Occupy Philadelphia, Safety Tent in album Occupy Philly

In Albums: Occupy Philly

Oct 18th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows the safety tent at the Occupy Philly protest outside of city hall in Philadelphia.

This important tent is staffed by people who fill the role of preventing escalation of conflicts, ensuring positive interactions with police, and maintaining clear paths and access to nearby areas such as the stairways leading to the SEPTA station. The safety team has been very effective: as of writing this, Occupy Philly has had no arrests, no violence, and no major confrontations with police, in contrast to the movement in New York City which has seen all three of these problems.

The most prominently visible feature in this photo is the "No Fracking" sign. Fracking is a major political issue in the state of Pennsylvania, and among this protest, as well as the general population in Philadelphia, there seems to be a general consensus that fracking as it is being allowed to play out is a corrupt practice, as it is not being taxed, and the environmental and human costs of the practice are being passed on to taxpayers and the general public, while private corporations profit off the extraction of fossil fuels.