My Protest Diary - Part 1
Where to begin?
My buddy Scott, an occasional Kos lurker and informed progressive activist (he attended the anti-war rally in 1991!), met me at my house and we drove a mile or so to catch the Metro at the East Falls Church metro with signs I put together the night before.
The closer we got to Federal Triangle, the more and more we saw protesters with signs and anti-Bush shirts.
As we got closer to the mall around noon, it was pretty clear that this was a big event. There were so many people.
We made our way over to the Ellipse and as we approached, we saw the long chain of images of dead soldiers mentioned in another diary. I had to walk out of my way to get past them, and then I heard a distinctive voice coming over the PA system - Cindy Sheehan is speaking!! "Run Scott, let's go!"
Alas, by the time I weaved through the crowd, Cindy had wrapped up her speech and went behind the stage.
Despite the sea of red berets visible in the above shot, I missed any speeches by ANSWER or other groups with unrelated causes, but did hear a nice acapella version of "Down by the Riverside" sung by a mature black woman whom I couldn't see.
I navigated through the crowd to the side of the "backstage area" and noticed it was roped off. There was a throng of reporters surrounding someone (assumed to be Cindy Sheehan, who couldn't be seen) as if it were a rugby scrum. It must've been suffocating to be inside that 7-deep crush of reporters and cameramen.
I had noticed the Kossacks congregated over by the Info Ctr as they were grouped up for the photo seen in Rena's diary, but after I regrouped with Scott, the Kossacks were gone! AAAH!.
I called Rena on her cellphone and was able to join up with them at the intersection of Constitution and 14th by looking for the orange flag, and where the densest concentration of protesters were queuing up. We were given our orange bandanas, which we quickly put on. I took a number of shots of the Kossack Kontingent and the groups and characters nearby.
It didn't take long to recognize both Jesse Jackson and Cindy Sheehan (also in a lighter Kos orange shirt) as they came into view. People started reacting to the sudden presence of the woman who invigorated the anti-war movement and who brought a human face to the senseless tragedy standing next to a former presidential candidate and a contemporary of Martin Luther King, who marched in the '68 protests! Protesters jockeyed for a good vantage point for some pictures or video of the celebrities.
In my next diary, Part 2, the parade begins and we make our way up to Pennsylvania Avenue and in front of the White House.
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