My Occu-Time in Washington

As I stepped off the train, I knew I had no time to waste. I was in Washington DC, and I had to find McPherson Square. My bag was heavy, filled with all the necessities of my trip. I had with me my clothes, my tent, my blankets, and all the other things that I would need for my nights out in the elements. I hailed the first taxi that I saw and asked him to take me to McPherson Square. He obliged.

We arrived at the square around four o'clock and I knew that I had to get my tent set up quickly before it got dark. The park was full and I didn't know where to set up. A gentleman came up to me in an old sweater and he had a beard. His name was Bill. Bill directed me to a spot in the square that was not being used and told me that I could set up there. I told Bill that I had no idea how to set up the tent and he did it for me. Acts of kindness like this happened the entire time that I was there in Washington DC for the protest of Occupy Congress.

After my tent was set up, I decided to go get something eat and went to a local pizzeria that was down the street. After I was done, it was dark out and I decided to go back to the tent, my new home. I climbed inside my tent around 8:30 PM, and I heard the first trickling of rain on the top of my tent. I felt so relieved to be inside, safe and secure. I picked up the John Grisham novel that I got from the people's library, and started to read. After a while, I reached my arm out to stretch and felt the puddle of rain that had collected inside the tent. I let out a sigh, but it didn't seem to be too bad and the rain had seemed to end.

What I didn't realize was that the tarp that my tent was sitting on was bigger than the tent. The rain that was falling down the tent ended up going onto the tarp and then collected under the tent, which then seeped into the tent itself. When I fell asleep, I did not realize that the rain started again in the water began to come into the tent again and started to soak into my sleeping bag. I woke up and my feet were damp and I had to change my socks. I noticed that the water was starting to come in, but I could do nothing about it. I put on a pair of shoes, and went back to sleep. I only slept for a couple more hours when I woke up and my pants were wet, the sleeping bag was wet, and my feet were cold again and wet. I was shivering and cold, but I knew that this is what I wanted to do. This is where I wanted to be. Hundreds of other people were in the same square as I was, and I wanted to see it through.

I woke up around 5 AM and waited for Starbucks to open. When they did, I got myself a coffee and a banana and waited to meet up with everybody at Union Station at 8 AM. It felt good to be inside. I met up with a fellow protester in Starbucks, and we talked about where we came from. He was happy to hear that I was from Florida and I was happy to hear that he was from California. I heard stories all day of people coming from all across the country to be in this spot for this protest at this time.

When I arrived at Union Station, the rain started again. I met up with other people from The 99% Declaration, and we drank coffee and discussed what we were going to be doing during the course of the day. We left the train station at about 8:30 AM, and made her way to the Capitol building by foot. We arrived there at nine o'clock, and there is only a couple of people there. I felt like the wind got knocked out of me. I started to think that it was a waste of the trip because nobody was there. Slowly but surely though, people started to come. After about a half-hour, the Occupiers from the two different camps across the city could be seen coming up the street with a police escort to where the protest was being held.

Throughout the day the crowd swelled, and for the most part it was pretty peaceful. A few people got arrested, but it was only a handful. I was in charge of tweeting for The 99% Declaration about what happened during the course of the day. I took pictures of what was going on, which included people conversing with the police, people chanting, and all the ideas that were being spread around. After a few hours of this, the group that I was with decided to go get something to eat.

We ate at Hamilton's Bar and Grill. I got one of the best bowls of chili I've ever had. It was so warm and so good that I ate it in about 23 seconds. After recharging my stomach and my phone, we went back to the protesting area. It was time for the march. By now there were thousands of people there. At 6:30 PM, the entire group headed to the streets.

The police escorted us through the streets. All the traffic was stopped. People in buses and cars waved to us and honk their horns as we walked by. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I was among thousands of people walking in the streets of Washington DC with hundreds of police around me, and it felt right. We reached the steps of the Supreme Court, and hundreds of people filled the stairs. We started to chant. We started to clap. We started to cheer. We were there to tell the Supreme Court that they work for the people. After a few minutes and a lot of pictures, we descended back down the stairs, and toward the White House.

