The march ended up at a parking lot on Figueroa and Tenth Street, just north of the Staples Center. Some estimates put the crowd at 9,000. Inside, few people dined. The occasional freedom fighter came in asking for water. The staff happily served free glasses of ice water to them.
Charity begins at home and in privately owned diners.
Leaving the Pantry at the same time was cabinet secretary Henry Cisneros. We both stopped on the corner to take in the sight of the marchers, the chanters, the large art brut puppets, the line of police in riot gear. Cisneros seemed to be smiling in a perplexed manner. The rage was against the machine that he was a part of. He seemed to be straining to find a connection with what appeared to be traces of his roots.