Occupy Rose Parade, peaceful march planned

Occupy protestors looked for a venue that would make a splash and bring them attention once again. The 2012 Tournament of Roses parade seemed like the answer.

Occupy Rose Parade organizers have worked for weeks with officials from the Tournament of Roses as well as Pasadena city police to make plans for what they are insisting will be peaceful and G-rated.

A plan was agreed to for Occupy protestors to march after the official parade has come to an end.

There will be a person-powered float and large signs, some of them made from copies of the preamble to the United States Constitution. Occupy Rose Parade participants have prepared for security problems and hope that their 50-person peace keeping team will be sufficient.

Read: Rose Parade on Monday this year, why?

Intent on not causing trouble themselves, the organizers and marchers understand that they might incur the wrath of Rose Parade enthusiasts who could be offended by the group's message.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the person-powered float is in the shape of a very large octopus. Dozens of people were practicing in a local park in an effort to learn how to hold it aloft while marching in step down the parade route.

Activist Mark Lipman of Los Angeles told the Times that the octopus, "...represents Wall Street's stranglehold on political, cultural and social life, with tentacles that reach into your pocket to get your money and a tentacle to get your house."

As for the Occupy Rose Parade signage, well they are using large pieces of plastic pipe to hold aloft blow-ups of the Constitution's preamble, at least one of which will begin with the words, "We the Corporations," rather than "We the People."

Protestors make the point that the Rose Parade is a charade while the Occupy version is real. A local resident along with his children are inveterate parade watchers who come out early in the morning to be among those that line the route.

Along with his children, he was out in force to assist the Occupy organizers with their artwork and logistics operation. "The Rose Parade is a beautiful display, but it's more of a display of corporate power combined with some beauty," said Hector Aristizabal to the Times.

Expected to speak at the rally in support of the Occupy Rose Parade event is regular rabble rouser, movie mogul and author Michael Moore. In addition to Moore, it is reported that protestors can expect to listen to Cindy Sheehan, an antiwar activist who lost her son in the Iraq war.

Until a few weeks ago, the Occupy people and the Pasadena police were bracing for a counter-protest from a Tea Party organization. It was called off by TEAPAC, a local Pasadena based Tea Party group.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone

Source: http://www.huliq.com/10061/occupy-rose-parade-peaceful-march-planned

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