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Prop 8 The Musical

What are you doing right now? Yes, right now! Right this very second, what is the activity in which you are currently engaged?

Don't tell me what it is!!!

I want you to STOP doing whatever it is you are doing just for four minutes and watch this video!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Join The Impact Nationwide Protest

One of these days, I will post a blog that has nothing to do with protesting but today is not that day.

I've had to get up early to catch the bus to downtown Los Angeles many times this month for jury duty. On Saturday morning 11/15/08, I did it again but this time it was for love and civil rights. I got there pretty early so I stopped at Starbucks which began to fill up with fellow protesters. Luckily I got there early enough that I didn't have to wait in the long line that stretched out the door. I brought out the duct tape and assembled my signs then headed to the crowd in front of the stage. I wasn't too far back but I still couldn't see anything because everyone was holding up their signs.


Mayor Villaraigosa came to City Hall from the wildfires to speak to us and did a fantastic job. Marissa Jaret Winokur, Ricki Lake, and Lucy Lawless were also amongst the speakers there that morning. One of the highlights was when a young woman talked to us about her two gay parents and said that her mother was concerned about her attending the rally because protests can often times be dangerous. Whenever I tell my own mother that I am going to a protest she always tells me to be careful and to not get arrested so I can relate. The young woman concluded her speech with "They're trying to take her rights away but she doesn't want her baby to get a black eye. Now that's a mom."


There were several other speakers but the crowd became impatient and started chanting "march march march" and so we marched! I brought a Hot Topic bag full of candy to hand out to nearby marchers. I was happy to see so many parents bring their young children to the rally. I also saw the nice couple that I chatted with at the start of the WeHo protest. We ended up walking on a dirt road with dust rising all over the place which is why I went home covered in dirt. After the morning march we all headed back to where we started from. We stood on overpasses and waved signs to cars honking on the freeway. The L.A.P.D were very good to us and we appreciate their help and protection very much. I gave some of them candy.


Then there was a spur of the moment 7 mile march all the way to Hollywood/Highland. About a quarter of the way there I could barely walk straight and I was falling way behind. Then a guy named Victor passed by and was nice enough to give me water and carry my backpack for me. The blisters on my feet were hurting pretty bad but we caught up to the rest of the marchers and made it all the way to Hollywood/Highland. The crowd walked in a circle, sang the National Anthem, then sat down in the middle of the intersection for 30 minutes. Some people got up to speak to everyone including a little boy named Juan who's mother is a lesbian, a guy with an amazing voice who sang a little bit of "True Colors", and a man who simply asked for a moment of silence for Harvey Milk.

Victor & I

It was an empowering experience. I arrived home and quickly hobbled to the bathroom to soak my blisters and wash the layer of dirt off of me yet still I was and am ever so thankful to have been a part of that day. I am ready for the next one. And the one after that. And after that. I am moving to Hawaii this year on December 10 but even from Hawaii, I will still try to do everything in my power to bring awareness to this heartbreaking injustice until this country can once again be called "the land of the free".

I TOOK SOME VIDEO, WATCH IT HERE!

WeHo Prop 8 Protest 11/12/08

I got to the rally a little early this time. Crowds started forming at the corners of Santa Monica/San Vicente. I chatted with a nice couple and we waved peace signs at honking cars. As more and more people arrived we started chanting, trying to sync ourselves up with the street corner diagonal to us but we couldn't hear each other so one of the guys leading the chant started doing sign language. You're awesome, sign language guy!



Then we noticed one car with a mother and two little boys that kept circling the block over and over honking and cheering for us. I wanted so badly to give her gas money but I didn't have any cash. During the march, they kept showing up on the sidewalk cheering us on and we would give them high fives and cheer back at them. I am in awe of this wonderful family. While so many parents are teaching hate to their kids, here is a woman who is teaching her boys to love and support their fellow man in times of injustice and hardship. Whoever you are, Ma'am I applaud you. You are wonderful and made of epic awesome which is the highest compliment you can receive from a Nerdfighter <3.


