Stories from a Social Entrepreneur: September 11, 2010

This is my favorite picture from today.

I did not really know what to expect to see at today's September 11th events. I knew there would be a protest, but I was unsure about how big it would be or if it would draw violence from either side of the Park51 controversy. I was certainly a little sad that the protestors decided to protest today. It took away from what today is really supposed to be about. On September 11, 2001 New Yorkers and Americans all over the country came together as one and supported each other. This September 11th was about a country divided. It was sad.

The protests themselves were a bit anticlimatic. Far more people were a out last night for Fashion Week's "Fashion's Night Out" a little further up West Broadway than turned up for the protests. You would never guess this though with the immense amount of media coverage given to the demonstrations.

Below I've posted some pictures from today. Unfortunately, because of a lot of strict security in the financial district this morning, I was not able to get a lot of photos of the commemoration service in Zuccotti Park. Please read below the photos for captions!

Photo 1

A painting near Zuccotti Park

Photo 2

View of Zuccotti Park from Cross Broadway

Picture 3

One theme that ran throughout the day was the confusion of who stood for what. In this picture, the gentleman in the center of the photo was speaking out against the Ko'ran. The EDL seemed to have mistakenly taken him as a pro-Mosque advocate...

Photo 4

Back of an EDL person's shirt.

Photo 5

There are so many things wrong with this sign (spelling, grammar, idea)

Photo 6

Rally location, 12:00 PM

Photo 7

Rally location, 2:30 PM

Photo 8

More Rally

Photo 9

(speaks for itself.)

Picture 10

Another section of rally space that wasn't filled at the beginning. It got filled later with more tea-partiers and many Mosque supporters later.

Picture 11