Borf Rally Hits Logan Circle

Hedda and I were out around the neighborhood last night. We started out at 1409 Playbill (which is really close to P than Google Maps puts it), and then proceeded over to Cue Bar to shoot some pool.

While we were at Playbill, a commotion drew us outside. It seems the Borf Video Communiqué Release and Street Party had made its way from 11th and O to 14th and P. There were perhaps sixty or seventy people in their crowd, lead by a group carrying a banner reading “Your Investments Are Our Playgrounds.” (Thanks to catholiccore for the second word.) There was no chanting or anything, just lots of yelling and screaming, but music was provided by a JBL strapped to an oversized tricycle. The group drew a crowd and blocked traffic at the intersction of 14th and P for maybe five minutes, and then proceeded west down P Street. They were trailed by a few police vehicles, but the authorities made no effort to interfere. (I also have a short video of the ruckus.)

One person on the sidewalk next to me stated that they were protesting social injustice for the youth of the city, perhaps referring to the upcoming curfew crackdown. She went on to say that they had asked her to join them, and she deferred because she had some drinking to do, drawing laughs from all of us who were also over 21.

As a former indignant youth, I certainly sympathize with the plight. Good kids are over-controlled by their parents and the system, but its the bad kids that ruin it for them. Unfortunately, the difficulty of sorting the good from the bad by adults with little clue into the culture, mannerisms, and pressures of youth leads to a unilateral crackdown against anybody under a certain age.

As I am, being now well passed my teenage years, I enjoyed the disturbance greatly as a spectator. Things like this are why I love the city.