You may have heard about the Occupy
Wall Street movement, also called the 99% movement. Contrary to some media
reports, when you go to one of these protests you will get people from all
walks of life to participate. This includes homeless people, hippies, older
experienced activists, young college kids, international people and police
participating. This means a realm of political and social beliefs is present.
The diversity of the movement was
proven through my experience. Early in the morning, at about 9:00 A.M., I came
near Zuccotti/Liberty Park with my family. There were two entrances, both with
New York Police Department (NYPD) officers guarding them, meaning you had to go
through police checkpoints. Once inside, once could observe twenty people sitting
on benches in the park and occupying about 1/4th of the park. Half of the park
was being power-washed by Brookfield workers and the other 4th was open space. One
must take into account the nature of the protest itself: it has more longevity,
different orientation and feel toward social dynamics, not just a one day
march. One can get a feeling that people know each other and talk to each about
their ideas. As a result, it’s much more
a movement about sharing ideas, not just demonstrating. This sharing goes on
that doesn’t happen at usual demonstrations, housing sharing at encampments
(not in New York) and overall it becomes like an alternate family, a social
network.
Speaking of sharing with others, the
first person I talked to called himself D.J. about what had happened and he
mentioned a number of interesting points. He argued that there was a psychological
reason to bring the walls in. There were (and probably still are to my
knowledge) NYPD fences around the park, doubled up with another fence parallel
around the whole park. It’s a bit hard to explain, but if you look it up, you can
see what I’m talking about. Continuing with D.J., he believed the police wanted
to intimidate the protesters with a huge presence, so they would leave. After
that comment, he walked away.
There were two people that walked up
to us (me and my family), hugging and welcoming us. When we told them we came
from Baltimore, both of them thanked us for coming. In a conversation about
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, each one had a different view. One was
an African-American male possibly in his 20s was reasoned, saying it was it was
horrible the tents were taken down. He also noted it’s not going to get better
since Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend is on the Board of Brookfield Properties
which owns Liberty Park (note this is an unconfirmed report). We asked him of
the day’s events and he mentioned a march later in the day to Macy’s to protest
the buying of fur, which seemed to not be related to the original message of
the movement. However, the older African-American lady decried Bloomberg,
saying he should be killed. I could tell she really hated Bloomberg with a
passion. The younger African-American who I mentioned earlier calmed down the
discourse even though he didn’t like Bloomberg either. He spoke of Bloomberg
having his money evaporate instantly.
Activity was low at that time of the day,
so we left and went to Battery Park. What happened after that is something I’ll
mention in a future article. Anyway, we came back to the park about an hour and
a half to two hours later. The place was lively with the beating of drums which
some critics say is ridiculous and won’t lead to meaningful change. These
critics don’t realize the sound of the drums will attract people to join to
cause and become part of the movement. People were beating with their drums and
I decided I’d join in. For a little while banging a pot lid and a padded soup ladle
together, a feeling came over me: I was more than something generated by my
beliefs; I was part of a movement. We walked around, scanning it out, and then
we left the second time with a family friend. What happened after that is
material for a future article as well. That wasn’t all that happened to me.
The third time, coming back near the
park, there was a noticeable difference: increased police presence. It seemed
something was going to happen. Later I figured out it was probably just usual
police posturing to scare occupiers. At one point, a group of 200 or more came
by shouting their support for women’s rights and the Occupy Movement. The
family friend started to become paranoid about the police presence. The rest of
my family looked in one direction at what they thought was a police buildup
throughout the day. Meanwhile, I looked the opposite way and saw a startling
site.
A person, an older white male, was
asking people for donations to OWS (Occupy Wall Street). He was also holding up
a sign that opposed American military intervention in foreign countries by
listing statistics on who died, since 9/11, along with other information. Suddenly
NYPD officers rushed in; handcuffed him and he yelled: “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
After they told he was charged with assaulting another, he yelled once more: “I
didn’t assault anyone!” Camera took pictures of this affair while someone else
on a notepad wrote down what he was saying. Less than a minute later, you’d
never know he was there. A middle-aged man commented to me: “Isn’t it a police
state?” speaking of America in general. I stated that I agree, even though it
was a stretch to say that one incident made it a police state. Previously I had
been debating the issue and now was the time to confirm it was a fact. I talked
a little more with the man on the subject.
By this time, our family friend got
so paranoid and thought that the police would surround us. So we left that
corridor in front of the park. On the corner overlooking the park we watched
and listened to the General Assembly. I wanted to participate, but it wasn’t
possible with the paranoia of the family friend. We crossed the street and the
marching occupiers came toward us (we joked) literally! They turned and went to
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Earlier we had commented on the excessive
security in the area around the NYSE. One would have to go through two checkpoints
to even get in front of the stock exchange. Our family friend kept mentioning how
much these tactics by the NYPD reminded him of fascism, saying it was very
similar. After a while, he left and was off on his merry way. Then we followed
the occupiers down to the corner overlooking the stock exchange, then back to
the park.
This time we entered the park, not
going on the perimeter. The police pressure has diminished dramatically. There
were no police at either entrance into the park, only Brookfield workers. At
first glance it was lit up and it looked like there was just a bunch of
tourists in the park. Later it was apparent there was even more activity than
before. In a sense there were a number of different stations addressing certain
aspects of the protest itself. One area was more serious, called the “think
tank,” where a knowledgeable man was talking about the Egyptian Revolution and
how it was not calculated well by the activists in the country. I would believe
that other revolutions worldwide were discussed there, revealing the impetus
for the protest. Also, a former police officer, Sergeant Louis, I believe, was
there. He was the one who was arrested in a nonviolent action in Philadelphia
was there to talk. He called Bloomberg’s actions close to a dictatorship. He
also recommended that when people participate in civil disobedience, they
should offer to cut themselves so unnecessary injury does not occur as they struggle.
A person named Michael of Philadelphia Weekly was also there and I introduced
myself. He said I could send my blog to him and this gave me great joy that
people respect political bloggers.
Finally, we went to the weekly story time,
organized by an activist who said the stories presented would be given to Eve
Ensler, the author of the play The Vagina
Monologues and she would compile them into a book. She was a clean-cut,
simply-dressed woman who seemed to be a college graduate or in college. Stories
ranging from international occupiers to those from other protests in America
were told. Each was personal to the occupier.
This brings me to another concept, the human microphone. NYC
has noise ordinance, so those in Liberty Park couldn’t get a bull-horn. That’s
why they came up with the human microphone. It’s the first time this idea has
been used in a movement or demonstration. “Mic check,” a common tactic that has been
used to interrupt numerous political figures (President Obama, Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker, Karl Rove, etc…) occurs with human microphone. When one is participating
in the human microphone you fell more involved than just listening on the side.
Back to the stories. Some were
seasoned veterans (one had been to the Occupy Wall Street movement in the
Pacific region) who then came to New York, another was a college student who
decried imperialism as the greatest terrorism ever, another was a high school
student and another was from Ecuador and talked of his work with a student-led
movement there. That’s just a sampling of the stories, the ones I can remember.
Also at night, intellectual discussion and heavy-duty political discussion was
more common. The level of intellectual discussion was elevated to a higher
level, in part about political philosophy.
Before we left, I stumbled upon an
American Indian activist who gave us his paper (for one dollar donation) and
the Occupied Wall Street Journal. Then he talked of the Occupy movement
representing other cultures as well and how he had to be there in solidarity.
After that we left the site and I uttered: Goodbye! Goodbye! This experience
left a lasting impression on me, something I’ll never forget. The future
historians will remember this movement and say it stood up for something that
was right, for what was needed: fundamental change.
