5th Anniversary Protests in San Francisco

So I was taking a nap which I seldom ever do (the only sleep I got was an hour in the school cafeteria) and I am woken up by shouting through megaphones, people yelling, a marching  band and the sound of thousands of people marching outside. I was confused, was it already another anniversary of the war in Iraq? I go online and confirm that it is the 19th (for some reason I have the 23rd in my head), and then put clothes on and grab my camera on my way out the door...

The first thing I thought was "This is why I had moved to San Francisco." Protest in Huntington Beach? Maybe a miniature get together at the pier every once in a while... But this... All of Mission Street shut down with thousands of people. It strikes a deep and meaningful chord within, whether or not you agree, but to see people act together for a common belief that they are willing to stand up strikes the roots of the human spirit. It also made me appreciate the valuable right to gather and protest. The police closed off traffic for the protestors to gather peacefully. Another great contributing factor to my overall appreciation of this protest was the protest going on in Tibet. For them, to have ownership of the Tibetan flag is illegal. For them, to protest is illegal. For us, despite all of the faults and corruptions of this system we live in that we can complain about, it does in fact make you appreciate the rights we do have.