Occupy Wall Street Wins A Big Round

Friday, October 14 at 5:50AM, Broadway and Park Place. The streets are quiet, damp and dark. Workers in a deli are setting up for the day. Light from the windows glitters on the street. A few short blocks away people have been working cleaning Zuccotti Park.(Click on photos for larger images.)

And on Broadway walking south past Barclay Street, past Vesey, past Fulton to Liberty are groups of young people – some carrying brooms. On each block approaching Zuccotti Park there are more young people – and brooms.

It’s going to be okay.

By 6:05 the crowd in Zuccotti Park is so dense it’s hard to see, hard to move. Where are the other grannies? With cell phone help I find Ann, Jenny and Joan P with Laurie. They have been in the park since midnight and are looking surprisingly good.

We hear the news. Occupy Wall Street has triumphed and will stay in Zuccotti Park for now.

The celebration begins. There is some speechifying and music but people are restless and want action. Two or three spontaneous marches begin.

The march I am on is small, noisy and lacks the considerate mindfulness of so many other Occupy Wall Street marches. The vibe is raucous. A handful of Wall Street Occupiers work to direct the march and manage the tone. They are smart, they are thoughtful, they must be exhausted, they are beautiful.

It’s going to be okay.

– Eva-Lee Baird
for the Granny Peace Brigade