hooverville

Occupied

I caught the last hour of speechifying before Charlottesville City Council by the Occupiers. Peace, love and social transformation. Justice! Drunks cured by love and community, abandoning the bottle. The group coming together in support of one another. Liminality and communitas having their beautiful, tumultuous day down in Lee Park. Council’s recommendation is to somehow institutionalize, let the people keep caring for each other and free-speaking, but do it elsewhere. The Rutherford Institute is in the mix. Maybe Charlottesville will get its own Speakers Corner?
Obamaville?
The best suggestion was to occupy the Landmark, the skeletonized ghost hotel on the Downtown Mall.

Author: WmX

I stumbled off the track to success in 1968, started chasing shadows that summer. Since then, In addition to farm-laborer and newspaper photographer my occupational incarnations include dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC repairman, auto mechanic, CAT scan technologist, computer worker and politico (whatever it takes to buy a camera.) I am on the road to understanding black and white photography.

5 thoughts on “hooverville”

  1. Very nice pic. Speaks volumes, if you know something about the history of the park and the man on the horse.

    As Daniel Bluestone said at the hearing last night, the park has always been as much about political speech as it has been about recreation. The man on the horse is General Robert E. Lee. The statue was erected to send a message about the nobility of the cause for which the South fought the Civil War — the preservation slavery and white supremacy.

  2. (pasted in below, the Rutherford idea. WX)

    “Dear Mayor Norris,

    Members of the local Occupy Charlottesville movement met with me this afternoon in the hopes of continuing to exercise their First Amendments rights to assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances. While I understand that the Occupiers’ presence in Lee Park has been contentious, I would like to suggest that the City work with the local Occupiers in providing an alternative venue for a free speech forum. Such a forum would be available to various groups and individuals who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights. In my opinion, such a forum could set a standard nationwide for how to handle the present protests and provide a positive model for change. To this end, The Rutherford Institute would be glad to work with the City in establishing the guidelines for such a model for change.

    Sincerely,
    John W. Whitehead
    President

    The Rutherford Institute
    P.O. Box 7482
    Charlottesville, VA 22906
    Ph: (434) 978-3888

  3. How civilized to see some corner of the States working together to recognize the legitimate right, and legitimate grievances. This American, stranded in England, has had to witness on this little screen too many scenes of raw unrepublican, undemocratic power.

Comments are closed.