Critical Mass

Living a block from City Hall we often see people arriving or departing from protests and parades. Last Friday, early in the evening, a huge contingent of bicyclists had taken over Franklin Street going north and turned right on McAllister towards City Hall. It looked like Critical Mass, the monthly mass bicycle ride begun in San Francisco in 1992.

The sight was unusual because this was the first Friday of the month rather than the last when the event has been traditionally held, and also the crowds over the last decade have been meager. This morning I found a delightful, informative account (click here) with photos of the event online where ccarlson writes: "I haven’t been to Critical Mass in San Francisco for about a year, and only went intermittently in the few years before that… it has long ago lost its purpose, its joy, and its function as place to meet, discuss, and imagine a better world."

"So I wasn’t expecting more than maybe 150-250 people to show up for this, on the first Friday (as opposed to the longstanding tradition of riding only on Last Fridays). By the time I got there, about 6 pm, the ride was already rolling and it was a sight to behold! Thousands of cyclists were pouring up Market Street, many adorned with the ubiquitous homemade signage of the past weeks of protest. I was SO happy! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I rode and weaved among the cyclists, finding friends, and just enjoying the happy knowledge that A) San Franciscans are all out in solidarity these days; and B) Doing a Critical Mass-style ride is deeply in our cultural DNA."

It was good to see that most of the bicyclists were wearing masks because the joy of seeing gigantic protests over the last week has been tempered by the fear of a probable spike in coronavirus cases within the next three weeks because of all that close intermingling. My only hope is outdoor transmission proves to be rare and difficult.

People were ready to explode after four years of watching in horror as the powers of government were taken over by fascists with only feeble opposition, and after three months of being cooped up at home for a pandemic. The upswelling has been brilliant to behold.

Plus, the videophone and its instant transmission via the internet has changed everything, and reactionary old police forces don't seem to realize it. Beating the crap out of peaceful protestors in every town in the country doesn't feed into the narrative of a few bad apples, and people are finally waking up to the fact that we're all paying for this brutality against ourselves. It won't be easy, but it's long past time to defund these paramilitary outfits and try something new.