It was too cold to take off my mittens and check Google Maps so I put my faith in the trickle of bundled-up people ahead of me. All of them were carrying signs and wearing whistles around their necks on top of layers and layers of winter clothing. At first there were dozens of us walking toward Government Plaza, across the street from Minneapolis City Hall, and within a block it was hundreds. By the time I arrived it was thousands. Some reports said five to ten thousand, but on the ground, it felt like a single vibrating mass that was too large to count.
I made my way through the throng, repeating “excuse me” and “pardon me” despite the di …