made my way thru the crowd, it was like I was at Mardi Gras.  Only the sights and sounds were those of a crowd on the edge of eruption. Every eye turned toward the place where the Unite the Right rally was to take place. Signs of all descriptions, some in no uncertain words, rose above the crowd, chants, music and speakers on podiums urging the crowd into evermore frenzied anticipation of the “moment when.” By 4 pm a drizzle turned into a steady rain. People huddled under trees while hustlers sold poncho’s and umbrellas. I moved in closer to get my protest on when the racist arrived. Soon the steady rain became a storm and the once vibrant and vocal protest started thinning out. Here and there you could hear people making plans, “ It looks like its about over, I going to get me a glass of wine.” As the crowd got smaller, I moved in closer.  A man playing church hymns on a loud speaker, teens twerking to musicians playing on buckets and bottles, a discarded sign laying against a tree, couples huddled together as if just holding each other would keep them dry, I moved in closer. It was 5 pm and I was determined to look those SOB’s right in their eyes and tell them to “kiss it, just kiss it!!” The sky grew darker and darker, and with it came the thunder and lightening. I hunkered down. I had brought one of those folding chairs, you know, the kind you get from the dollar store, they cost seven bucks and you can get 2 for ten. I also had a large BeBe umbrella, big enough for four people. I could see almost to the other side of the park now. Only a few hundred of us stalwart anti racist braved the deluge coming down on us. The police lined the perimeter. Some mingled, others patrolled, still other stood motionlessly at their post, but all seeming to share some secret, some joke, their soaked clothes and broad smiles betraying their concealed conspiracy. I moved in closer. It was almost 6 pm, and still no racist. I could see the White House from wear I was sitting now. It was now after 6:15 pm. The storm had subsided and the park was all but empty. I felt a kind of bitter sweet feeling. Although, I didn’t get to tell them to kiss it, they didn’t show up either… at least that’s what I thought then. I called my brother to brag about how I had been at the heart of the protest and almost single handed drove the white nationalist racist from DC. Mine was the glory!!

“Eh Gerald, they was down there. Me and my girlfriend watch them on TV as they escorted them in!!” OMG!! Noooo!!! I had been there for 3hrs!! How could they have escaped me and thousands of others!! In total denial, I admonished my brother, “No!!, They never showed up!! I was here and I’m down here now!!! They never showed up!!!” He said okay and I dejectedly hung up the phone. I missed them? No.. they never showed up… As I gathered my stuff together and started leaving the park, I would occasionally glance back,  hoping maybe they are late. I got to the edge of the park and looked back once more. As I slowly made my way down H street toward the garage where my car was parked, I had to know. I whipped out my cell phone and furiously keyed in CNN. My spirits sunk to the ground as I viewed the the article and a large picture of KKK Dragon Kessler and what looked like about eight people, surrounded by at least 50 policemen in front of the White House. I had been cheated!! Those bastards had slithered in and out without being detected. Later I learned, their protest lasted about ten minutes. We couldn’t see them, because they were surrounded by police. I keep wondering what would have happened if those thousands of people would have know those snakes were 150 feet from us. Dam them to hell!!! Not one shout of white power, no banners proclaiming their superiority, no pomp and circumstance. I was feeling some kinda way. I got back into my car and lit a cigarette, when I get home, I’ll have a drink and be content with I stood up with thousands and united we told them, “We not having that shit here, this ain’t Charlottesville.”