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.