a Day in Dc

After sleeping until noon, and reading pointless blogs in bed for an hour (I deserve it), I eventually managed to get out of the house. My plan was to go back to the excellent history museum I wrote about a few days ago.




On the way there I started noticing signs that a demonstration had just finished, which turned out to be the case. I had just missed a huge demonstration against Obama and his health reform, apparently drawing anti-Obama crowds from across America (people seemed to like to wear something stating where they are from - "don't mess with Texas" and the likes). I read when I got back that tens of thousands had participated.


Of course the American flag was everywhere, as usual. These women did not make as extreme use of it as many others, but this was the only photo I had the opportunity to take without appearing creepy.




Some people were very creative with their posters or whatever they are called. Many referred to communism (to the point where Obama's face was inserted on a poster of Mao, etc) and socialism. Tomorrow the pro-Obama side will hold a demonstration as well, which I will try not to miss.



I finally made it to the history museum 50 minutes before closing (I love the fact that almost all museums here are free), and managed to see half an exhibition about Abraham Lincoln. After that I discovered that a huge family festival for African Americans, hosted by the National Council of Negro Women, was going on. The Mall (name of the strech of land from Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, five minutes from here and the location of most DC landmarks and museums) was packed with tents and had two big stages, one with a DJ and one with live performances (among others a woman who had apparently been in Destiny's Child when they formed the group)and speeches. I stood there for a while (not blending in very well, was one of maximum 10 white people) and listened, and the speech from the 97-year old founder of the family reunion day got me tears in my eyes. It was followed by another speech from a charismatic woman I have forgotten the name of, filled with statements such as "Obama cannot save us, we have to save ourselves" and "I don't like to be referred to as a descendant of slaves. We are not the descendants of slaves, we are the descendants of Kings and Queens of Africa!". It was overall a very interesting event to watch. I read somewhere that 55% of Washington DC's population is black. This was the first time that even seemed remotely true, as the inner city tends to appear predominantly white.


After a while I went shopping in H&M instead, and on my way home I ran into yet another demonstration. This time it was carried out by what I believe to be mostly Mexicans, demaning improved rights for immigrants.

Lots of politics in one day.