It was short, but it was a lot of fun…
April 27, 2009, 10:14 PM
So as expected, I went to the mainstream march for the World Bank/IMF protests. It was a lot of fun, though it only lasted for about 90 minutes. Thus this was short as far as protests go. But it was spirited, and went off without a hitch.
The march met up on Sunday at 2:00 PM in Dupont Circle. The crowd was diverse, as the World Bank affects a very diverse swath of humanity. Before the crowd of approximately 150 people stepped off on the march, people gave speeches:
Additionally, there were a number of creative and festive signs:
And next thing you knew, we were off! Our march was pretty easy, if uncreative, marching from Dupont Circle to the World Bank via the most direct route – Connecticut Avenue to 18th Street to Murrow Park. All downhill, I might add, which is always nice on an unseasonably warm day.
Arriving at Murrow Park, across the street from the World Bank, more speeches were given, songs were sung, and of course, the sidewalk facing the World Bank was lined with banners.
The assembled crowd listening to speeches.
A man plays a guitar, and sings through a bullhorn.
And that was basically it. All in all, a great group of dedicated people got a strong message out. There were no scuffles, no arrests, and not even a technical problem with equipment. It went completely without a hitch. Plus I got to see all of my activist buddies, plus several coworkers of mine turned out.
Afterwards, one of my coworkers and I headed towards the Metro and waited around for a bit. She was waiting for a friend to come in from Alexandria, and I enjoyed the opportunity to make small talk outside of work. And then, once my coworker’s friend showed up, I headed back down into the world of Metro once again.
Song: The various chants of the protest...
Quote: Meanwhile, afterwards, I went down to Pentagon City Mall to hit up Mr. Smoothie, which is a little smoothie bar that I like from my DC trip days. Amusing was that while I was there, the fire alarm went off! I'd never heard Edwards Genesis horns go off before, and so that was interesting - enough so that I took a video of it all. No one evacuated, and when the fire alarm was finally silenced, the patrons of the mall applauded! Turns out that the fire alarm was caused by burned food at Harry's Tap Room. Pentagon City, however, seems to defy fire alarms, as the strobes didn't seem quite intense enough, likely because the Genesis horns, installed in late 2003, were mostly one-for-one replacements of older Edwards horns that were original to the mall's construction. Also interestingly enough, in all my years of going to Pentagon City, this is the first time I'd ever heard the fire alarm go off over there...
Categories: Fire alarms, World Bank