FOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SHARED THE RISKS
It was some time after our demonstration of May 12th that I learned that four City Council members - Nancy Nadel, Jean Quan, Desley Brooks and Larry Reid - had accompanied us into the port that afternoon. They didn't speak at our rally, and newspapers didn't report their presence. Nor did I see them myself, but others did, and told me of their being there.
Nearly always, when politicians take part in a public event, they make damn sure they get noticed - recall, for example, Jerry Brown back in 1997, picketing in this port, without danger of attack but certainly on camera and running for mayor. Among the nationally best known examples was the previously unpopular mayor of New York who in the days after 9/11 became a "hero," or at least a media hero, by constantly positioning himself in front of news cameras. And of course there was our unelected president, who just a week before our return to the port had donned a flight suit, posed for cameras, and was then presented to the world as warrior Bush. Well, that's the way it so often works - but things were quite different here in Oakland on May 12th, when members of the City Council of Oakland quietly joined our ranks, entered the port with us, and shared the risks.