Occupy Atlanta, day five: Marching to Bank of America Plaza

• Dustin Chambers
• October 11, 2011 - Atlantan DAnthony Hopkins steps aside the large golden doors of the Bank of America building as an employee leaves for the day.

It’s 4:15 p.m. and I’ve already ruined my good pair of shoes. The mud and rain has taken a toll on downtown’s Woodruff Park, but days of constant footprints have turned some parts of the greenspace into a grassy slush.

Regardless, today’s cold and wet conditions didn’t stop Occupy Atlanta protesters from continuing with what’s become business as usual. The tent village of approximately 80 occupants was still bustling with the same low-tech trademarks that have come to define the movement: the “human mic” of repeating sentence fragments, the paint-bucket drumming, and the (admittedly pretty catchy) slogan-chanting. All were present and continued to compete against Woodruff Park’s persistent speakers piping in jazz.

What did unsettle the crowd was last night’s (abruptly ended) show of police pressure, with Boston’s string of arrests significantly ramping up the apprehension factor. (Protesters were expecting another show of police presence later tonight. “If you’re available tonight at 11, be here, as we will have to defend this park again,” “John Brown” said through the human mic. City officials said today that protesters would be allowed to stay — for now — as long as the crowd is peaceful.)

The group’s big activity for today involved a march up Peachtree Street to the local headquarters of a nemesis: Bank of America (Photos from yesterday’s march on Bank of America). Suddenly the group of approximately 80 occupiers mushroomed into a sizable parade of more than 150 people who marched to the beat of paint-bucket drums and chanting such slogans as “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “Corporate rule, we deny, we the people occupy.”