Recall from the map above that we roughly followed Massachusetts Avenue all the way to Mt. Vernon Place. There, we took the opportunity to buzz the Washington Convention Center, where the Washington Auto Show was going on. I had previously expressed to a few people at Dupont Circle that I'd hope we'd take the opportunity to buzz the auto show. And it made sense to tie it into the protest. After all, the reason we were at this demonstration in the first place was to protest the Iraq War. Many will tell you that the Iraq War is all about oil. Two products that come from oil are gasoline and diesel fuel. And gasoline and diesel fuel power cars. So swinging by the Washington Auto Show was highly appropriate, speaking of wars over oil.
Approaching the Convention Center, we shout, "Bring the war home! Iraq is not alone!"
Our black bloc passes right by the main entrance to the Washington Convention Center, with flags flying and signs raised high.
Following our buzzing of the convention center, our march straightened out for a while, as we hung a right at Mt. Vernon Square (the square itself, not the Metro station), and headed south on 7th Street NW. This took us past Chinatown and the Verizon Center.
As we depart the Convention Center and join 7th Street, we shout "Whose streets? Our streets!" The camera pans occasionally to get a fix on our location. The NPR building is in the background.
It was at this point also that it had finally started to warm up, and I was starting to overheat. Therefore, an outfit change became necessary. So I shed my winter coat. I got someone else to briefly hold the backpack, and I took the coat off and tied it around my waist. With little difficulty, I knotted the sleeves around my waist. Much better. This basically left the hoodie exposed. I also put the hood down on the hoodie to allow more air flow, now that it was warmer. While I was making the coat change, I also changed to a different red bandanna, as the first one had become a bit sweaty.
The march continues, heading south on 7th Street.
We literally stopped traffic in its tracks, as we marched around and between the cars.
This masked woman gives the peace sign while wrapping a rainbow "PACE" (peace in Italian) flag.
Yes, the march down 7th Street took us straight through part of Chinatown, though not down H Street, Chinatown's main street.
This woman's jacket shows a stylized anarchy sign and the message "Class war by all means necessary".
Bystanders observe our march in front of the Starbucks at 7th and E Streets NW. The Starbucks got booed by the march.
"Bush! Pull out! Just like your daddy should have!"
And the march continued down 7th Street, as we marched past Pennsylvania Avenue, past the National Archives, past Constitution Avenue, and onto the National Mall, reaching the mainstream march. Unlike at the Million Worker March, where our group dissolved into the main event upon arrival, we weren't through yet. We kept on going, hanging a left on Independence Avenue SW and heading towards the Capitol itself. We marched along Independence Avenue all the way to 3rd Street SW. There, we made another left turn, which put us slightly east of the stage (i.e. behind the stage) of the mainstream march, roughly centered against the backdrop of the Capitol.
The black bloc crosses the mall, the location of the mainstream march, for the first time.
A pan across the crowd while the march briefly pauses before continuing on.
Having crossed the mall, we are now marching east on Independence Avenue SW.
"No justice, no peace!" changes to "Bring the war home!" Three anarcha-feminist flags are flying, as well as one anarcho-syndicalist flag.
As the Capitol comes into view, a fellow black bloc participant takes video footage of the march.
