we shall overcome

i headed out to the last (hopefully) of my mentor meetings and arrived (two hours) early so i wandered around downtown to pass the time in the godforsaken heat that is this summer.

as i waited for borders to open, i saw a protest going on down the street, so i hustled to find out what the haps was all about.

getting closer i heard the chant 'you've got yours we want ours' and saw signs proclaiming 'equal rights for adopted people' (i'm assuming it's because of the buses, water fountains, etc.).

it was like any other protest, except not. there were about 25 or so protesters...and no opposition. no counter-protest. no popo. just a group of people with posters, capri shorts, good walking shoes, and a bullhorn...wandering around across the street from the visitor's center downtown.

the woman with the bullhorn tried to hand it off to another woman, and because it was left on, everyone on fourth street got to hear that one woman has issues speaking in public and just can't - NO, she just couldn't do it - 'please, no, janeane, you know this is not something i feel...'

so then it fell into the hands of a very sarcastic young man in a tie-dyed shirt:

sarcastic guy: what do we want?
protesters: our birth certificates!
sarcastic guy: and when would we like to have them?
protesters: now! (the passive aggressive in the crowd shouted 'soon!')
sarcastic guy: is this asking for anything special?
protesters: no!
sarcastic guy: you mean all we want are our basic rights?
protesters: yes!
sarcastic guy: that's too much to ask for, don't you think?
protesters: ...confused shouting...

the main woman took the bullhorn back and tried her hand at it again.

woman: what do we want?
protesters: our identity!
woman: when do we want it?
protesters: now!
woman: why do we want it?
protesters: ...confused shouting...

so, there were a few hiccups with the call and response, but the t-shirt of a young woman summed it all up:

i'm adopted and i vote in NJ.

point made.

(no, this did not occur in new jersey.)