Occupy Wall Street Is True Expression Of Democracy
Comments (3)
(David Shankbone, Creative Commons)
Occupy Wall Street is one movement in a long line of protests agitating for social change in United States history. The police brutality is not a new phenomenon, either.
In Colorado in 1914, 11,000 miners who worked for Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation went on strike. They were protesting low pay and dangerous working conditions. The governor of Colorado called out the National Guard to disband the strike. Protesters were beaten, arrested, and refused to back down. The Guard fired on the strikers’ tents, and when the miners fought back, the guards set fire to the tents. It became known as the Ludlow Massacre.
In Washington, D.C., in 1932, over 20,000 veterans of WWI who were hungry and without work marched on Washington. They camped across the Potomac, lived in cardboard shacks, and demanded their bonus pay for service in WWI. President Hoover ordered the army to evict them. Soldiers used tear gas to send the veterans away, and set their shacks on fire until the entire camp burned. The event is known as the Bonus Army March of 1932.
In North Carolina in 1960, four freshmen at a black college in Greensboro entered a lunch counter at which only whites ate. When they were refused service, they would not leave. Each day they returned with more supporters, and the idea of sit-ins spread to other southern cities and states. There was often violence against the sit-inners. Throughout the year, more than 50,000 people demonstrated by sitting-in in over 100 different cities, and over 3,600 people were thrown in jail.
In Alabama in 1963, thousands of blacks protested in Birmingham. They faced police clubs, tear gas, dogs, and high-powered water hoses.
In Ohio in 1970, students at Kent State University gathered to protest the Vietnam War. National Guardsmen were called in to break up the strike. They fired, unprovoked, into the crowd, killing four students and paralyzing one.
In Washington, D.C., in 1971, 20,000 people demonstrated in a peace rally against the Vietnam War. They committed civil disobedience, tying up traffic. 14,000 of them were arrested – it was the largest mass arrest in United States history.
In Washington in 1999, tens of thousands of people gathered in Seattle to protest plans of the World Trade Organization to expand free trade agreements, which were allowing corporations to look elsewhere for cheap labor. Although a small number of the demonstrators broke some windows, a majority of the protests were nonviolent; yet, the police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and arrested hundreds.
In New York in 2006, several members of the Granny Peace Brigade blocked the entrance to a military recruiting center in Times Square in protest of the Iraq War. The protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. A judge decided they had been wrongfully arrested.
In New York, in 2011, right now, the Occupy Wall Street demonstration is still going on, despite the abominable lack of coverage of the movement by the mainstream media.
Each of these protest movements has several overlapping characteristics. Each of them began as a nonviolent demonstration, and the official response to them was one of force and violence. Agitating for social and political change is a cornerstone of the expression of democracy in the United States. When the people of this country decide that their rights are being abused and things need to change, they have a right to act on their convictions. Only when the people have the ability to affect social change is true democracy expressed.
Each of the protest movements described above also resulted in fundamental social and political change. Maybe it is time for a new revolution. Maybe Occupy Wall Street is leading the way.
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Comments
This is really starting to grow legs and all of us can do something right now to show support.
We have an incredible opportunity in front of us to support those that are speaking.
Did you know that Iceland recently re-wrote their constitution with the help of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter? I think it’s really important in times like these that we look for positive examples that we can use as a model for our own necessary changes. I am not sitting polarized to the left or the right but I know we can all see the major issues we are going to face in the upcoming years if we don't start talking to eachother about possible options.
Here is a blog that documented the process that Iceland went through socially, economically, and politically that resulted in a brand new constitution.
http://wilmaswish.blogspot.com/
You need to take part in a contest for one of the highest quality websites on the
web. I'm going to highly recommend this web site!
Where: Liberty Square (How to get there)
Donations: NYCGA Donation Page
Help & Directions: +1 (877) 881-3020
General Inquiries general@occupywallst.org
Press Inquiries press@occupywallst.org
Live Coverage - http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
Donate Now - http://nycga.cc/donate/
Donate to Media - http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BHMV...