After a lengthy walk, we reached the White House. I never realized it before because I had never seen it, that the White House has floodlights that can point out towards Pennsylvania Avenue. Secret Service had turned them on and pointed them at the protest. At the same time, you could see soldiers on the White House lawn with machine guns pointed out at the crowd. On both sides of the protest, in the streets, you could see police getting suited up in riot gear and loading teargas canisters into their guns. It was getting pretty serious, so the protesters decided to move on and go back to the capital lawn.

That night, I was actually able to stay in a friend's hotel room. I had never slept on a more comfortable floor in my entire life! I woke up the next day, said goodbye to some really good friends that I met, got on the train, and headed back home.

This trip validated everything that I have been doing so far as far as my involvement with the 99% movement. The unity that I felt was something that I had never felt before. Everyone was friendly. Everyone was there for the common good. Everyone was there for justice. The corruption in this country has got to end and we will not go away.

It was a shame to see how wrong the media got it, but that's to be expected. They claim that there were hundreds there, but a police officer told me that there were between 5000 and 6000. The media claimed that somebody threw a smoke bomb on the White House lawn. They were wrong. It was a police officer. They claim that we have no direct message. They claim that we argue with each other about why we're there. They were wrong. Everybody that I talked to knew exactly why we were there. We were there to show the world that we know there are corrupt people in Washington. We were there to say that we are not going to take it anymore. We are on to them. The people in Washington do not represent us. The people in Washington represent themselves and the corporations that buy them. That is unacceptable. We will not rest until the corruption and greed are thrown out of Washington by any means necessary. This is the main goal of the 99% movement. To get the money out of politics.

It is no surprise to me that the mainstream media has a blackout on the entire situation. It is no surprise to me that the mainstream media chooses to downplay what actually occurs. It is no surprise to me that the mainstream media labels the people involved in this movement as being dirty, lazy hippies. It is no surprise to me that the mainstream media focuses on the arrests. The mainstream media is owned by the exact same corporations that we are fighting to get out of politics. They have no interest in our movement because our movement is designed to dissolve them as far as their interests in politics are concerned. They are not welcome in Washington.

So on a cold, rainy day in Washington, I joined with thousands of other people from all across the country to tell Congress, to tell corporations, to tell the president that we are unstoppable. Another world is possible.

Spring is around the corner. We are not going away.

happy new year's resolution

hello, family and friends.  happy new year!  i hope that the year is already off to a great start for you and your loved ones.  i am down here in florida still working away at life and...well, work.  recently, i have been asked what my resolution is for the new year and i have been saying that i didn't have a resolution because it sets myself up for failure when i inevitably would break that resolution.  this is not entirely true.  i have a resolution.


i am going to be pretty blunt in this post.  if i offend any of you, i apologize in advance, but the time has come for the country to act against the actions that have taken place against us.  this country is no longer a country by the people and for the people.  it is a country that is by the corporations and for the corporations.  it is run by the heads of a few multi-billion dollar corporations by using politicians as cronies to do their biddings and i for one am sick of it.  the corruption in this country has to stop and you need to realize this.  i beg of you to get off your behinds and act.  the people that run this country continue to wish that you remain apathetic and have an attitude of not caring or believing that you can make a difference in the fight.  they want you to believe that it has to be like this.  they want you to continue taking where the sun doesn't shine because that's just always the way it's been and you should be used to it by now.


go on.  keep living the life you are living.  keep making the same damn paycheck every week.  as you eek your way through the year, cutting back on things that you used to enjoy, remember that it doesn't have to be this way.  think of your children and what their future is going to be like.  it doesn't have to be this way.  by the time they finish college,  if they even go to college, they will have amassed a student loan debt of close to a quarter of a million dollars...or you will have.  it doesn't have to be this way.  if you do get a bump in pay this year, it will be miniscule most likely.  good for you.  those at the top will have made this money right back from you with rising costs of goods, inflation, and rising gas prices.


