An Occupied Hempfest Christmas

Occupy Seattle met at Gasworks for a pot luck Christmas eve dinner.

There was an overabundance of sweets. If you're diabetic, you might have died. 

There was real food too, ham and turkey and salad and stuffing. Everyone was well fed.

The fire was nice and just the thing we need at all the other Occupy sites in winter. (Good luck with it.)

The only ones who had anything to complain about were the actual occupants of Gasworks, the homeless who were living there under the radar, and who worried that Occupy Seattle would draw attention to them and get them thrown out. They were sitting at their own table saying "Fuck the Occupiers, they're going to ruin this for everybody if they set up camp." Luckily, even though the invitation was made, nobody set up tents, and the actual occupiers of Gasworks were free to remain. This is a problem we have to face. The Occupy movement has got to advocate for the homeless and not fuck things up for them. They are us. 

The next morning, Christmas day, Hempfest had its annual drug war protest at the city jail. It was a trek for everyone else to get downtown. For me, it was just a walk across the street from the Occupy tent at city hall.

It's a strange event, sad but hopeful...

that nobody sees...

the streets are almost vacant...

but we're not doing it for them,

we're doing it for everybody in this horrible building who doesn't belong... 

and we know they can't hear us when we sing them Christmas carols... 

but we do it anyway... 

hoping every prisoner on earth who is a victim of the drug war can somehow feel our presence, that there's someone out here who cares, because what else are we going to do...

let the DEA get away with ruining lives,

destroying families, 

preventing sick people from getting their legitimate medicine,

and refusing to budge on the issue until every corporation currently making a killing on the outlawing of pot gets to wet their beak on the decriminalization?

When it should be free, with no more regulation than tomatoes, as safe as a medicine can be, a sacrament, a blessing, and the greatest and most useful plant on earth.

We wish you a marijuana,

We wish you a marijuana,

We wish you a marijuana,

and a hempy new year.