Lucas Camilo

Yesterday we spent nearly three hours at the “Occupy DC” protest encampment in downtown Washington DC.  When Lucas first visited Occupy DC, which has been stationed at McPherson Square on K St. since early October, it was still relatively small and very unorganized.  In the last few weeks it has grown to the point that 3/4 of the square is filled with tents, including an information headquarters, food tent, and medical station (using a giant yellow tarp that we donated!)  But what is most exciting, at least yesterday, was the generally festive and hopeful mood of the space – even as complicated and challenging discussions around class, race, tactics, etc are taking place all around.

Lucas was little overwhelmed when we first rolled in.  He didn’t cry but instead slipped into his spaced-out-mode, which is sometime how he reacts to new situations with a lot of people.  People who haven’t met him before assume that he’s tired or non-communicative, and we sometimes overcompensate by encouraging him to respond in sign language.  Yesterday, however, we let him absorb the scene in his own way, and were happy to be approached by our friend Catherine and her daughter Ranvita, as well as another mom and daughter who welcomed us to the space and started a conversation about making Occupy DC more kid and family friendly.  Krista had the idea of doing a “Occupy Halloween” gathering next weekend – complete with trick-or-treating at the tents – which got everyone really excited.  So stay tuned for that!

friends with kids at Occupy DC (Lucas is holding down the Caucus in the background)

We briefly checked out a drum circle, but Lucas was ready to lay down in the grass and commence the “Wheels on the Bus” caucus so we found a nice spot in the sun between a couple of ongoing teach-ins.  More friends with kids arrived, including Rami, Crystal, Hallah and Nadeem, as well as Sha and Matt who were taking care of Rosemary.  Lucas was in a much better mood as the gang sang “Wheels on the Bus” repeatedly, and shared page-turning duties on his current favorite book.  Meanwhile, Burke jumped in and out of a dynamic discussion about how the struggle for immigrant rights relates to the Occupy movement (part of a teach-in organized by DC CISPES).  And more and more friends dropped in on the kids caucus, some of whom had never had the pleasure of meeting Lucas.

For us, it was great to be part of political action in a way that felt truly safe and inclusive for Lucas.  We had previously lamented that Lucas’s disability and medically fragile condition make it hard for us to participate in protests as a family (and if you didn’t know, we love a good protest!)  But as it turns out, Occupy DC is the perfect action for us to join… heck, with a gas generator  now up and running we could even bring our own tent down and spend the night, with proper hook-ups for Lucas’s equipment.  Ok, maybe we’ll hold off on that, but we sure are looking forward to “Occupy Halloween.”