Skewed Views Delivered By the Media
As I surf the web looking for recent information as to what has been going on in New York in the past few days, I am shocked at the way that we are portrayed by the media on a daily basis.
Well… not that shocked.
What we all need to keep in mind is that the media is a huge part of the establishment that does not want to see anything change. One example of the media skew is Erin Burnett on “Street Signs” on CNBC. In the most smug and self satisfied way, she laughs and says “seriously?” as she is showing video of the OWS crowds, folks in costume satirizing the the people we are struggling against and all of the young people who just look different from what she does.
Keep in mind what her job is. She is there to protect the market. She sits on her pulpit and regurgitates information given to her by Wall Street. In the same way that Jim Cramer chose to have access rather than have real useful information, Burnett’s only real function is to influence the market in favor of those who are paying her. She is paid hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to be a tool for the financial system, and she is going to protect that system (and herself by proxy) in any way she can, no matter how awful she looks in the process.
This kind of thing is frustrating and can be incredibly discouraging to a movement like ours because with so little effort she has a voice that is so loud, that it can threaten to drown out even the 15,000 gathered in NYC. Herman Cain saying things to the effect of if we are unhappy being poor, the n just go be rich. Donald Trump in one breath says we are a bunch of dirty hippies who would get jobs if we just took a shower, and in the next says that we are so wee dressed that he wants to know who our tailors are (which actually goes to prove just how wide and inclusive this movement is).
These people are threatened by a movement like this. They see that, unlike the Tea Party, we do not have a cause that they can co-opt to be used for their own ends. The Occupy movement is the first thing to come along that can’t be bought off to go away or benefit the rich, and therein lies our power.
As long as our resolve remains steely, and we do not get distracted by the words of those already in control, we will continue to win over more people and our impact will get more disruptive to the power base.
Which brings me to our message. To date we have been very careful to be as inclusive as possible in all of our messaging. For a great reason we need to be careful not to alienate any potential supporters, and drive away those we are fighting for. When we are called out for having a lack of focus we must push the idea that, “We do not have a lack of focus. It’s that the issues are so big that its tough to see all at once.” This will require us to be stronger in our messaging.
It’s going to a difficult balance to strike, but I believe that we will need to be more specific in or communication while not turning away those who will support us. We really need to begin to educate those who have not been paying close attention how their lives have been impacted by those who are in charge. All this requires of us to be factual. Reason and facts are overwhelmingly in our favor and that is why those in power really do not ever use them.
Check out my post on the undermining of abortion rights on my personal blog.
ATBrown
A Statement of Purpose Amid An Evening of Ugliness
After continued calls by politicians and the media, for a “list of demands” this statement has been released, and to be quite honest, I could not be happier with it. It can be found on many sites, but I chose this one because it’s the only one that includes more information along with the official statement.
The release almost perfectly encapsulates the ideas that (I believe) most of us want to get across to those who have not been paying attention to what has been going on in this country in the past decade. It shines a very broad light on a litany of social injustices being perpetrated by the top 1%. It’s statements are painted with a fairly broad brush which makes very inclusive to a very wide swath of the population and at the same time the wording is heavy enough to hopefully inspire more people to take action and join the cause. All the while it is great for what it does not do. It does not claim to speak for everyone. It does not propose specific fixes. It does not make any outlandish demands ($20/hr minimum wage). Or any demands at all for that matter. It also does not claim to be a complete list of infractions.
I heartily recommend everyone to familiarize yourselves with the text, but also take note of the tone struck by the writer/s. It is a fantastic example of how to speak to folks about these issues we face while simultaneously being inspiring without being alienating or abrasive.
On to the ugly events of last night.
Be it from a lack of easily available blog posts or the lack of decent media coverage, information on the exact flow of events is pretty tough to come by. Here is what I have been able to piece together.
As the movement continued to pick up momentum, the size of the crowd soon outstripped the space provided by Foley Square. At around 4:00 pm, a group of reportedly around one thousand protesters decided that they were going to march on over and actually physically occupy the Wall St. Building. Here is where the accounts of events get a bit fuzzy. Upon their arrival at Liberty Square at around 9:30, the protesters were met by police officers who may or may not have already had the area barricaded off at this point. There were reports of mounted officers being brought in, batons and pepper spray being used on the crowd, and eventually around 20 people being arrested. After all this ugliness Liberty Square is completely kettled off and shortly thereafter protesters are allowed to leave and enter the area.
As of this writing it is unclear who acted first. There have been several pretty damning videos posted on the OWS blog showing police officers indiscriminately hitting people (including a reporter yelling, “I’m just doing my job!”)with their batons, spraying the crowd with pepper spray while there doesn’t appear to be anyone fighting back or resisting. There is one video where a particularly clownish officer says to another, “my little night stick is gonna get a workout tonight!” That is a clear example of someone who’s intentions are simply to hurt people, and is not interested in actual justice. Hopefully he will not be with the police force for much longer.