My signs started bending and got a bit tattered and ripped so I had to do some duct tape damage repair. I need to find some better support for them for Saturday's rally. For those who don't know, there will be a nationwide protest rally at L.A City Hall (200 N. Spring St.) from 10:30am to 2:30pm. If you don't live in Los Angeles, go HERE to find the location for your city!



Highlights of the march itself:
- People cheering us on from sidewalks, balconies, windows, cafes, restaurants and cars.
- A Chinese restaurant employee running into the crowd with a huge pot of fortune cookies for us!
- The "epic family of awesome" as I have now dubbed them.
- The awesome protesters surrounding me.
- This sign that said "I pity tha fool! Who voted yes on 8!"


- Standing outside of El Coyote Mexican restaurant (the owner/manager's daughter donated $100 to the "yes on prop 8" campaign) and chanting "shame on you!"

I was up in front when the march started and somehow ended up in the very back. After the march, I headed to a cafe for a nice chicken cesar salad and a Mr. Pibb. A night well spent.

Keith Olbermann is in My Book of Love

Dear Keith Olbermann,

*HUGS*

You are my favorite! <3

Love,
Joni

Gay Straight Black White, Marriage Is A Civil Right!

I was one of the 15,000 + protesters at Sunset Junction in Silverlake on Saturday 11/8 to protest the passing of prop h8. I will attend every protest that I am capable of attending until prop h8 is overturned and EVERYONE has the right to marry.



I arrived by bus at 8pm and was disgusted by the statement of my African American bus driver when we arrived on the scene. "They're still protesting. As if that's going to change anything." Listen, lady! If protest didn't change anything you wouldn't be driving the bus, you'd be sitting in the back! Rosa Parks is turning over in her grave because of your ignorance. If this was 1948 and the man you loved was white, you would not have the right to marry him. So what would you be doing then? You would be fighting for your right to marry the person you love which is exactly what is going on today.



The protest was set to end at 9:00 pm but we still marched on. We sat in the middle of the street and yelled "NO MORE HATE". We marched down block after block and stood screaming and waving signs to honking cars.

I ended up waiting two hours for a bus home since the buses were held up by the protest and I arrived home at about 2:00 am. Tired, cold, and voiceless, I knew it was worth it to be a part of the historical crowd in Silverlake. I am not only protesting for my generation. When I have children I want them to be able to marry the person they love and not be treated as a second class citizen. I want the same for my grandchildren and great grandchildren and so forth. Yes we can erase the hate and discrimination that is currently corrupting our constitution. Yes we can make this a better world for our children and give them the morals and values to do the same for their children. Yes we can love and respect one another as human beings and embrace our differences which make this world of ours so wonderful and interesting.

President Obama

I am overjoyed that Barack Obama is our new President. As a Japanese female who was born and raised in Hawaii, my expectations regarding my future were changed Tuesday night. I mean, it isn't as though I thought I would never amount to anything. It's just that seeing Barack Obama make it all the way to the white house has convinced me that I can be anything I want to be.

Unfortunately, when I was in high school, I slacked on applying for scholarships. I watched as all of my friends went off to college and I moved to California to take an 8 week film course. Now that my career goal has changed from being a filmmaker to being an author/screenwriter, I find myself wishing I had attended a college like Sarah Lawrence. In high school, I was an officer of a community service club. If President Obama's plans for education had been in order back in 2004, I'd be a college graduate today. My immediate future plans include moving back to Hawaii and working as a bartender so that I can save up enough to maybe enroll in a writer's workshop at Sarah Lawrence.

But this year's election ended up being bittersweet for me when I learned that Prop 8 had passed in California. It amazes and angers me greatly that such a high sum of money had been put into the proposition of hate when that money could have gone to people in Bangladesh or to higher pay for teachers or the many other issues in this world worthy of support. It saddens me that even in 2008, human beings are still having their rights stripped away. Even worse, our GLBT brothers, sisters, friends, and family members had their right to marry stripped away after it had finally been granted to them. I am ashamed of the state of California as I should be and as everyone living in California should be. Florida also passed "amendment 2" which also takes the right to marry away from human beings! For the love of Buddha! It makes me want to cry and I have! I cannot fully celebrate this election until everyone has the right to marry the person they love.