Friday is going to be a VERY long day…
October 7, 2010, 11:04 PM
Yes, indeed… Friday will be a very long day. I’m working all day, and then demonstrating well into the night. See, this weekend is the semi-annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and as such, demonstrations will be held. I have been really bad about World Bank/IMF demonstrations as of late, having missed demonstrations for both the fall 2009 meetings and the spring 2010 meetings. So I’m itching to go to this one.
The weekend will be full of various events – according to DC Indymedia, there were events on Thursday, and then Friday will have three events. There will be a noontime march that I’m going to miss on account of work, and then a block party in Washington Circle starting at 5:30 that I’m also going to miss (too far plus office social event right around that time). Then at 10:30 PM at 16th and Harvard Streets NW (seriously – that far north), there will be an “Anticapitalist Night of Action”. Then Saturday will have what appears to be a family-friendly event at Freedom Plaza from noon to 8 PM, after which time a “roving street party” will take off. Finally, Sunday will have a consulta to discuss future meetings.
I’m currently planning to attend the “Anticapitalist Night of Action” on Friday and the day event on Saturday, plus the street party. The Friday event, though, makes me nervous. I anticipate it will be a black bloc event, and it also concerns me that it’s starting that far north. No idea what its goals are, but I hope it’s not just to wreak havoc in the town. After all, some of us are in the area on a regular basis, and I don’t like having to explain to my mother why my friends broke windows and such. Likewise, a number of my coworkers live in that general area, and I don’t want to have to explain to them why my anarchist friends messed up their neighborhoods. The meeting point is roughly where Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Mount Pleasant come together. This is not an area that is well known for political institutions. Adams Morgan is primarily known as a bar district, Columbia Heights is an area that is quickly gentrifying, and Mount Pleasant is residential.
Considering that the Friday night event makes me slightly nervous, both in what the demonstrators might do and how the police might react (Herold, with his slightly cooler head, is no longer in Special Ops), I am taking all necessary precautions. In my protest bag, I have several bandannas, a hard case for my glasses, the respirator, and clothing that I can ditch should the cops decide to use chemical sprays on us, which I hope against hope that they don’t use (this will be the MPDC, not the Capitol Police, but still, with Herold gone and all). I’m also picking up a pair of safety goggles on my way into work on Friday just in case. I previously carried a pair of swim goggles, but I think I want something a little easier to don.
Then Saturday’s events, I’m not worried about. Should be fun if we survive Friday. Hopefully the event won’t be marred by the night before. I still remember how October Rebellion was marred by a woman’s being struck in the head by a projectile in Georgetown. May we never ever repeat that unfortunate incident.
So needless to say, I know what I’m wearing to work tomorrow. I will be dressing in all-black to work, which is not an unheard of occurrence for me anyway on Fridays at work. Sometimes I wear all-black just to do it – not for a black bloc later in the night. It’s slimming, and I think I look good in it.
And hopefully I’ll get enough material to make a photo set out of this. One Nation was a tremendous disappointment on the photo set front, as the demonstration produced neither the proper kind of photo story for Life and Times, nor even the kind of stuff I do for Photography, which is kind of settling into a format that I like. Of course, the Vietnam Memorial saved the day for that – I got a good take from that, paving the way to eventually retire the subpar The Schumin Web Salutes America photo set.
So there you go. See you on the flip side of this weekend, I suppose. Watch my feed on the Twitter for updates.
Web site: IMF Resistance Network
Song: Carl Levin discusses s---ty deals. I think many of the things that the IMF does could also be categorized as a s---ty deal as well...
Quote: A document explaining why the World Bank and IMF are bad for civilization: Why the International Monetary Fund Sucks: An FAQ
Categories: Black bloc, World Bank