Occupy Wall Street’s 2-month anniversary: A call to action
Around the time when the mainstream media began to cover Occupy Wall Street, one of my responsibilities at my internship included interviewing Marva, a 65-year-old African American woman living on a fixed income in Ballwin, Mo. who had been fighting the foreclosure of her home for more than two years. As we talked, a stack of paper several inches high sat on her kitchen table—all of the paperwork she had received and filled out in a so-far unsuccessful attempt to stop the foreclosure of her home. At some point during our conversation, Marva referred to herself as a “ninety-nine percent-er.” I was taken aback.
Up until that moment, I hadn’t truly believed that Occupy Wall Street was anything other than a movement created by “radical leftists,” for “radical leftists.” But hearing Marva self-identify with the 99 percent changed my mind.
Since first hearing about it this past summer, I had been skeptical of Occupy Wall Street. But despite my skepticism, I continued reading about the happenings in Zucotti Park. Although I was wary of the “movement,” Occupy Wall Street did resonate with me, simply because it was willing to say, “We have a problem.”
In fact, it was willing to say, “We have a lot of problems. And we haven’t figured them all out yet. The problems are big banks, capitalism, income inequality, unfair foreclosures, the repeal of Glass-Steagall, environmental degradation, unemployment, corporate greed, globalization, racism, a Congress controlled by corporate interests and a lot of other very complicated things.” It was willing to say, “We’re angry, so let’s be angry together and figure out what we can do about it.”
Still, I was skeptical. There weren’t any clear-cut demands! Too many people were wearing Guy Fawkes masks! The high number of young, white people participating did not accurately reflect the composition of the 99 percent!
But after speaking with Marva my skepticism began to fade. I realized that, as someone who claims to be committed to “social justice,” it would be irresponsible and impossible for me not to participate in the Occupy movement to the best of my ability. For me, “participating to the best of my ability” means engaging in civil disobedience at a rally at the MLK Bridge today.
When I asked myself, “why should I participate in civil disobedience?” part of my answer was: because I can. For most people, such as Marva, voluntary arrest is not possible because of financial, health and other concerns. But as a white, upper-middle class college student, with the social and financial resources to be arrested with almost no subsequent consequences, I can strategically use my privilege to call attention to the injustice that pervades our country.
In his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes, “We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with.” This is what the Occupy movement is about. This is what today’s march is about. This is why I am participating in civil disobedience: to force us all to see that something (even if we don’t know exactly what it is) is wrong, and then to come together to figure out how we can begin to fix it.
I hope that the actions across the country today make it clear that the Occupy movement is not ending anytime soon, and inspire more people to participate. Then, Occupy can start having serious and difficult conversations about how to transition from symbolic victories to real victories, from social change to political change, and from a problematic present to a more just future.
The rally in St. Louis today is part of Occupy Wall Street’s National Day of Action, marking the two-month anniversary of the occupation in Zucotti Park. This day of action is pivotal, particularly in light of the eviction of the protesters from Zucotti Park on Tuesday morning. More than 500 people here in St. Louis will join thousands of people across the country marching, singing, shouting, rallying and risking arrest in solidarity with one another. And we’d love for you to join us.
If you want to join us, we will meet in front of Brookings at 2:15 pm Thursday, Nov. 17 to go to the march together. Only a select number of pre-arranged volunteers will be risking arrest, so any students who decide they want to participate in the march do NOT have to worry about being arrested.
Molly Gott is a senior in Arts & Sciences.
Following up on the Wells Farho deposit comment – did you know that Occupy Wall St. is being planned and managed from the North American HQ of Deutsche Bank? Yeah – I thought that was pretty hilarious too.
A.R.
#occupymypants
Not really, cops love their huge sirlaaes and benefits and most importantly they love their powers and special legal protections against taxpayers. You don’t become a cop to be a hero these days, you do it to have legal protections, big sirlaaes and benefits. Their union is one of the unions that is very anti-people. It pretty much controls the city politics because they buy politicians easily with our tax dollars. This system is is just as bad if not worse than then wall street.
I talked to Marva at her rally, in front of the Fannie Mae office. She got the same runaround as I have, and we both have been in “the Process” of foreclosure and forbearance for more than two years. I told her so, and we both promised each other mutual solidarity. She will march with me at my rally, the one at which I will publicly tell my story.
Please see my comments on Student Life’s story about Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit’s visit to our campus, Autumn 2009. That was the semester in which my house was put up for sale the day before Thanksgiving. My Facebook activism and my comments posted to Student Life managed to attract the attention of Citimortgage’s Executive Response team, that is, the CEO’s office. Every time I would post, I would get a polite phone call within minutes. I had figured out how to yank the CEO’s chain, and bought myself some time. A public defender, upon reviewing my case, concluded that it was hopeless, and I would be homeless by Christmas. When I told her about my creatively ambiguous relationship with the Company that owns our Company Town, Washington University in St Louis, her face lit up. “Keep on doing that, that’s your only hope.” She was right.
