This Square is Your Square

The event held at noon on Friday at Pioneer Courthouse Square, was billed as the “This Land is Our Land” rally. It was held in support of Occupy Portland. Music was provided by Pink Martini, a Portland based band. Speeches were provided by a variety of speakers, including congressmen Blumenauer and Defazio. The high point of the rally was when Pink Martini played Woody Guthrie’s great song “This Land is Your Land”, as the crowd sang along. I heard many things expressed that I agree with, and I heard many things expressed where I’m in disagreement. We all know that our country is hurting, and all American’s have to work together to bring about solutions. What I found comforting was, as an American, if I disagree I can organize a group and come to this great Square in the heart of the city, and peacefully present an opposing viewpoint. This Square is our Square!

Occupy Portland and allies

People from the Occupy Portland encampment and a coalition of labor groups met at Director’s Park (one block from the Square), for a rally this evening. After the speeches, the combined group headed to Pioneer Courthouse Square for further protests. Just another great example of people gathering in this amazing Square in the center of our city, to have their voices heard. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more of these gatherings in the near future.

Beaver Road Trip

The Oregon State Beaver’s marching band and cheerleaders stopped for a noon concert at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday. They were headed to Pullman for the football game on Saturday with Washington State. The Square was filled with OSU supporters and the usual lunch crowd. Everyone had a great time. This is the second year they have made this stop while heading for a game in Washington. I think this is a great idea! Where are my Ducks? Can’t they stop by the Square on the way to Washington games? Maybe they don’t ride in busses. Maybe they charter airplanes to take them to Washington and it would be tough to land at the Square. I don’t know the answer, but if they don’t show up on their next trip to Washington, I’m going to become a Beaver fan!

Big bank backlash

Today was International Credit Union Day. I didn’t know that until representatives from several credit unions showed up at Pioneer Courthouse Square. They were there to let passersby know about the benefits of doing business with a local credit union. Credit unions have always been a great alternative to big banks. It seems they are getting a lot of attention lately due to the big bank backlash. One place they have enormous support is at the Occupy Portland camp. Walking around the camp you see signs everywhere denouncing the banking system. I’m including a couple of those signs on this post.

Three flags over the Square

The story on Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday was about two groups of people with one common enemy. China. People whose ancestral home was Vietnam and Tibet gathered together to protest the aggressive action of China toward their countries. The people of Tibet were protesting the complete takeover and occupation of their country by China several decades ago. The Vietnamese were protesting the more recent aggressive action by China involving the invasion of islands off shore from Vietnam. The other story was about three flags. The first was the red and yellow flag that flew over Vietnam prior to the communist takeover in 1975. The second was the flag that flew over the country of Tibet before the invasion and occupation of the Chinese. The third was the flag of the United States, the country were all these people found freedom. I was deeply moved by the fact that people from these two very different countries were banded together in a common cause on a Square in the center of Portland, Oregon.

Occupy Portland

The Occupy Portland rally started at Waterfront Park. After hearing speeches at the park, the group walked to Broadway and proceeded to Pioneer Courthouse Square. I watched the Square fill up in about thirty minutes as the people exited Broadway and spilled onto the Square. As I talked to people and shot photographs, I noticed this group was a mixed bag. I was handed several pieces of literature from totally different organizations. One group wrote on Umbrella Man, and taped a flyer to his back. The people I talked to all had different grievances. What became very clear to me was there is a huge amount of dissatisfaction; with the way things are going. I don’t think this is just going to go away anytime soon. I was really impressed with the calm atmosphere that prevailed. The Portland Police Department and the coordinators of the event did a fantastic job managing the situation. I don’t know if the group succeeded in occupying Portland, but they certainly did occupy Pioneer Courthouse Square.