On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
In tonight’s On The Road, Redshift pays respects to our beloved John Lewis.
When I got to the story about how Redhift was told by the cops that they weren’t supposed to be inside the street-side barriers, I thought of Pete Seeger singing at Obama’s celebration, and these words:
As I went walking I saw a sign there, and on the sign it said “No Trespassing”, but on the other side it didn’t say nothing, that side was made for you and me. ~WaterGirl
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody GuthrieThis land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters;
This land was made for you and me.As I was walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway;
I saw below me that golden valley;
This land was made for you and me.I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding;
This land was made for you and me.When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Redshift
I went downtown yesterday (7/27) to see the funeral procession for the great John Lewis and pay my respects. The mayor had encouraged people to pay their respects virtually, because of the pandemic and because it was dangerously hot, so there were not a lot of people on the streets, but I was glad I could be there. I only took one good photo of the procession, because I didn’t want to be fiddling with my camera, and afterward I walked up to Black Lives Matter Plaza, which I hadn’t visited when the crowds were there. One gentleman on my corner said that the protests have mostly died down in DC, though there had recently been a resurgence to demand justice for Breona Taylor. Quoting him, “Even the anarchists are gone! There used to be a couple hundred of them getting into it with the police after dark, now there are maybe ten or twenty.”
The funeral procession of John Lewis passing in front of the Museum of African American History and Culture, of which he was a major supporter, and the Washington Monument.
As I walked up 15th Street toward Black Lives Matter Plaza. I crossed Pennsylvania Avenue. This is the block in front of the White House, which was closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian walkway a few years back for people to visit the White House (and for additional security.) Now it is part of Trump’s coward’s fortress, which a guard box and “authorized visitors only.”
From the day Trump had his fence put up, it has been a place for displaying messages for the cause. In addition to the great posters and banners, there are a large number of very moving portrayals of Black and Brown men, women and trans people who have been killed by the police.
The view of the White House. The white ribbons on the light poles are in honor of John Lewis; his procession stopped here.
The long view of Black Lives Matter Plaza (and me!)
The “Defund the Police” message, which was added by protesters to the officially-sanctioned Black Lives Matter street painting. Above is the giant banner hanging at AFL-CIO headquarters in support of Black Lives Matter. Many businesses and organizations on the street had window hangings, including the very fancy Hay-Adams Hotel. One notable exception was “The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute,” which is just boarded up (which I have to admit I was rather gleeful about, I’ll share a photo in the comments.)
This is the site of Trump’s infamous photo op. There’s a lovely Black Lives Matter sign in front, which should prevent any recurrence. Though it’s a little hard to see here, the church sign he posed next to now reads “Love Thy Neighbor.” The fencing and concrete barriers (there are more in the street) are apparently to protect it from any further damage, and that corner is the only place there were cops. I didn’t realize that; I got to experience my own little moment of white privilege when I went and took photos through the fence — a cop waited until I was done and then politely informed me that I wasn’t supposed to be inside the street-side barriers.
There are construction walkways near the plaza that have become spaces for even more activist art and voting messages. I thought these images were particularly powerful.
Wag
Thanks for sharing these photos of an historic day. Excellent.
And now Bruce sings This Land.. including WG’s beautiful verse
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1yuc4BI5NWU
Laura Too
Wow, powerful. Thanks!
Miss Bianca
Wow, so cool. Thanks for sharing these images!
WaterGirl
There was so much love at Obama’s inauguration, everyone in the crowd beaming with joy. So much love for John Lewis at the funeral yesterday, and so much joy as they all reminisced about their lives with John Lewis.
WaterGirl
@Wag: Bruce, in his introduction to that song:
Bluegirlfromwyo
Thank you for bearing witness.
rikyrah
Thank you so much?
dexwood
Thank you.
West of the Rockies
@WaterGirl:
Yes, so much love, and so much happiness, optimism, and genuine human community…
Compare and contrast to Trump and Republicans, purveyors of mockery, resentment, and greed.