That winter my students and friends, and the St Louis Activist community, including the Wash U CoOp, put on a benefit concert to help save my house, covered by a local TV station (see KSDK Channel 5 News, “Students rally to save professor’s co-op house”). Ever since then, I have been a mortgage activist, working with M.O.R.E. and Occupy St Louis, to pay it forward to our community. We have to learn how to yank the CEO’s chain, together in solidarity, as we work for a systemic solution. It’s the least we can do.
A few weeks ago I held a sign on the street corner at Occupied Kiener Plaza, that read, “They only call it class war when we fight back.” Nonviolent civil disobedience, good humored street theater, and political theater on the internet is our way of defending ourselves, and each other, in mutual solidarity.
I did not come from a wealthy or privileged family but I have elite connections, and elite credentials paid for by the US taxpayers. Setting a good example by using these resources for the common good is the least I can do, as an educator and a patriotic citizen.
I commend Molly and Kait and Adam and all my other friends who volunteered to risk arrest on the front line, instead of the rear. You can call what we are doing noblesse oblige if you like. We are the 99%. We are the 1%. We are one people, looking for the answers.
http://www.mega-arc.com when the economy crashes!
Occupy Oakland recently deposited $20,000 in Wells Fargo (whoops?) to bail its members out of jail. The 60′s this ain’t.
You do not need to be religious to understand -and embrace- the idea that “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” But in their blind greed and schemes, the 1% has forgotten and closed its eyes to what the word “society” should really mean. Because of Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding more budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured for all too long. Instead of talking about even more cuts in the taxes of millionaires…we are now talking about fairness and justice – about an economy and a political system that is run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US, not just a favored few. Thank you OWS, for reminding us that people -ordinary working people- really DO matter, and for helping open our eyes to what’s really going on in this country. Thank you OWS, for standing up for the workers, and for those looking for work, and for those that will graduate or come back from war …and find no work. Thank you OWS, for standing your ground, for enduring illegal beatings and arrests – non-violently. Thank you OWS, from all of us who can’t be there in person, from all of us who are working two and three jobs just to keep up, from all of us struggling to raise our children, or caring for our elderly, or just trying to live with some dignity…..while the rich become richer and more powerful, at our expense. The 1% are running this economy. Indeed, they’re running it right into the ground – with their get rich schemes, their shipping of jobs overseas, their tax evasions, and their cuts in social programs. You inspire and motivate us OWS. You strengthen us, and give us hope. And we’re damn PROUD OF YOU! This land IS our land! AND WE WANT IT BACK! We want our FUTURE back! But it’s much more than mere words…. it’s much more than just politics….. it’s your freakin’ LIFE, and how you want to live it, and how you WILL live it. The time has come to choose….to risk…and to act. If not now…then when? If not you, then….who? You DO have the power my friend. Don’t let your dreams die.
I must say that this is exactly the problem I have with the whole Occupy movement. Everything is want, want, want. Everybody wants yet most seem wholly unwilling to pitch in. If you want to up and unfetter yourselves from what you see as this controlling 1%, you should really be prepared to see the inordinate share of government revenue that they provide in taxation. The top 1% pay 36.7% of the income tax burden. 1% pays 36.7%. Where in that is the word “fair,” if I may ask? The top 10% pay 70.5% of all income tax. What happens to you come April and tax season? My taxes are put together and I end up owing a lot of money to the Federal Government. The bottom 50% pays a whopping 2.3% of all income taxes collected by the IRS at an average rate of 1.85% of adjusted gross income. If you *want* then perhaps you should *pay* – it’s a lesson that my parents taught me when I was a mere five years old. If you want something, pay for it. There are a great many things I *want* yet in the reality in which I live, I have to pay for them as they won’t magically drop out of the sky and into my lap. It’s strange that you consider the 1% to be out of touch with reality when it’s the 1% that actually pays for its own stuff (and then some).
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/27235.html
JPM
In what way do you assert that the people of the Occupy movement are “unwilling to pitch in?” These people are giving all of their energy and resources to this, to creating the human spaces where the stories of the people can be heard, where the time can be given (and it takes a lot of time) to unravel these systemic problems, to find real solutions. This isn’t tokenism.
I will be one of the ones sitting in solidarity today on the MLK bridge with Molly and the other Wash U students, with Occupy STL, with anyone who has been oppressed and is unwilling to continue quietly performing the role society has dictated for them. If you recognize that there are real problems that need space and time for discussion, if you are unwilling to stand idly by, join us.
When they handcuff us and drive us away to play their waiting game away from the eyes of the press and the public, know that they are only doing it because our observations and our ideas are too dangerous to the house of cards this society is currently standing on to allow us to be heard, to allow us our voices, right now.
