D.C. Trip

For my spring break, my family and I decided to travel to Washington D.C. to see Stephen Colbert's portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, but I also wanted the opportunity to protest the Iraq War in front of Bush's temporary home--the White House. It was a long drive, but we finally made it to D.C. When we first got there, we passed this neighborhood, which, unlike where Bush lives, was not nice looking or safe looking. A relative in the car with us muttered something about it being a bad neighborhood. It infuriated me that Bush didn't do anything to improve neighborhoods like this, and instead was blowing billions on a pointless war. All the more reason to protest in front of his own house. Stephen Colbert's portrait was incredible. There was even an exhibit on hip hop, which I'm currently in to. We saw the Washington memorial, and the Lincoln memorial, which were both amazing as well. Washington D.C. looked and felt beautiful, but it still upset me that not all of Washington was like that, and that those neighborhoods that weren't where all the tourists and famous people were were being ignored by our own President. My brother wanted to leave but I hadn't protested yet. Words were meaningless--I wanted to actually do something. The White House is a beautiful building. It looks like a birthday cake, and flower pedals were scattered across the huge lawn. Snipers were on top of the building, and they looked very intimidating, but I still wanted to protest. I stood in front of the White House gates and held up my sign for passers-by to see. People looked, but with that "what the heck is she doing" look on their faces. I had my brother take a picture of me holding up my sign. I wanted evidence that I was there. Protesting felt exciting and wondered if people who looked at my sign would see that we need to get out of Iraq and also that we need some change.