#NoBillNoBreak vigil images (and thoughts)
Last edited Thu Jun 23, 2016, 05:07 PM - Edit history (1)
My roommate and I decided at 10:45pm we'd head down to the Capital to take some images (instead of in the daylight hours when it would have been easier). We stayed until 2am. What I can report is that the crowd was about 100-150 strong, Pharrell sent pizza to the crowd and there were some very impassioned speeches from our Representatives. The main message they wanted to get across, IMO, is that this is just the start. I think their main goal is universal background checks. They also want as many supporters as possible to continue to Tweet and make Facebook posts and show up outside the Capital as possible--DC is sitting under a band of rain for the next two days, so I don't see them getting the turnout that they're hoping for but I could be wrong. But the big takeaway is they want people to stay engaged.
As we walked towards the Capital from 2nd St., you could hear the crowd chanting or exclaiming their agreement from roughly 2 blocks away, so though there weren't huge numbers, they were exuberant. There was a fair cross section of people there--young and older, white, black, latino, asian, men and women (though mostly women). There were folks there that lost family members to gun violence and when their Representatives came to speak, after they were done, they found their constituent and gave them a hug.
There were two songs sung by the crowd, started by the Representatives--America (led by Denny Heck) and We Shall Overcome (led by Joe Crowley).
Reps that spoke but I didn't get a picture of are: Anna Eshoo - CA, Scott Peters - CA, Robin Kelly - IL, Joe Crowley - NY, Brendan Boyle - PA, and Peter Welch - VT (I think). When we went inside to sit in the Gallery for a bit, there was still a line of 7-8 Reps waiting to address the crowd outside and I got the impression that they had been speaking with the crowd all night.
Without further ado, here are some slightly blurry (sorry) images of our Democratic Representatives in action (if I got any names wrong, please let me know--I'm using the House of Reps website and some folks look different now than in the images there).
Brenda Lawrence - MI
Ben Ray LeJun - NM
John Garamendi - CA (One of the best speeches I heard)
Paul Tonko - NY
Jamie Raskin - MD (running for a seat)
Daniel Hernandez (administered first aid to Gabby Giffords and her Intern)
Gregory Meeks - NY
Bonnie Watson Coleman - NJ (which she refers to as Blue Jersey)
Dan Kildee - MI
Donna Edwards - MD (ahem... I may have voted for her... ahem)
Betty McCollum - MN
Elizabeth Esty - CT
Nancy Pelosi - CA
Joyce Beatty - OH (at the end of her speech she said something to the effect of "I am Joyce Beatty and I approve of this action!"
I also spent some time in the Gallery (we got there about 1:30 am) and witnessed two votes--when to reconvene and adjournment. When the adjournment issue came up, the Dems started chanting "No Bill, No Break." I felt a bit silly sitting in the gallery "pol" spotting but it was fun. I saw Sheila Jackson-Lee, Maxine Waters, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, John Lewis, Charlie Rangel, Elijah Cummings, Jim McDermott and Grace Napolitano.
All in all an interesting and exhilarating way to spend 3 hours.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Would love to be there in person. Hope people keep coming. 
great photos
