Occupy DC: Visitors in the Square

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Now in its eighteenth day, Occupy D.C. is holding its ground and becoming a stop for national activists. The McPherson Square encampment now features over 60 tents, a kitchen, a tech tent, and two donated generators – though more would be useful. The scene is eclectic. A mix of hippies, old-school activists, down-and-out laborers, unemployed youth, and alienated twenty-somethings fill the tents, and during the day approximately 100 protesters mill about as reporters weave through the crowd. At night the group swells to over 500 people. Some are there for the food, some for the general assemblies (every night at 6p), some to socialize with like-minded folks, and some for the speakers. This week alone the occupation has hosted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of the young leaders of the Egyptian Revolution, Ahmer Maher, and Harvard ethics professor Lawrence Lessig. Speaking under an elm tree at McPherson, surrounded by 150 activists and bystanders, Lessig spoke out loudly, succinctly and hopefully to the occupiers. “What is inspiring is [the movement’s] potential to talk about and to teach the world to rally around an idea that we recognize and believe fundamentally: that the government is corrupt,” he said. Not (former Illinois Governor) Rod Blagovich corrupt, he clarified, but corrupt in the sense that they are beholden to those who fund their campaigns¬, the 0.05 percent of the American population. Lessig urged protesters to unite with the Tea Party, which shares the same fundamental critique of American government’s failure to be accountable to the people. “A common identification of corruption is the potential to change the nation,” said Lessig, “However fun the carnival, however tempting the drama… step back from that and think two steps ahead and build the movement.”
- report and photo by AJ Metcalf