why do you accept that things cost more and more everyday?  why do you accept that the very people that are raping us financially have had no accountability and are still getting million dollar bonus checks every year from your tax dollars.  why are you not mad as hell at all of the injustice that is going on?  i do not understand why i go on facebook everyday and never see anything from people about what is going on in the world, or opinions on the matters.  for the most part, i see people talking about football, or where they are going, or bitching about child support, or how they are going shopping during black friday.  god, are we that focused on the unimportant daily nonsense that we cannot seem to focus on the fact that your life is controlled by the few at the top in everything you do and that all you do is continue to focus on other things?  are you that ignorant?  by now, i know that you know about the occupy movement.  i also know that a lot of you get your news from the mainstream media.  if you choose to know about this and still choose to ignore what is going on in the world, that is ignorance and choosing the side of the corrupt.


maybe though, you just don't want to stir the pot.  maybe you like where you are in life.  maybe you don't want to do anything on facebook that would cause family or friends to think of you differently.  maybe you don't want to have a voice.  just keep on trudging along through life making the same pay, putting money into a 401k that will be gambled away by the banks, and try and save to send your kids to school.  maybe you don't think that you can make a difference.  maybe you don't want to do anything that would effect your family.


the one thing we can all do in this world is bring justice to those that are doing wrong to our family and fellow man.  just because those that are rich and powerful does not mean that they are allowed to do this, or that they are untouchable.  they deserve to be treated like you or i.  they are not out of reach.  they are out of touch with the morality of mankind and they need to be held accountable.  they need to be taken out of office.  the corporate financial heads that ruined this country need to be put in jail for ruining the lives of millions by destroying the housing market, destroying retirement funds, destroying the value of our dollar, infesting the government with their bribes of campaign money, and the smiles on their faces in the public eye while they do it behind closed doors with handshakes and a toast to greed.


it is time to make a stand.  it is time to say enough is enough.  we are the people!  this is our country for all to prosper.  it is not to just get by.  we are supposed to be able to live the dreams we have.


those in power need to be removed.  they need to be replaced with non-career politicians that have term limits.  corporations should not be viewed as people and they should not be allowed to contribute campaign money unless all campaign money goes into a pool that is distributed evenly among all candidates.  people are in power not for you.  they are in power for themselves and their friends.  they are in power to have power and to keep power.  that is a far cry from their jobs.  their jobs are to ensure that your life is better.  that your jobs are fruitful and meaningful.  their jobs are to protect the constitution of the united states of america and not to tear it apart without your consent.


what can you do?  speak up!  demand to be heard!  protest!  if you have no time or are not ready to do that then donate money to organizations like occupy wall street, or to the99declaration.org.  being quiet will not change anything.  ignorance will only make it worse.  the time to be heard is now!  be anonymous or be out in the open about it.  just please don't do anything.  that is the worst thing you can do.  educate yourself.


this is not about asking for handouts from those that have succeeded.  this is about those that have succeeded by being unjust.  it is about holding those accountable by any means necessary.  it is about doing what i am asked to do as a human being.  do unto others as i would have done unto me.


this year, i am going to do my best to make this country great again and give the power back to the people.  don't be apathetic anymore.  please.  if you need proof learn about the ndaa act, sopa, glass steagall, the federal reserve, citizens united, credit default swaps, derivatives, the war on terror, halliburton, goldman sachs' involvement in our government, etc, etc, etc.


it is no longer time to just go to work and live life like there is nothing wrong.  there is so much wrong and you should be angry as hell.  the hypocrisy in this union is incredible.  the time for revolution is here.  from the inside out.  get off your ass and do something for yourself and those you love before it is too late.