When I got out of class at 11:50 am, I headed over to the free speech area by the library to participate in the multi-issue day of action event. After I signed in, I stayed by the first table to help out with the signs. I didn't know anyone there at all, but I made friends with two other girls who were helping out with the signs. During 12:00 pm, there wasn't that many people yet; only the members who came to set up their organization tables and a few people from this class. There were candies, fruits, pizzas, and water bottle available at the student organizations tables. A few random students stopped by the tables to ask questions about what the event was about and to see what we were doing. What we did at the table was look for two signs, which was already made the day before, and staple them together on a wooden stick since all the signs were mixed up together. More and more students started to come around 12:45 pm. Some came to look for their signs that we stapled on the stick and piled them together on the side of the table. A few of them actually came a little bit earlier than 12:45 pm to make their own signs also. There was approximately 50-60 signs in total after we were done with everything. By 12:50 pm, there were a lot of people already. The Raging Grannies started singing some political songs around 12:50 pm. They sang about three songs, I believed, about social issues of women's body and rape. There were some students who even took out their phones to record the performance. The most hilarious moment was when the Raging Grannies held up their middle fingers while they were singing a profanity word. After they were done the audiences clapped and cheered. Then we all gathered together and started marching towards the bookstore, each holding their own signs. A person in a banana costume led the way. We went all the way to the Joyal Administration building, then crossed through the parking lot, and walked on the sidewalk down to Barton Street. Some people were chanting what their signs were about along the way, and a few cars honked as they passed us. Then we walked through the dorms, the parking lot at the corner of Shaw and Cedar, around the gym, through the Social Science and Family & Food Science buildings, and then back to the free speech area again. After that, almost everyone left. I stayed for about 5 minutes talking to a student at the criminal injustice system table, then left home after that.
Overall, I really enjoyed the event. It was actually my first time marching and making all those signs, regarding real social issues. Participating in events like this makes me feel like I'm doing something good that could change the way how our society function. Holding up signs in public could really make people think deeper about social issues that are going on in the world and help spread awareness. If students don't start protesting, everyone will just avoid these issues. So I think the more people protest, the more effective it gets to spread awareness across the states or even the country. Even if this march was only a small one, because we only marched around half the campus, I still believe we at least made someone think about the issue we are protesting about. It could possibly make a difference in someone's opinion. I think that once a participant experience this march or any other march, they'll more likely to consider participating in upcoming events similar to this one. If they have never volunteer before, they will probably never participate and/or support any political events. The free speech area at Fresno State here is such a good opportunity for students to utilize, practice, and voice their opinion so they can become more experience and familiar with protest in the real world. I think for upcoming events like this one, it should be announce throughout campus so everyone at Fresno State can have a chance to participate in the event. Also, there will be more participants, therefore they will grab more people's attention. In addition, the event should be extended longer. The march should go on longer by walking through the entire campus and not just half, so more people could be expose to the signs/messages that are trying to spread across.
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