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Friday, 29 January 2010 06:57 |
William Thomas first introduced fanny to brick on the White House
sidewalk on June 3, 1981. His sign said, “Wanted: Wisdom and Honesty.”
He’s been there ever since, still squatting, still wanting.
A few months after he began, he was joined by Concepcion Picciotto,
who has remained similarly steadfast.
War is not over, but the peace protesters have won. Sort of.
The oasis of green across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House is theirs.
At some point a protest may become more than what it is about.
It becomes a thing in itself. An institution. A monument.
Take Lafayette out of Lafayette Square—the monumental statuary
likeness of the Frenchman, with Colonial braid, big boots and
a sword—and hardly anyone would notice.
(Hint: He’s not the guy on the charger; that’s Jackson).
But get rid of the shelter made of a battered patio umbrella,
a weathered plastic tarp and those faded anti-nuke signs erected by Thomas and Picciotto?
It wouldn’t be the same park.
Read the article in the Washington Post
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