Sidewalk sign in Marshall Park, Charlotte, NC, Monday, Sept. 1, 2012

After hearing about the protests and subsequent marches planned for the Sunday before the DNC, the first thing photographer Kevin Cook and I did, upon arrival in Charlotte, was check out Occupy Charlotte in Marshall Park. There was a tent city, where many of the Occupiers were residing.

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Tent city in Marshall Park, Charlotte, NC, Monday, Sept. 1, 2012

Many had been bused up from Tampa, protesting the Republican National Convention. I spoke to a man staying in Marshall Park, Billy Lolos. When I asked him where he was from, he said, “Occupy Tuscan.”  When I asked him what he does for a living, he told me he occupied.

“And yes I’m angry and I’m here to protest President Obama lying to me,” Lolos said.

Lolos was equally angry in Tampa. He also spoke at length about the poison of capitalism in the prison and healthcare system, as well as education and war for profit.  He attributed most of the issues to publicly funded elections.

“Capitalism gone wild has created a monster that has devoured our democracy and it’s excrement is polluting every facet of our society,” said Lolos. When I asked for a phone number to conduct accuracy checks, Lolos said he didn’t have a phone.

He did leave me with an interesting quote:

“The mighty oak is merely yesterday’s nut that stood it’s ground.” -Anonymous

Jason Woody, 28, Occupier in Marshall Park, Charlotte, NC, Monday, Sept. 1, 2012

Jason Woody, 28, also came up from Tampa.  He said he has been unemployed, apart from some summer jobs, since 2009.  He has participated in Occupy movements in Atlanta, Tampa, Charlotte, and New York, where he currently squats in an upper west side apartment two blocks from Central Park.

As far as the marching planned for Sunday, Woody said, “I’m ready for anything.”

There was also a peaceful anarchist presence in Marshall Park.

 

Filed under: National Politics