 |
| People's Corner played host to a crowd of activists on May 1, 2012, or May Day, in support of workers rights worldwide. The Wells Fargo Bank building can be seen in the background |
People's Corner, as it's known by
locals, was established in November of 2011 and since then has been
permanently occupied by a die-hard group of local activists. This
particular stretch of sidewalk has played host to a number of
different forms of civil disobedience during the past six months—most
notably actions taken by the group Occupy Birmingham—but not the chaotic events popularly seen from occupations in Oakland or New York City. Men and women
dressed to professionally impress shuffled on the sidewalks into and
out of the skyscrapers, but on this particular day somehow looked
out of place among supporters of labor rights in casual and
bohemian attire. On all four corners of the busy
downtown intersection stood these protesters with signs, flyers, and generally friendly dispositions to supporters and skeptics alike.
I was snapping pictures of signs which
hung from the campsites when a man in a suit caught my attention.
Held high over his head was a highly visible green sign with a quote
from Abraham Lincoln:
“Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration.”
 |
| An activist holds a sign while pedestrians navigate Birmingham's Financial District |
An older and balding gentleman in a
yellow polo shirt tucked into his freshly pressed slacks stopped for
a moment after crossing the street to read this sign. His facial
expression went from curious to uncomfortable while his eyes visibly
skimmed the human billboard. For a moment he looked at the man in the
suit before turning to me for another slight pause. Suddenly in a
single motion the passerby said “excuse me,” lowered his glance
toward the sidewalk, and hurriedly slid between the billboard and me.
The man in the suit lowered the sign and revealed to me a grin on his
face. He mentioned how often he gets the strangest looks from
pedestrians and associated these silent communications to his apparel
of choice.
I continued to walk through People's
Corner where about two dozen people fed the sound of indeterminable
chatter as they conversed amongst themselves. The now hot spring air
slowly began to fill with a familiar tune and behind me was a small
march of four activists returning to the Corner. As they approached,
the song “This Land Is Your Land” became blatantly clear. I
caught myself unconsciously humming the melody while others in the
crowd began to sing along. Some people in the area not associated
with the group showed slight grins of approval, but most tried to
ignore the spectacle as they anxiously hurried to their destinations.
 |
| A small group of activists sings on their return to People's Corner |
I had started to practice my amateur
journalist skills on an unsuspecting victim when a man, about my age
and using the assistance of a cane, approached me with camera in tow
and asked for a few words. The questions he asked were simple and
pertained to my personal outlook on the larger Occupy movement and
what I hoped to see emerge. My reply was a desire to see citizens
more involved with their local governments and less involved with any
sort of corporate media narrative that forces the American collective
consciousness to focus on petty issues—especially those issues
which make lewd amounts of money for political interests.
It was in the moments shortly after he
thanked me for my time and moved deeper into the crowd when I took a
deep breath and finally became part of the group. A drummer began to
deliver a pulse and I, with direction from the crowd, rhythmically
chanted messages of freedom—as naturally as well-placed change of
key in a song, my thoughts drifted away from reporting an event to
retelling an experience. Was I here to simply report on a convergence
of apparent hippies? Investigate a six-month long encampment in
Birmingham's financial district? Or was I here to find my niche as a
concerned citizen with a desire to record a tiny speck of time in
which I was by choice or by fate involved?
 |
| A May Day 2012 flyer calling for activists to "Occupy the Machine" by staging a general strike from work, school, shopping, and banking |
I was shaken out of this introspective
moment by a recognizable face hidden behind large aviator sunglasses
as he asked if I wanted “to have a General Assembly” in the
coming minutes. His face was familiar with the local Occupy
Birmingham movement and has been at every event I have personally
attended. I instinctively agreed and he pressed on through the crowd
to ask the same question of whomever he met. I posted an update about
the upcoming GA to Twitter and readied my cellphone's camera to
broadcast a live video stream onto the internet.
The Occupy Birmingham General Assembly
was facilitated by the same man in sunglasses and explained the
recent progress made by Occupy Birmingham, which included the
successful prevention of a foreclosure on a family's home within the
city. The GA allowed activists to publicly speak without
interruption, applauded the actions of long-term occupiers, and
called for the formation of specifically directed working groups. This Occupy Birmingham General Assembly held the attention of most everyone on People's Corner but received less participation than seen in the assemblies held last fall in the Southside area.
 |
| One of four campsites at People's Corner in downtown Birmingham. Standing since November 2011, campsites like this once stretched halfway down the block. |
By the end of the day, as the towering
Regions Center cast a shadow across People's Corner, I casually sat
with the remaining activists that drifted in and out of the
encampment and we exchanged ideas, philosophies, and stories. The
topics discussed weren't those normally found in televised coverage
of the larger Occupations across the country. Instead the talks
touched on little-known yet vitally important issues from Birmingham.
Eminent Domain, human rights, and environmental concerns which
pertain specifically to Jefferson County residents remained at the
forefront of this debate. While many of these topics were rather
unimportant to me as I contemplated my hour-long drive back home, I
found myself most intrigued when the activists' talks were directed
toward the Occupy movement as a whole.
The atmosphere was
consistently positive; throughout the day passing foot and vehicle
traffic, private security, and even Birmingham Police and various
city workers showed approval with activists at People's Corner. While
many individuals who gathered at the campsite supported “solidarity,”
others appeared skeptical and at times cynical of Occupy Birmingham and the general Occupy movement.
It was about this time when the day's events
began to come together into a story: this May Day general strike was not a neatly packaged occupation. Activists young and old, black and white, privileged
and forgotten had all left the confines of their homes to congregate
and express a communal frustration with the direction our American society has taken in recent memory. Whether the
frustration was directed towards banking systems, media manipulation,
expression of public dissidence, or any other subject which one might
have a strong opinion, we all had physically gathered in the direct
center of a major metropolitan center to find a common ground.
 |
| Signs with various messages hang from campsites and benches throughout People's Corner |
-MDS
love it!
ReplyDelete