Kropacetic
Beautiful, thank you for the pictures.
zhena gogolia
Very nice, thank you.
SiubhanDuinne
Thank you, Redshift, for paying tribute to John Lewis in person and for sharing your photos of the day. The images are moving and powerful, as was Congressman Lewis’ life.
Redshift
Thanks everyone. I’m so glad I got to go, and to see BLM Plaza, since I couldn’t go when the protest crowds were there because of health conditions.
As promised, the picture of the boarded-up Reagan Institute.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Geez, all those fortifications around the White House…it’s just sad.
Redshift
The next to last verse of This Land is Your Land is the one that always especially gets me, even more so in these times.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: John Lewis was 74 when we saw him dance to Happy, and Pete Seeger was 89 years old when he sang at Obama’s inauguration.
As we age, and at any age, love and passion and joy sure look different than hate and selfishness, don’t they.
WaterGirl
@Redshift: That one gets me, too.
As I was looking for the Pete Seeger video, I found this one. Every person in the US needs to decide:
Which Side Are You On
They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there.
You’ll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Blair.Or a thug for Donald J. Trump.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
It’s so antithetical to what the White House is supposed to be. I understand the times don’t lend themselves to people just strolling through the front door and wandering around, as was seemingly the case in the early 19th century, but the fortified distancing is downright hostile.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Yes, YES, YES!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: It looks like a tin pot dictator’s house, not the People’s House.
Redshift
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That reminds me, the “new” white wall that there was the uproar about a week or two ago was barely visible, and it’s only over on one side, not around the whole building. It may in fact just be a construction barrier for Melania’s Marie Antoinette Rose Garden Project.
The other noticeable thing was fencing around most of the individual statues inside the fenced-off park. Feh.
Kropacetic
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s almost like they think they’re at war with someone who’s a threat to their physical security. With whom though?
The American people?
ET
Ran across a really good video on Twitter of the hearse turning onto 16th Street. Make sure you turn on the sound.
Benw
Great pics, thanks!
Redshift
@Kropacetic: Here’s what it looked like during the Moscow Annex protests two years ago. Those went on for weeks, no fences. Of course that crowd was mostly white. Racist coward.
Kropacetic
@Redshift: The swarthy hordes are coming.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kropacetic:
That’s the takeaway message.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
It does. I hope Biden will be able to order at least some of those ugly barriers removed.
Wag
@SiubhanDuinne: I think he’ll take them all down
Mary G
Thank you for those. I too wish I could have gone to the protests, but know I can’t. The barricades are ridiculous – what a loser coward he is. Looks like it was a beautiful day.
Redshift
@Wag: Yep, we’ll be partying on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Redshift
@Mary G: It was gorgeous, at least visually. It was a summer scorcher, but it didn’t feel too bad walking around. And even though I walked several miles with my mask on, I didn’t faint from lack of oxygen!
H.E.Wolf
Thank you, @Redshift:
for this beautiful tribute.
And thank you, @WaterGirl:
for the reminder of the love and joy at the core of human rights movements.
One of the books that got me through 2017 was My Soul Is Rested, a collection of first-person reminiscences of the U.S. civil rights movement. Deeply moving, and heartening.
John Lewis will be the spirit moving over the waters of our collective work for justice – this year, and every year.
Albatrossity
Much appreciated. Thank you.
J R in WV
Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
It was a moving experience to say the least.
By the time this was posted, we were doing the bedtime chores, feeding the critters, getting our meds and vitamins out, etc. And last night I didn’t feel like reading in bed, so just seeing this for the first time this morning. Thanks again, everyone!
way2blue
Thank you for commemorating John Lewis with these photos.
Obama was president the first time I visited Washington D.C. I remember walking right up to the back fence of the White House to see Michelle’s garden and bee hives. A bandstand was being built in the ‘backyard’ for a birthday celebration; I think Barack was turning 50.
So sad now to see the White House. Our house. Barricaded. As the current occupant fumes & plots inside. While the rest of us are pushed so far back from the traditional fence that binoculars would be in order.