GREY STATE A Photo Zine By Brent Walker
#3 We the People
Š 2013 Brent Walker Creative LLC.
This issue of Grey State documents one night of the Occupy movement in Atlanta, GA. All photos were taken on 11/5/2011.
It was bitterly cold that night, and many of us wrapped up in the grey emergency blankets, reminiscent of carpet padding, that had been donated to us by a local homeless shelter. Someone had removed the flag from the local bank and hung it upside down in protest and it snapped in the sharp wind funneled by the tall buildings in the area into the park. The police were ready for us, standing watch for reentry. We had no doubt they knew we were coming; for the past month any action we took, whether announced or not, was quickly broken up. The rowdy party atmosphere remained, however, as the police moved in in a now predictable pattern of mounted motorcycle cops, followed by what appeared to be heavy infantry, followed by horse-mounted cavalry.
The first group of motorcycle mounted police charged the people on the street in an attempt to clear the way, leading to some scuffles as one police officer was dragged from his motorcycle after striking a protester. Many who had refused to participate in any active resistance in the former raid appeared more resolute to defend the street this time, and this incident almost proved enough to turn the event from a mostly peaceful protest into a full scale riot, but calmer heads prevailed as one well-known civil rights leader began shouting: “Do not react! They want you to react!” Many of the protestors began to sing songs and a ragged rendition of “America the Beautiful” even caught on for a verse or two. Cries of “WHOSE PARK?” “OUR PARK,” rang out frequently as the local police force set about methodically proving the by that time well-worn chant wrong. Slowly, the crowd dissipated, leaving only a few people shivering on the street, attempting to decide where they would sleep that night as large barricades were re-erected about the perimeter of the park; a visible symbol of our inability to take back what was ours. By Tripp Martin