An Occupy Thanksgiving
Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
An Occupy Thanksgiving
25 November 11
I arrived at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, just after midnight on Thanksgiving Day, where most were already asleep in their tents. I made my way to the info table where two volunteers were there to welcome me. They showed me to my tent, which was provided by a kind woman named Crystal who was home visiting her family for Thanksgiving.
I decided to head to McPherson Square to check out the Occupy K Street encampment before calling it a night. It was much livelier, the protesters are younger there and they are located near some hip DC nightclubs.
I finally settled into my tent around 3 am and got a few hours sleep. I awoke to a busy park; there was a charity run for hunger relief in the area. The real heroes of the day were busy in the kitchen making breakfast and preparing to cook the Thanksgiving meal for the Freedom Plaza community.
After Feeding Thousands, OWS Sits Down in Liberty Square
25 November 11
Today, Occupations across the U.S. have shown that the 99% Movement can do more than protest—we can also take care of one another. Across the world, people still reeling from homelessness, poverty, foreclosures, and economic inequality have a lot less to be thankful for. But today, we reminded ourselves -- and the world -- that we can still be thankful for our mutual solidarity. From D.C. to Oakland and everywhere in between, Occupiers sat down for communal meals.
In New York, Occupy The Hood dropped off hundreds of meals at shelters across Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. The OWS kitchen cooked enough warm meals for 4000 people and handed them out at Liberty Square. Meals were also delivered to churches that have sheltered displaced residents from Liberty Square and to the Occupations at New School and Rockaway. Following dinner, there was a spontaneous sit-in in solidarity with the many people who lost their place of rest when OWS was raided on November 15th.