October 15th, 2011...big day in Orlando--the Occupy Orlando march took place. I don't have a lot to say beyond that it was an amazing thing to behold. What will follow will be a lot of pics. A lot. I got there around 1130, when the big march from the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce to City Hall and back again. I missed the big rally at the ORCC, but I got there just in time to witness people power in action. On a bike. With a satchel and two cameras--one of which I just learned was totally frelled. But the other one worked just fine. Here we go. And yes, lots of pics and videos.
But before we go to that, some local coverage from: Orlando Local 13, WFTV Channel 9 Orlando, Orlando Sentinel, Fox 35 Orlando, and WKMG Channel 6 Orlando.
This is how I roll. Basically the plan was to ride alongside the march and catch as many photos as I could. Inside the bag, a Sony Cybershot 12.1 MP Camera, a bicycle pump, a pack of smokes, a bike lock, and an HTC EVO 4G (in case the Sony camera was frelled, which it was).
Orange Avenue. The vanguard. The march was well organized. There were people directing and they seemed to be in coordination with the police. By the way, the Orlando Police Department deserves mad kudos for running everything smoothly. They acted professionally, and I even heard a few calls from some of the protesters thanking them along the way.
Wider shot of Orange Avenue. Cars were honking as they drove by, which was pretty cool.
A few cyclists joined along the way.
Lady on the motor scooter got in the shot, but she didn't mind. Besides, look at all of those people. Wicked.
An OPD officer halts traffic on Orange Avenue and Livingston St. (I think). They were on point the whole way.
The protesters a bit after they took a good long while giving Bank of America a piece of their mind.
Another group of marchers giving a verbal middle finger to Bank of America. This lasted for a good while.
Onwards towards the core of the city. City Hall's a little ways down the avenue at this point.
Bank of America was not popular today. Wonder why?
Crossing the street in stages.
NYPD--take notes. Lots of 'em.
Another big part of the marchers after giving BoA a piece of their mind.
Young, old, white, black, LGBT, straight, etc...the People represented.
OPD keeping traffic going smoothly.
More traffic coordination to keep crosstown traffic going. And the marchers can rest their legs, but not their lungs. It got loud.
Getting closer to the downtown core. Around...Jefferson St., I think.
Marching across Washington St., with Independent Bar (formerly known as Barbarella) in the background. Welcome to the downtown core.
And the marchers got even louder. It was awesome, especially with the cars honking along the way and the drummers.
Yes, we've got a Wall Street. But ours is a plaza with lots of bars. Much better than its cousin, the hive of scum and villainy in New York City, don't you think?
Tried to get a wider shot here, because dodging pedestrians on the other side of the street was getting a bit perilous while carrying a camera phone.
Just before the corner of Orange Ave and Central Blvd. Another wait, as the OPD let crosstown traffic pass.
If only I could hop on top of one of these cars...but you get the idea. Lots of people. Lots of energy.
Another view of Orange and Central. And in the foreground--your media. We're the media now.
An OPD officer coordinates traffic at Orange and Pine St.
At Orange and Pine...City Hall's not to far to go. This is the part where I hoofed it on the bike to City Hall to get a head start.
The People take City Hall!
This crowd will grow exponentially shortly. There are a lot of people coming. A lot more.
Right in front of City Hall at the moment. And everything was cool.
Multiplication by a lot. And I'll shut up and let the pics do the talking from here on out.
The intersection of South St. and Garland Ave. The Occupy Orlando Movement on their way back to the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The media take up higher ground. I would've, but I wasn't going to lug a bike up there.
The end for yours truly, as my battery was about to go bye bye.
A few videos...camera's really shaky, but those are just my hands, while hanging on to a bike.
Bank of America got no love today. With good reason.
They sort of had the People's Mic going on there, which I thought was cool.
At the tail end of this vid, we get Amtrak'ed, which is better than getting caught by the CSX Freight trains. Anyone who hangs out in downtown Orlando knows what I'm talking about. I'm discussing the train with a nice couple as we waited for it to pass by.
On a bike. This didn't last long.
At the corner of Garland and Washington...and at about the 2:35 mark a few cars made an unwise choice of stopping on Interstate 4 to take a gander. They moved right after this clip ended.
Quite honestly, this is the first time I've seen anything like this in Orlando. And I've been here a while. An excellent display of civics and civility. It was wonderful to be a part of it.