Occupy Congress, January 17, 2012

I know I’m late in writing about this. I had to deal with the continuing aftermath of my husband’s abrupt walkout on our marriage a few weeks ago, continuing physical therapy for my left hip (I had surgery back in September), and visiting my mother in rehab. If all that wasn’t enough, I also lost my cell phone at the Occupy Congress event, which I didn’t realize until after I returned to the Union Station Metro stop. (The only reason why I didn’t turn back towards the U.S. Capitol Building is because it was nighttime and, for whatever reason, there were literally no lights on the outside grounds. It was totally pitch black at the rally, which was why I left in the first place.) A couple of hours after I returned home I called my cell phone and a man answered it. It turned out that he found my phone on the ground. I was overjoyed to learn this. I gave him my address, he sent it via Federal Express, and it arrived back home two days later. That man’s kind action reaffirmed my faith in humanity after what I have gone through recently.

Occupy Congress was an event that was scheduled to coincide with the return of Congress from winter break. This is the same Congress that, accouding to one research poll, has only a 13% approval rating. There was a 14 hour rally which included protesters visiting the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building as well as the nearby Senate and Congress office buildings. There were also outside teach-ins, speeches, and musical performances on the grounds outside the Capitol. This all went on despite a drenching rain storm in the morning, which produced tons of mud.

I didn’t arrive until the late afternoon-early evening. I carried my portable folding chair because of my recent hip surgery and the mud outside. I took a bunch of photos, some of which are below.

On the perimeter surrounding the Capitol grounds, I found a mobile version of The People’s Library that is currently at Occupy DC’s site in McPherson Square.

A reporter interviews the woman responsible for the Mobile People’s Library while a group of tourists stream past them.

Here are a few wide-angled views of the U.S. Capital and the protesters in the late afternoon.

The People’s Think Tank on the Capital grounds drew the largest crowd.

I attended this teach-in on unions and workers’ rights. The teach-in’s location next to the Capitol building made some lovely views.

During that teach-in the facilitators paused for questions and comments from the participants. This one man gave a very long and rambling comment that I had a hard time following. His speech went on for several minutes. One of the facilitators finally told the man that they needed to move on with the teach-in. The man’s friend suddenly went ballistic and began yelling and screaming. I immediately shot some footage with my cell phone. This man was so belligerent that it was obvious that he was itching for a fight. It was a miracle that the facilitators didn’t give in to his bait and restrained from using their fists. The yelling man’s pants dropped at times so everyone saw his boxers. At one point he even took off his shirt even though it was Washington, DC in January. I uploaded the footage on YouTube and it really made some compelling footage.

Fortunately the rest of the rally was far less dramatic and confrontational than that yelling man. Here are a few scenes from the rally.

A Medic table was on hand in case of emergency.

This table made silkscreened t-shirts as a fundraiser for the Occupy movement.

This stage featured a mix of musical acts and speeches by people like this man who wore a prison jumpsuit while speaking about America’s high incarceration rate.

Members of Occupy groups came from all over the country to take part in Occupy Congress. The local Occupy DC group was also well-represented.

The Capitol building and grounds were teeming with police officers. Some of the protesters flashed peace signs at the police while others had their pictures taken with the police in the background.