Like anybody else not living under a rock these days, I am aware of the Occupy Wall Street protests, have read and seen conflicting reports about the behavior and objectives of the protesters, have seen news clips and YouTube videos of arrests and law enforcement responses, but I felt I still didn’t really have a clear understanding of what it was all about.
So I decided I should go see for myself. As I approached Zucotti Park, I was struck by the fact that although it is only a few blocks from Ground Zero and the site of the new Towers being constructed, the Occupy Wall Street protest was far and away the Tourist-Site-to-Be-Seen. Hundreds of people crowded the sidewalks, cameras and video recorders ready, just inside the police barricades set up in place to keep people separated from vehicle traffic.
The outskirts of the area were lined with police officers, with plenty of zip-tie handcuffs, as well as police vehicles. The edges of the park itself were lined with a variety of people standing on the built-in benches, holding home-made signage, or setting up shop with buttons, t-shirts, and flyers promoting their cause. And when I say their cause, I mean to distinguish from the cause, because there was a variety of causes, and ideas being protested.
The inside of the park was a sea of pop-up tents, crammed together wherever there was space, decorated with artwork, slogans, and calls for action. Winding through this makeshift housing were paths lined with tables where information, media, books, dvds, and protest related support receptacles were available. Throughout the area various musicians gathered to rally the support of onlookers, and surely for the betterment of the protester’s own morale.
There were makeshift cooking areas and even a “charging station” where protestors pedaled for power, on bicycles mounted on wooden frames and hooked to batteries, to harness power for mobile phones and electronics. And as I took this all in, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and determination. Where I expected to see angry and defiant protesters I saw people who just wanted to share their voice, in order to start and promote a conversation that would hopefully lead to a change for the better, for everyone. To do something, at a time when it seems nothing is the only option.
I spoke with a veteran from the Iraq War. He said he came out to protest after a fellow soldier he knew, was shot with rubber pellets by the police, while at a protest in California. I spoke with a singer songwriter who came out originally to support his sister, a schoolteacher, and was so impressed with what he saw, that he did a music video on-site, to show the True Spirit of the Movement. I spoke with a woman holding a sign questioning if hers would be the last generation of retirees, and wondering what the future held for her children, and grandchildren. The protest was proud, determined, peaceful.
Like the photos in this blog post, I understand that what I saw was only a snapshot, a moment in time, and not to be used to describe the protests as an entirety. But I do urge everyone, if you are in close proximity to an Occupy Protest, to go and see for yourself before drawing conclusions, good or bad. And in doing so become a part of the conversation, and thus part of the eventual solution to the problems we face together, as a nation.
