On November 6th, on the way to the protest to surround the White House against the proposed XL pipeline horror, I was delighted to find Washington’s own Occupy encampment.
Not far from the White House is McPherson Square, with a statue of Major General James B. McPherson, astride his horse, looking down upon orderly rows of tents, filling out the edges of a very large park along 15th St NW. To my eye, it was even larger than the Zuccotti encampment, and on that day at least, the picture of comity, cooperation and peaceful protest.
Many features of the park were lifted from the Occupy Wall Street tradition, including the library.
A beautiful ’60’s-’70’s touch to me was the inclusion of the frisbee-catching dog.
This Margaret Mead quote was everywhere. She’d be proud.
On that morning, it seemed that I was up before a lot of the protesters.
…and the ever-present pizza.
Sign production is vigorous, and they are easily seen, spread out on the lawn.
It was fueled by the young, but every age group was represented.
The Chess Tent
Someone’s tribute to Scott Olsen, the Marine protester wounded in Oakland.
Finally, at Lafayette Park, the anti-XL Keystone Rally was beginning, pretty much as it ended with the holding of hands. The goal was to mass enough protesters to completely encircle the White House and communicate to Obama that it was up to him to stop this toxic pipeline proposal.
All participants got to wear this cool orange vest!
Within 48 hours, Obama deferred the decision, effectively killing the Pipeline (for now). Woo hoo!
