I walked into the demonstration about an hour after it began to photograph and put my make-believe journalist hat on. It was surprising to see how few people (~50-60 people) were protesting, especially given the number of police officers responding via cars, trucks, horses, bikes, motorcycles. Secondly what was immediately startling was the handful of topless ladies and the few dudes walking with pants around their ankles. The entire block was barricaded and I counted at least 30 police cars, but I'd speculate there was at least 60 in order to adequately close all of the streets and alley-ways, but I can't confirm this. The crowd periodically taunted the human fence of police officers and at one point they tried to break past the officers towards the Hilton where the banquet was held. The situation became extremely tense as the mounted police used their horses to move and deter the crowd. It seemed inevitable that somebody would be tased and/or arrested. And then a woman I hadn't previously seen carted--via a dolly-- a full-blown stereo system and amplifier and proceeded to blast KRS-ONE. The mix of naked people and stereo-speakers blaring hip-hop, pointed at the cops-- along with many other observers--I was astonished. "I can't believe they haven't been arrested yet".
I moved next to the light pole across the street and took down some notes. An older woman was standing behind me holding a cardboard sign encouraging the Occupy movement and I couldn't help but wonder how this crowd spoke for her. Why was this woman supporting the protest yet standing so far away? This mosh-pit of young adults-- supposedly fighting for equality and justice--how could a 60-something year old Black woman fit in?
And it leads to a central question the Occupy movement faces in general: as an amorphous, autonomous "collective", how can Occupy be truly inclusive and integrative? After all, this is the crux of Occupy: to give a voice to the voiceless (which happens to be the majority or 99% if you will). Watching the woman on the shoulders of a man, with her boobs jostling as they awkwardly danced to a now Tupac track and another young dude doing a solo and lonesome rave dance over in the corner--I couldn't help but feel like I was at a music festival infused with adolescent angst.
And I wondered how many people, driving by in their cars, had their media-induced suspicions confirmed tonight: that the Occupy movement is just a bunch of pretentious and confused kids.
The Occupy phenomenon is faceless and nameless and that could be its greatest strength or curse. The more Occupy is exclusively co-opted like it was tonight, the easier it will be for the "99%" to dismiss it. If a movement that represents the disenfranchised "majority" can't demonstrate consensus and solidarity then why take it seriously?
The woman standing alone with her cardboard sign was confident that "these people" were from out of town and that they were just being provocative for provocation's sake--in other words they were "just kids being kids", and were likely to catch a cold if they didn't put on something warm to wear.
I asked her if nights like tonight--where downtown DC resembles a Phish concert not a protest--will dissuade people from joining and becoming socially proactive. I couldn't here her answer so I smiled and said "well, that's encouraging". I hope that was an appropriate response.