Physical Address - The UPS Store Re: Occupy Wall Street 118A Fulton St. #205 New York, NY 10038
Carpool from other states - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carpool-to-Occupy-Wallstreet/222614057794... - also try craigslist.org
My Plea to Everyone:
Our obligation to this movement is to donate what we can, at all costs. Allowing our fellow revolutionaries to feed themselves, wash themselves, medicate themselves and feel as comfortable as they can in a concrete jungle under constant scrutiny of police and federal agents. We will and can show our love in very unselfish ways, we must.
There is no reason to feel disconnected from this movement - we are them and they are us. We are the 99% of people who are being beaten, thieved, raped, enslaved and manipulated at every turn. Everything is an illusion - all of it. Every single bit of it from the foods we eat, the water we drink, the homes we live in, the paychecks we earn, the taxes we pay, the air we breathe - all of it is an illusion - a made up fairy tale told to us by the 1% . Are you ready for change?
We are not slaves, we are not beaten, we will not lay down and take this any more! We do have the power, we do have a voice, we are human beings and we are the 99%. They will hear us, but we have to speak loud. This is our chance America!
Here are my tips to help others not feel disconnected or not part of this - YOU ARE NEEDED - NOW! IMMEDIATELY!!!!!
Go now to nyc! Everyone and every cause is accepted! They need numbers more than anything! You can be part of history, written about in books, documentaries made about you and your revolutionary ideals. You, yes YOU. Go now.
Donate to the media team immediately - they have suffered targeted arrests, rainy weather, confiscations and they deserve our support.
http://nycga.cc/donate/
Donate to the general fund to help protesters!! Anything you can help is so important - there are so many of us out there just sitting and waiting to see if this movement moves forward - $5 from each of us is just a coffee or a Big Mac but together it becomes a very impressive amount of money - PLEASE DONATE NOW! If our revolutionary heroes are hungry and dehydrated - how long do you think they will continue to fight for us??? Show your love and support.
http://nycga.cc/donate/
Send a care package or money orders or prepaid gift cards to: The UPS Store Re: Occupy Wall Street 118A Fulton St. #205 New York, NY 10038
There are requests for medical supplies, non-perishable food, water, toiletries, garbage bags, ponchos, blankets, zip lock bags, tupperware, shelves, LED lights and I'm sure much more.
Call local Wall Street businesses and order food or supplies for them direct from local companies - this encourages support from these companies and leeway on any inconveniences that may occur. Be creative!!
Spend just 30 minutes each day spreading this information - do it online, do it on the phone, do it outside your local store, do it at your job, do it everywhere you go. Word of mouth is going to help this movement more than anything else. Spread only factual information.
Do not argue with those that don't agree with this movement. People who choose ignorance will be forced to see through the smoke and mirrors at some point in the very near future. Spending time arguing is a wasted effort, this energy could be better used elsewhere.
Be creative! Hold a bakery sale, use your car as a billboard, post fliers, print stickers, plug radio stations, pay for an ad in your local paper, post free ads in the paper, stop random people, ask for donations.... anything you do will make you an important part of this extremely detrimental movement. You are them, They are us.
Facts about this movement:
This is a 100% peaceful protest, the people have suffered police brutality since day 1 (today is day 11).
Here are some videos for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf6m_w7K8XM#t=1m19s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kevXKRROF6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvbI6Eq-qA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmmvZ7z-ZVo
This is a very serious occupation/protest/movement - they are well organized, motivated, inspired and angry. This park has a medical station w/ medical staff, a cafeteria, a library, a media team, a lawyer team and many many people who are ready to fight for you and me. We are obligated to support them. Do so now, please!!
I can't stress how important this is... we've all been waiting with baited breath. The time is here, take this opportunity to do your part!
Important Awesome Heroic Movements of Solidarity:
Micheal Moore - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCZLhEOJ8XA
Chris Hedges - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SKw2j3XOY0
Noam Chomsky - https://occupywallst.org/
Dr. Cornell West - http://youtu.be/ARQSWZrOSlk
Russell Simmons - http://youtu.be/_wp9CaogQ4Y
Micheal Rivero - http://whatreallyhappened.com/
Alex Jones - http://www.infowars.com/
Tom Morello, Immortal Technique - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_tvZ0Ep6GI
Susan Sarandon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x98you80Q0
Roseanne Barr - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Zyz8njQb8
Don't miss out America - donate, join or support - or do all 3 ---- just do what you can - but DO SOMETHING..... Love you all.
Expect us.