Occupy Wall Street Celebrates Halloween—By Occupying a Parade
Hundreds of protesters from Occupy Wall Street joined New York City’s enormous Village Halloween parade Monday night in a demonstration called “Occupy Halloween.”
It was a spectacular scene, with occupiers marching in the parade to promote their message on everything from small-scale signs to massive puppets.
The giant puppets—which about 2,000 volunteers spent the week working on with Redwing Blackbird Theater—included depictions of the 99 percent and the one percent, a giant bull, the Statue of Liberty, and a Chinese dragon-style Brooklyn Bridge.
Slender, single-word vertical banners communicated key values of the movement: Transparency. Horizontalism. Emancipation. Autonomy. Inclusiveness.
Protesters dressed as police staged playful mock-riots at the front of the group. Other costumes included corporate zombies, an “occu-pie,” and the Working Class Superheroes (remember them from the American Dream Conference?).
And maybe it was the warmer weather in New York City that caused the joyful festival atmosphere to spread back to the camp at Zuccotti Park, where people socialized breezily and the acoustic guitarists came out in droves. After a stressful weekend full of security blowups and some cases of hypothermia, Occupy Wall Street was ready to relax and celebrate.
Check out some photos snapped by Campus Progress staff writer Emily Crockett during the parade:
Emily Crockett is a staff writer with Campus Progress. Follow her on Twitter @emilycrockett.
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