By Steven T. Jones
Whether you mark the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day (I tend toward the latter), the color of San Francisco today does seem colored by the darker hues on the spectrum. Maybe part of that is the fact that Black Friday this year falls on the anniversary of the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.
Nonetheless, I just pedaled past our downtown shopping citadels a little while ago to take in the mood. The shoppers definitely outnumber the protesters of hyper-consumerism or fur, but neither side seemed particularly animated by their missions. Maybe it’s the gray day or the tryptophan hangovers.
But if you just want to go with the somber motif, you can join the march marking the Milk and Moscone deaths, which starts at 6 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza at Market and Castro. Speakers include Milk and Moscone relatives and two of Milk’s old allies on the Board of Supervisors, Harry Britt and Ruth Carol Silver.
Or if you’re feeling a bit more spirited and mischievous, Critical Mass starts just after 6 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, at the base of Market Street. Nothing says “thank you for shopping in San Francisco” like being blocked by bicyclists on the drive back to the ‘burbs.
