Standing up for Science

SOLIDARITY WITH SCIENCE: Saturday morning, we left the house around 10:30 to head to Seattle Center. From there, we caught the Monorail to Westlake park, where we planned to join the Seattle March for Science, one of over 600 marches around the world in support of science and scientists.

We got ot Westlake a little before 11:30, and the parade didn't start until 12, so rather than stand around, we decided to start walking up Pine street toward Capitol Hill, the parade's genesis. 

We walked and walked and walked some more, all up hill, and before we knew it, we were at the parade's starting line!

 We were happy we got to walk the entire route and experience the entire event! Above, CJ and Annabelle stand near the starting line, with Seattle Police Officers leading the way.

Below is the banner that led the march.

 We stood for awhile along Pine, watching the people and their signs pass by.

Both genders and ages were well represented.

We appreciated the time people took to make posters and share sentiments important to them.

 Below is a look down Pine, heading toward downtown from Capitol Hill. 

  

 We crossed over Interstate 5 on our way up Pine to the event's start, as well as on our way down, as marchers. 

 Galileo was represented at the march!

 Let's take a little break in here to let CJ tell you a bit about his march experience.

Back on 21 January 2017, I participated in the Womxn's March, 

As with the Womxn's March, my family made various signs to march with. My sister carried a hand-drawn sign, featuring a unicorn scientist. My sister's sign said (if I remember correctly) that science is true, no matter what you believe. My sign had two signs. One of them said that science are not "Alternative Facts", and the other side featured Mr. Spock, explaining that science denial is illogical.

All kinds of groups were at the march, from Socialists (specifically, this fringe "Socialist Freedom Party") to Satanists (specifically, a local chapter of the Satanic Temple). At one point in the march, a reporter had a short interview with my sister (embedded).

Next up is the People's Climate March, to be held on 29 April 2017.

 And here we'll take a quick break to share Annabelle's march impressions. ...

The Science March in Seattle took place on April 22^nd, also known as Earth Day. We went to the start of the march at noon and marched until 1:30. According to Google Maps, we walked 2.8 miles during the march (Probably closer to 3, walking to and from the car). The signs we saw were awesome and I loved seeing the creative sayings and puns people came up with. I saw many signs that said “I’m with her” with a picture of the Earth (A reference to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign) and signs about climate change and how real it truly is. I dressed as a unicorn and held a sign with a scientist unicorn on it saying “Science doesn’t care what you believe”. The march was held in pouring rain, but we kept marching on. It was super fun, but I still can’t believe we have to march for this stuff.

 Below, the kids make the turn from Pine to Fourth Avenue, where we started heading north toward Seattle Center. 

We were happy to see Paul Allen's Cinerama had March for Science messages scrolling on its marquee.

 Along the way, Annabelle's unicorn costume caught the eye of a KIRO 7 reporter.

She wound up on the news that night. Go unicorns!
http://www.kiro7.com/video?videoId=515270094&videoVersion=1.0

After about an hour of walking, we found ourselves at Seattle Center, the end of the road for the march. 

 Annabelle found a couple of other unicorn-minded people there. 

 There was an enthusiastic band, and they even played the "Bill Nye the Science Guy" theme!

This was a sight we saw on our way home.  Even Science Marchers need some cash, it seems. :)

All in all it was a great day. We talked to lots of interesting people and we're glad the steady drizzle didn't dampen the spirits of thousands of pro-science people at the local event!