On October 8 I celebrated my increasingly good health by finally making an appearance at the Occupy DC protest at McPherson Square. I started my day by doing my hip exercises then preparing for the trip. I packed my laptop, my smartphone, and my iPod Touch. I also decided to carry a portable folding chair that I purchased for $9.99 at Wal-Mart a few months ago because I wasn't sure if the park was going to be too crowded to find an empty bench.
I drove my car to the Metro station. It felt liberating because it was the first time I had driven anywhere since September 7 (the day before my hip surgery). I felt a little bit tired so I stopped at a 7-11 on the way and purchased a couple of small bottles of 5 Hour Energy. I drank one of the bottles and I felt like a normal person for a change, which helped me to withstand much of the day. (As I typed that last sentence, my mind went to the scene in Alice in Wonderland where Alice came upon a tiny bottle that said "Drink Me" that regulated her size. I guess drinking tiny bottles of liquid could change a person for a while.)
I took the Orange Line Metro to McPherson Square. I ate lunch at Così and during that time I saw a small group of protesters march past the window of the place. At first my heart sank and I thought that it was a puny movement in DC compared to New York. When I arrived at the McPherson Square park itself, I saw many more people doing things like working on signs, getting involved in music jam sessions, talking to each other, and just doing a general laying around in the sun. It was a pretty laid-back place and I really liked it. Things have been full of tension at home due to my surgery so it felt really nice to get away from it all. If it hadn't been for my surgery, I would've felt tempted to spend overnight in the park just to get away from the tension at home.
During my time I basically focused on taking photos and shooting videos. I managed to edit down the huge amount of photos to something manageable but I haven't gotten around to editing the video yet. That'll happen later in the week depending on my schedule and stamina.
Here are the various signs that were displayed throughout McPherson Square. What's really cool is that anyone can pick up a posterboard and markers at any time and make his/her own sign to be displayed. When it was time to hold a march or even to hold signs up to the motorists driving through K Street, people would go to the area where the signs are displayed and pick one up to use. The whole movement had an aura of sharing things like protest signs.
Here's a hilarious parody of those misspelled signs that demonstrators held at various Tea Party rallies in 2009 and 2010.
Here's my own contribution to the sign collection—this one aimed at the notorious Koch Brothers.
I took the next few photos to show how the protesters were willing to share food and other supplies with each other. I also wanted to show the effort the protestors made to keeping McPherson Square as clean as possible (including even recycling areas). I remembered when someone made an announcement asking people to please stop dropping cigarette butts on the ground.
There were various committee meetings and workshops that were held throughout the day.
Many of the protesters brought their children with them to McPherson Square. They were pretty well behaved and they especially loved to run around and make their own signs (even if some of the signs had nothing to do with the demonstration itself).
There were occasional music jam sessions such as this one.
This photo proves that—contrary to what the mainstream media says—not everyone at the Occupy DC protests are unemployed twentysomething hippies.
There was a WikiLeaks truck that hung around McPherson Square.
McPherson Square is in a very prime location for the movement. Not only is it close to K Street, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Mall, and the White House, but it's also located near the office of the American Civil Liberties Union, which comes in handy in case something happens.
I wrote earlier that I saw a small group of protesters march past the Così where I ate my lunch. Well as I was looking on my Twitter feed on my smartphone, I learned that the protesters had attempted to enter the National Air and Space Museum carrying signs. A scuffle ensued and some people got maced by the guards. Another group pictured below decided to march down to the same museum to protest the macing of the earlier demonstrators. I attempted to go with the group even though we were warned that we could possibly get maced and maybe even arrested. But after walking a block, I really couldn't handle it so I walked back to McPherson Square, where I saw a Flash Mob workshop going on. (I shot some video of that Flash Mob workshop that I'll upload later.)
I later learned that Occupy DC didn't have anything to do with the demonstration outside the Air and Space Museum. Apparently it's another group called Stop the Machine that is sympathetic to Occupy DC but their focus is in stopping the war in Afghanistan and Iraq while Occupy DC is more focused on Wall Street and other economic issues. ThisAl Jazeera article had the best details about that protest followed by this blog written by a Washington Post reporter. I also later learned that one of the protesters present at the Air and Space Museum is actually a right-wing agent provocateur who actually shoved one of the guards in an effort to discredit both Occupy DC and Stop the Machine
The second march to the Air and Space Museum was larger than the first march and they made it and back with no incident. Here is what it's like when the demonstrators returned and they were looking for something to eat and/or drink and a place to sit down. Despite the big crowd, everyone was peaceful and considerate of each other.
What's really strange about McPherson Square is that it somehow attracts ducks late in the day even though there is no pond or lake or fountain or other water source anywhere in the park.
Twice a day Organize DC holds a General Assembly where people can express their ideas and vote on what to do next. The General Assembly are very organized and peaceful.
I would love to go down there again but today I'm feeling totally tired from yesterday and I couldn't bring myself to take the Metro to McPherson Square for the second day in a row. I did manage to drive the car to Wegman's where I ate lunch in the Market Cafe. (For the record I ate sushi for lunch.)
I really hope something good comes out of the Occupy movement all over the world. I am really impressed with what I saw yesterday and I'm going to return there depending on my health and my schedule.