by Beezy
Reflections on the Occupy Bushwick/Williamsburg May Day Morning Commute
12:09 pm in Uncategorized by Beezy
Originally posted at BushwickDaily.com
At 7:45 am I loaded up my cart with 200 copies of the first issue of the Brooklyn Occupant, 20 umbrellas, a dozen foam core signs with prints from OccuPrint.org, and headed out to Occupy Bushwick’s May Day Morning Commute. As I looked at the pile of supplies I gathered, I had a twinge of doubt as to whether there would be enough people at Maria Hernandez to distribute them to. The facebook event had climbed from 162 to 188 confirmed attendees during the night, but being a musician who uses facebook to invite people to gigs, I’d become understandably cynical as to the accuracy of RSVP counts in the digital world.
As I walked up the southwest pathway of the park towards the center circle, I could only see about a dozen people standing around in umbrellas and panchos and my heart started to sink a little bit. I knew that the numbers would climb a bit before we commenced our march, but the image in my head of only 15 people chanting and holding banners wasn’t going to be very inspiring or impressive. I shook off these pessimistic thoughts as I walked up to the circle and gave a big holler and shouted “Happy May Day!” I figured if we’re going to be small, might as well be spirited.
Naturally, there was a disproportionate police presence standing around, but that’s pretty much the status quo for all Occupy events. Moments after I started pulling out supplies from my cart, a community relations officer walked up beside me and asked “Who’s in charge here?”, which prompts me to laugh a little bit before I say “Everyone, but I can talk to you about the event if you have any questions.” The officer was very polite with me and after I told her what our route for the march was, she said “I know why you’re marching and I just wanna make sure you guys are safe,” and gave me a look that undeniably signaled her suppressed support for the cause.
