This goes to show that people are really starting to get it regarding the 99 percent!
October 21, 2011, 12:02 AM
So after work today, I spent some time with the “Occupy DC” group doing an anti-Walmart demonstration at Union Station. Basically, this was a demonstration held on the occasion of a $1,000 per plate fundraising dinner attended by a number of big names as far as the rich-bastard types go. Here’s what the description that I got said about it:
Rob Walton, son of Sam and chairman of the board of Walmart Stores, is going to be speaking in DC at a $1000/plate fundraising dinner tonight (Oct. 20) for Conservation International, an organization that helps big corporations greenwash their image. Respect DC is teaming up with Occupy DC to plan an action outside of this dinner to get out an anti Walmart message out to attendees, including Mr. Walton. Apparently Northrop Grumman and Harrison Ford (who is on CI’s board) will be there too.
First of all, I find it wonderful to finally publicly demonstrate against my former employer in a public setting. There are many, many, many reasons that Walmart is the scum of the earth, but considering how they chewed me up and spit me out, I have extra incentive to sock it to them.
So at 6:30, people started gathering at Union Station. This was staged a bit like a flash mob. People showed up, and blended in. Then someone blew a horn, and the demonstration began. The demonstration was very much anti-Walmart and full of energy.
And then this is what it looked like:
Banner! Note that this is banner is being held from the Center Cafe Restaurant‘s structure. The operators of the restaurant were really great during this demonstration, as they let us hold things from the restaurant, take photos and such from the upper level, and all in all use it to our advantage. I made sure to thank the staff for being so awesome to us. Must remember to patronize this restaurant some time.
For those people who actually had the nerve to show up to the event, they did their best to sign in. They got a nice round of “SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!” as they went in.
The demonstration as seen from the center cafe. Not bad as far as numbers go, I’d say.
Look who showed up to join us! It’s Ginny, a former coworker of mine, and her boyfriend Kyle. It was great to see them again.
And then I got video as well. Take a look at the demonstration in progress…
“Walmart, Walmart, what do you say? How many wages have you cut today?”
“How do you fix the deficit? End the war and tax the rich!”
“Hey, Walmart, you can’t hide! We can see your greedy side!”
The view from above.
And then around 7:30, the demonstration headed out on its own terms (we were never asked to leave) to return to McPherson Square, where the ongoing Occupy DC demonstration is still underway.
All in all, not a bad demonstration! We got our message out, and the police officers, security guards, and restaurant employees helped us do it!
The amount of access that we were granted for this really did amaze me. Not even a year ago, if a group was holding a demonstration, they would be relegated to the outside of the building, possibly some distance away. Being inside the building would have been verboten. Once the Union Station management realized that this flash mob was actually a political demonstration, they still allowed us to remain inside, with the police officers and private security guards only working to maintain a reasonable separation within the same room between the demonstration and the event. The fact that we were allowed to remain in the station spoke volumes about our movement, however. It showed that the security guards and police officers and such were getting it! They realized that they are also part of the remaining 99% of us, that we were on their side, and as a result gave us better access for our message to be heard by its target. And that is awesome.
After all, as progressive talk show host Randi Rhodes has said numerous times, “If you work for a paycheck, you are on my side.” And it’s great to see us tell the “owners” of this country where they can stick it, too. Particularly Walmart, which really doesn’t care about its employees or its customers (except for their credit cards), and will run roughshod over anyone and anything that will prevent it from making obscene amounts of money on the backs of anyone it can underpay.
Web site: Another video of the anti-Walmart demonstration at Union Station, by Respect DC.
Song: Respect DC demonstration at a suburban Walmart store. Realize that as far as I'm concerned, even one Walmart store in the District of Columbia is too many...
Quote: So all in all, not a bad evening. I can't wait to see what else Occupy DC has up its sleeve!