Occupy Johnson City

Last Saturday under cool clear October skies over 200 of us took the streets of my town to show our support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and to decry corporate greed and the politicians who are nothing more than corporate stooges. As is often the case in this conservative area of east TN the conservatives hate it when we progressives take to the streets and they call us all sorts of names and make misleading slurs against us. So just who were we at the march?
We were the clever old folks.

The adorable babies and their mothers.

A leprechaun who refused to tell me where his pot of gold was. And no, I did not taste him to see if he was 'magically delicious.'

We were the smart funny people who mixed pop culture with popular outrage.

We were the employed.

The cute gals with enigmatic smiles.

We were the bearded guys with pithy signs.

Teachers and students.

Clever sign makers.

Corporate media toadies who did not like it at all when I loudly reminded anyone within ear shot that the corporate media is part of the problem. And she especially didn't like it when I kept photo bombing her when her camera was rolling.

We were the tired.

The sign coordinated.

The gals with polite signs that enjoined you to engage in the process.

The people who make cleverly worded and symbolized signs.

Mask wearers who sparked one older fellow to remark that wearing masks was illegal. I asked where he heard that 'fact' and he told me he read it in the paper. I then told him that I read in the paper that the 'Occupy' movement protests were a bad thing that was hurting the feelings of big business.

We were the sign accessorizers.

We were also dog lovers, elderly, veterans, female, male, gay, straight, young, old, employed, unemployed, able bodied, disabled, smart, sweet, brash, enthusiastic, laid back, black, white, brown, natives, immigrants, Yankees, southerners, hard working, lazy, loud, quiet, in other words, we were everyman and woman.

The response we got to our march was great, only three people cursed at us, one guy told me to fuck off when he got stuck at a red light when the cops held up traffic for us. Our local police did a spectacular job of assisting us, much to the chagrin of some of the local conservatives who had expected the cops to bust our heads with night sticks and to coat us with pepper spray. Overwhelmingly people who drove past us gave us the thumbs up and honked in support of the cause. All in all it was a great day to use our rights of free speech and assembly. It was great that so many in our area came out to protest corporate greed and the politicians who enable corporate elites.

I am proud of all who came out through out the day and to those who supported us. Now, we just need to keep this ball rolling until we knock down those that would keep us down and hold our movement back.

Onwards! Upwards!