The March To Capitol: My Perspective

I went to Gally this morning around 8 where I met Ryan. He got a volunteer, a talented art major, to decorate two banners for my car in which I’d be riding instead of marching.  Mindful of others who, like me, may be too sick or tired to walk,  I’d opened my car for anyone to ride in. Two ladies grabbed the opportunity. 

It was arranged that the car would be in the middle of the march, so I can interview the marchers while en route to the Capitol. But, as I crossed the intersection of FL Ave and 8th St, a  D.C. cop told me to get out of the march for safety and go at the rear of the march. With deep disappointment I waited  as my husband swerved the car out of the marchers’ path, the car idling while I watched the march proceed in front of me. I took pictures, cheered the protesters and chatted with a DC cop who knew sign language, and she was very friendly. We hugged each other.

The march was very inspiring. You see, I was a participant in the Deaf President Now protest 1988. So it was deja vu in 2006.  We rejoined the march at the rear with several other cars and a few police escorts behind us, with my husband driving and I waving the US flag given to me by a fellow protester. Some onlookers just watched in befuddlement, but others cheered and waved back.  On a few rowhouses on 8th St, were large banners in support of Unity of Gallaudet.

In front of me, the march extended more than few blocks. In fact, I couldn’t see the front of the march from where I was at the end. The march lasted perhaps thirty minutes, if not more.

My husband commented that this was the first time he was in a march, and it was unusual to drive in the middle of the street, going through stoplights. We followed a Jeep carrying a big banner showing  a more-than-life-sized image of a scowling Fernandes, wearing a crown on which were the words “Only Me!”

  # 30 is a picture of my car – March to the Capitol (Saturday).  kudos to the hardworking photographer covering this protest