When I arrived at Beaumont Tower in the Heart of Michigan State University a little before 10 a.m. on Saturday, I was pleased to see that I was not the first. The Lansing School Education Association (LSEA), a local affiliate of the Michigan Education Association (MEA), had already set up a hospitality tent.
Jennifer Shaw, the PR rep from LSEA, allowed me space to set up the info sheets I bought with me right next to the water and Payday candy bars they brought to help with the march. It did not take long for the value of the tent to shine, when the weather started to turn against us.
Shortly after I got there, it started to sprinkle, and with the temperature around 40, that rain was pretty cold. After about 45 minutes, more people started to show up, including an East Lansing police officer and an MSU Police sergeant. They both came for the same info - they wanted to know if we were planning on staying on the sidewalks and which direction we were planning to take. They were told we would try to stay on the sidewalks and our direct route out of town. I think they were pleased we were avoiding Grand River. A reporter from I think the Lansing State Journal was there and took a few interviews. By 11 a.m., there were maybe a dozen people huddled in and around the shelter.
Then Kevin and Mark (occupiers who contributed to this direct action) started a dialogue on our status and intentions. One topic brought up was to consider our small size and rainy weather and chose to stay and talk about delaying the march. One lady spoke up and stated she wanted to march. I agreed. Raphael (another occupier) stated he thought the rain would break soon (he was right).
A temperature check (quick vote) was made on whether to march or stay and reorganize. It was pretty clear that most came with the intentions to march. So we lined up, about 20 of us, and after a minute or two we were underway.
We did manage to stay on the sidewalk for a little bit, but then there were things in our way and frankly it just not the same as taking the road. We ended up moving onto the road even before we got onto Michigan Avenue, and we ended up staying on the road.
The East Lansing and MSU police followed us until we got to Lansing, when the Lansing Police Department took over escorting us. The Lansing police used a different approach. Instead of just following us, the LPD had one car in front and behind, while about three other patrol cars would drive ahead and block off intersecting traffic.
During the march we found a lot of support from cars passing by honking and waving. There were only a few naysayers. One or two people shook their head in disapproval, but by all accounts there were far more commuters supporting with honks and hollers.
We also gained a few joiners along the way. A gentleman with a bugle and a mother with her little child joined us on Michigan Ave.
We walked up to the Capital to express our support for the Breast Cancer Awareness group looped back East from the Capital and took Washington Ave south to Kalamazoo to Solidarity Square (Reutter Park) to meet up with Occupy Lansing.
