It hadn’t occurred to me what we would do upon arriving in Seattle, or where we would stay. Thankfully, someone else had. Our accommodations turned out to be better than expected, the details of which will be available in my book (ETA: early 2015). We called it the Not Squat. Or something like that. Enough on that for now.
After settling in, we made our way to what I recall being referred to as the Free Space. The Free Space was a large commercial building on a hill that activists were using as a gathering space to make plans, hold workshops, provide free meals soup kitchen-style, and otherwise congregate. The walls were plastered with large posters that included images ranging in diversity from Che Guavara to the American Indian Movement. The anarchist’s symbol – an “A” within a circle – seemed to be on display everywhere. Whatever one’s political philosophy was, one could find a like-mined soul somewhere within the space.
I had never before found myself in the company of so many activists like me and my Free State comrades. It turns out that there were many other Free Space-like bases throughout Seattle, each of which had its own flavor. One was the home of the save-the-sea-turtles folks and other environmentally-minded activists. Another housed the puppet makers. Then there was the Independent Media space, where journalists committed to providing an alternative take of the pending WTO protests were setting up shop. I’m sure that there were plenty more spaces, as more than 100,000 activists would be converging on the city about a week later.
Diary of a (Recovering) Protester 