Let me be clear (and balanced) that there is no way to tell from the information that I tracked down how the violence started. It may well have been the police. It may have been members of the crowd getting unruly. The group was in fact protesting in an area without permit (why we should need a permit to exercise our rights is a matter for another discussion). I know what I saw in the videos, but I doubt a video showing the crowd starting anything would make it on the OWS blog. I’m sure the situation will clear up as more people post information or begin to speak out about what they saw go down.
Reports say at least 20 were arrested but I’m fairly certain that number will go up as more information gets put out into the ether.
Events like this underscore the importance of nonviolent action if we want this movement to be taken seriously enough that others are willing to join us. The thought of being arrested or tangling with police in general is enough to turn most folks off of our cause and shines us in the worst light possible. On the other hand, every time one of us is brutalized by the police it will rally more to our side, and the police unwittingly help us spread the word farther, faster.
To keep this blog apolitical, I want to direct interested readers to my personal page asharpstickintheeye.blogspot.com if you would like to know more what the politicians are doing to erode our civil liberties, and also about my personal political beliefs. I started the page as a place to display my doodles and drawings, and there will certainly be plenty of that, but this is also as good a use as any for that space.
We are the 99%.
-A.T.B.
A Newcomer’s Experience
I remember several weeks ago checking the Adbusters website and reading about their latest scheme: Occupy Wall Street with one demand. I was of course hopeful, but I had a hard time sincerely believing that more than a dozen people would literally camp on the New York concrete for any extended period of time. I had seen other campaigns come and go on this and other websites, so I didn’t set my expectations too high.
I followed the development of the protests almost daily. What kept me hooked was the live interviews with people — they sounded like me! They weren’t pushing cumbersome ideological projects, but just a simple message: “We, the 99%, are fed up with the plutocracy and demand genuine democracy.”
It seemed to happen suddenly that the Occupy movement became a national phenomenon. I found the Occupy Providence facebook page just a couple of days ago, and today, October 4th, I took a stroll, in the rain, down to Burnside Park near Kennedy Plaza. I’m not sure what I really expected to see, but I was quickly caught up in the buzz of excitement and forgot about my soaked shoes.
There were several important themes emphasized in the general assembly as well as the media/outreach team work session that I participated in. The most discussed issue was probably about the location of the occupation, which we voted to be Burnside Park. It isn’t clear to me if that is final or that it will again be brought up for a vote when the attendance grows. We were all very eager to begin serious organizing — using social media, connecting with local unions, understanding local laws and regulations, and talking strategy. But, in terms of substantive value issues I appreciated the comments about keeping law enforcement in our circle of solidarity — they’re in the 99%, too. We also tended to agree that this was not a “leftist” or “Democrat” affiliated movement. We are apolitical — at least in the “conservative-liberal” paradigm. We simply want to open the eyes of our neighbors to the massive injustice that our global politico-economic system wreaks on the vast majority of this planet’s citizens.
The mood during throughout the 3-hour meeting was cautiously optimistic, and the meetings all seemed to be significantly productive. I’m hungry for more. There’s something addictively exhilarating about being a part of an intentional community. I hope to see even more people than today at tomorrow’s general assembly at 5pm in Burnside Park, a.k.a The People’s Park.
-Jared
Welcome to the Occupy Providence blog. Over time, this blog will feature commentary from multiple voices from within this grassroots movement, as well as photography and videos, media releases and announcements.
The photo above was taken today, 2 October 2011, at our second planning and organizational meeting. The day prior, about 40-50 of us met at the same spot near Kennedy Plaza to start planning Rhode Island’s extension of solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement. As you can see, the next meeting drew about twice as many people, and even garnered some local media attention, the presence of which drew mixed reactions from the participants. I don’t think we have anything to hide, and this blogger personally was excited to see media interest already. The other side of this argument does make valid points, but, for me, at this point, with the amount of media silence that has been plaguing this movement, any publicity is good publicity. The longer this goes on, the more regularly we’ll be dealing with a direct media presence, so I’m hoping this uncomfortableness with their presence disappears amongst the group quickly.
After we went back and forth about media presence for a while, we started forming smaller groups to tackle issues like police outreach, media relations, medical, tactical, facilitation, and outreach and education; and we held a vote on direct action initiatives, including a march and potential occupation. More exact details for either will be published soon…
Things are definitely a bit slow, but there’s a LOT of passion here, and the interest sure does seem to be growing. Once we all get in sync with each other, which will surely happen as we continue to work with each other, I feel like we’ll start getting more and bigger things done at these assemblies…not that we haven’t made any progress. For about 100 people who are pretty much complete strangers to come together and agree to get organized and work together for a common good no matter how hard or long the road ahead…well…that’s what democracy looks like.
Tomorrow we’re meeting again at 5pm at Roger Williams National Memorial Park to continue our planning. All are welcome, so spread the word!
-M
