Alright, so as this was my first march ever, I'd figure I'd share my thoughts and experiences here.
We arrived at about 10:30, and the march was scheduled to start at twelve. Thankfully, we found an umbrella in the back, and with the hats we had received from a very nice stranger, we were set. So my two sisters, mother, and I all stood in the rain under our umbrellas. At about eleven, a person came up the mic, talked about what this meant to the community, introduced some people, played music, and the such. Then they announced that the march at twelve was a smaller march, and the big one would be at 1:15. While we had read online that it would start at twelve, we didn't know about the 1:15 continuation.
I suppose that before I continue, I should mention that where I live is generally cold as well as rainy. So by the time twelve rolled around, while we weren't as drenched as others due to the umbrella, we were still wet and cold. While we were bobbing up and down to keep up our body heat, a new person came up to the mic at twelve, and we were excited to start.
Then they talked.
And talked.
And talked.
12:15 passed. Then 12:30. Then 12:45.
Apparently the people in charge simply decided it would be okay to push it back to 1:15. People were starting to get pissed, especially the ones who had been out there as long as we had and were drenched. They started chanting, "Let us march! Let us march!" I found the whole idea of chanting against the people who were organizing this ridiculous, but I still getting annoyed as well.
Then the person says there'll be three more speakers.
People start marching on their own out into the streets, and the mic goes quiet. Finally, at 1:15, a final person tells us we could march.
I had fun after, marching arm-in-arm with my family in the street, chanting and holding signs, but in general the entire experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. If I go to another, I pray that people will be calmer and that the organizers will actually inform us on what's going on. I still recommend going out to one if there's one going on in your area, as your experience will probably be a lot better than mine. But yeah. Thanks for reading if you suffered through all of that.