victory in sight

photos first:


abahlali march down west st with police escort
























mnikelo from foreman rd













1500 people in all












s'bu reads demands of abahlali to rep from city











earlier in the day there was serious police harassment at jadhu place, when 10 buses of abahlali rally goers were turned away from town by police because the city manager had declared their march illegal. police wouldn't let settlement residents wait near the street to hear for the court verdict, and instead chased them up the hill toward the mjondolo.














after 3 hours in court, abahlali won the right to march. so much more to write and process. sleep first, and i'll add a lot more tomorrow. by then there will be election results... but i'll leave with this-- the process of democracy is an endlessly active one. it's not something that can be limited to marking an "x" for a candidate, or, in fact, it is limited when so much emphasis is tied to that action of "the power of x," as the election slogans here go.

the energy in the streets, the effervescent feel of the crowd at the rally was real power. and it was an inspired show of the creative energies of people, "the masses," left to create their own outlets for being heard, and left to build new forms of trust and relationships, accountability and democracy.

i looked around this crowd filled with visionary courageous leaders, and i felt so lucky to be among so many friends.

there are more photos up at indymedia's newswire:

Abahlali base Mjondolo marches to Durban city hall after day of police harrassment

pt 2: Abahlali base Mjondolo marches to Durban city hall after day of police harrassment

photos of police harrassment at jadhu place