Dispatches From Saturday's 'We Will Not Go Back' March in NYC

Under a cloudy sky on an unusually cool August day, they gathered: thousands of people of all races and ages. Babies in strollers, old women with walkers. Teenagers carrying sign with slogans saying,“Am I Next?” and “Jobs Not Repression.” Middle-aged folks from around the city, marching with their church groups and unions. A percussion band beating out a rhythm for the too-familiar chant" “No justice, no peace.”

This was the scene in Staten Island on Saturday at the “We Will Not Go Back” march. It was a model of peaceful protest in response to an ugly event: the death of Eric Garner, a man who died after being put in an apparent chokehold by a New York police officer who attempted to arrest him for the minor offense of allegedly selling loose cigarettes on a street corner. Garner, who was black, was unarmed. The Staten Island district attorney is taking the case to a grand jury.