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So, while in Chicago Saturday night, we saw the Occupy Chicago folks. They had a march from the front of the Fed to the horse at Grant Park. They had police escorts down Congress and onto Michigan Avenue. I'm not so good at estimating numbers, but they were the entire street wide and it took about a half an hour for the whole procession to pass us. We took some video and some pictures and hypoallergenic kept saying "This is SO cool. This is SO cool." It definitely appealed to her journalistic/political activist side. They were chanting a few different phrases, primarily "We are the 99%" and then, there was one who was kind of singing "Who wants to see what Democracy looks like?" and the crowd would chant back "THIS is what Democracy looks like". They were all very peaceful, many carrying peace signs and the people at the very end had a HUGE American flag which they were carrying, ensuring it didn't touch the ground. People were passing out fliers for all kinds of different agendas. The marchers were young and old, dressed in suits and dressed in sweats. All ages, genders and socio-economic statuses seemed to be present. A lot of people along the streets were joining them.
Apparently, at 11 pm, Grant Park closes and 200 people were arrested for refusing to leave the park. They had tents set up there, etc. Occupy Detroit has avoided that kind of issue by getting a permit to be where they are and ensuring they went somewhere that they could stay. They have a 60 day permit. There have been no arrests in Detroit so far.
I think, for the most part, a lot of people have felt either apathetic or hopeless about the economy. If nothing else, it's good to see people impassioned about the democratic process. I have to admit, it felt exciting to be right there.
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