::dc_::

so many know about my trip to washington dc and subsequent demonstration, but i thought i would write a little bit. guantanamo, the prison and torture camp, which was opened five years ago as of january 11 was being protested in many places around the world. in dc there was a large demonstration which was arranged on the 11th and a group of us from the pittsburgh peace community left at 3:30 am to participate. upon arriving we were greeted by a few hundred scattered people milling around the upper senate park. after hearing an annoucement a few minutes after arriving we moved forward to pick up our outfits.

interruption: a little background on the demonstration. in 2004 the us supreme court ruled that the prisoners were entitled to habeas corpus and the federal courts were there to hear the cases of the illegally detained prisoners. the courts however have never stood by this ruling. so in this demonstration 300 odd people were dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods to be in solidarity with the 300 odd prisoners in guantanamo. this large group stood in formation in front of the supreme court and then marched in prison line to the federal court building, representing the desired path of the cases which should have occured. then at the federal court building a smaller group, each person representing a real prisoner, would try to gain access to the court building and present their respective case.

continued from first paragraph: after picking up and putting on the outfits the group began moving towards the supreme court. it was an experience especially wearing the black hoods which allowed limiting breathing and vision. even though i am not chlostrophobic it was hard not to feel very helpless and confined as your breath caused the air inside the hood to be very hot and moist. it is amazing what we as humans can do to other humans. the rest of the demonstration seemed to make an impact on those who saw it. and although the group didn't gain access to the courthouse it seemed that the demonstration achieved its goal. i myself was extremely interested to observe how people interacted in the environment and how groups such as the police interacted. everyone was trying to do what they felt was correct and necessary. i tried to document this scene and the entire demonstration in picture form. if you click on the image you will be taken to a gallery.