Chocolate, an arm, free soup, clothing and Samba ...

The Wednesday (16th) Reclaim Power march/demonstration and action was obviously smaller than the Saturday one and instead of sunshine it was dull and then snowed but there was a dynamic energy and cohesiveness throughout. Beginning at 8am at the subway station start right through to walking back together into Copenhagen at about 4.30 pm, it was irrepressible and inspiring. I'll write more later of the components: the crowd surge to 'reclaim power', the knock-back of pepper spray attacks, small successes to bridge the moat, the yellow block, the white group, the successful People's Assembly ... but for now it is the tiniest things that make me smile.

The man who for no reason turned to me near the end of the long day and said "chocolate?!" (his fingers should grow back). The dapper gentleman who had seen nothing of pepper spray, helicopters, dogs and mayhem but had joined us at the tail end of his university day, dressed superbly and with a jaunty walk. When we were told to 'chain up' (link arms) against police taking chosen people from the crowd (which had been happening) he offered his arm with a wonderful smile: "what a lovely day for a stroll" as we crossed one of the main bridges in gentle snow-fall. We caught up with eachother's days and after 15 or so minutes noticed no-one else was arm in arm any more but continued a while longer anyway.

The people I loved most of all were the ones who cycled round the crowd with large barrows on the front full of free warm clothing - hats, gloves, jumpers ... or huge turrines of free soup or tea which seemed to have a genuinely bottomless quality which suited the occasion. It was innovative, insightful and appreciated: God bless them.

And as for the Samba band, maybe they deserve their own blog later, I'll look up who they were and pass on the details but boy did they help us on that long trek back into town (could someone get the Mexico COP organised in the middle of the city please?!)

Did we reclaim power? No, obviously not. But then again, define 'we' 'reclaim' and 'power'. We: I doubt there was a person there who wasn't changed in some way and almost exclusively for the better by what they saw, experienced, did and felt, including many of the police. Reclaim, rediscover, redefine, internalise. Power: I certainly heard many people over the next few days talk of the powerful effect on them of the non-violent witness they had seen in those at the front who refused to retaliate. Also, representatives of poorer nations spoke of the impact of seeing so many people not only turn up but be willing to 'put themselves on the line' to support and care about their causes, to walk along side them, to give them a chance to speak and then to listen. I'll write soon about my friend from Ghana who was quite an extreme example, but I did pick up that many people ended the day feeling just a little more empowered: power embedded - wonderful.