You cannot lock up an entire population, who is being protected by the negativity towards Occupy? Who is being protected by the raiding of the camps?
You people mock those who live in abject poverty and do disservice to those trying to raise themselves up. You think that you are somehow heroic or praiseworthy for taking a break from this $56,000 / year school to sit on a bridge because you are “find[ing] real solutions”? Your ideas are hardly dangerous and your observations, from reading the signs nationwide that people hold up, are scattershot. You find nothing and contribute nothing. Try committing yourselves to a public works project or go volunteer at a local food pantry or homeless shelter. There is absolutely zero contribution being made by clashing with police and waving signs. Your actions are shameful and if you think you are in any way helping anyone I would invite you to come over to my version of reality where I do volunteer work and donate to charity. Helping to feed the poor (though I wholly admit that for every person I help there are thousands worldwide who still starve), in my opinion, is a much more laudable act than sitting on a bridge and telling yourself that when you get arrested it will be for something.
JPM
JPM = J. P. Morgan; thus, I only agree with you more.
“I wholly admit that for every person I help there are thousands worldwide who still starve”
Touche. You make our point for us. Individual acts of charity may help a little and make us feel good about ourselves, good enough to go on, but they are no substitute for the kind of systemic change that may lead to social justice.
What has Occupy accomplished so far? We have broken the great American taboo against open discussion of social class. We have made open discussion of social class the topic du jour. For that alone we are already a historically significant social movement.
Professor Bauer,
If Occupy Wall Street has broken this great taboo, then why was Zucotti park separated into two distinct segments? Why did one half have a makeshift computer lab and espresso machines while the other half camped out under tarps? Even within the movement the devision of class appears. You speak of the topic of social class as though it held a sort of sacred cow status.
As for your comment about “individual acts of charity” I find it rather odd to see you come across with a negative tone. Do I feel good after I help others? Yes. Should I? I think so. Let us compare the kinds of deeds we have undertaken. I may help feed a single child and know that nine hundred and ninety-nine more do not eat. I don’t feel good about that. But I recognize that I am not superhuman. However I believe that if I do the best that I can do and volunteer some of my time and give some of my money, I contribute vastly more than a group who sits in a park. What kind of systemic change will be brought about from people sitting in encampments in parks and from putting themselves into a situation to deliberately be arrested? How many people were helped when more than thirty-six thousand people crowded onto and around the Brooklyn Bridge two days ago chanting and holding signs?
If you want to take action, take meaningful action. However that is not what Occupy is doing. No. Instead they set a goal to try to break into and disrupt the New York Stock Exchange, flood the subway system with people, protests, and handouts, and clamor across a bridge because they knew it would get them on CNN.
Let me ask you something about “individual acts of charity” as I am very curious as to your answer. Was it sitting in a park holding a sign or tireless efforts, largely self-funded, with almost no laboratory staff that helped Jonas Salk discover and give to the world the polio vaccination? I do not purport that I will ever do something as truly magnificent for all human kind, but at least I am putting my resources toward something. What if the money people spent on digital cameras and space heaters for their tents was instead spent on water purification systems for third world countries? What if the money for bullhorns and poster board instead went to buying food for local food pantries? Ask yourself – which is a better use of an individual’s resources?
JPM
JPM: As usual, my answer is BOTH/AND. I am all for charity but I am also for free speech and free assembly, and for nonviolent political theater. Ritual arrests and disruption of traffic may or may not be effective tactics to grow our movement. This is under discussion at our General Assembly. Some people also feel uncomfortable about marching to an undisclosed location. Molly, on her own initiative, in the free and open spirit of the Occupation, disclosed our destination in her op-ed, and so we lost the element of surprise, though I am sure the police would have guarded all the bridges anyway, because the plan for Occupy to take over bridges on November 17 had been widely reported. All 700 of us were surrounded by a legion of police cars and paddy wagons as we marched, and the ritual act of civil disobedience took place under the bridge, not on it. The police did their job of serving and protecting the people and the constitution. I am thankful for the police cordon which prevented us from being hit by cars as we exercised our First Amendment right to free speech and free assembly. I am especially thankful for the police officer who courteously helped me down a flight of stairs so I would not trip and hurt myself. I am thankful for for the gracious tone of the police officers’ conversation with the arrestees, at least our privileged civil disobeyers. They did take a calculated risk for a cause greater than themselves, and so did we who marched behind them. All 700 of us risked arrest or assault, if anybody had successfully stirred up trouble and the situation escalated to violence. Fortunately it did not. We did our thing, the police did theirs, and it was a good day for democracy, St Louis, and America. Please don’t belittle the contribution of our idealistic students, who are learning to “have a heart as they study in the belly of the beast” (as one very critical Wash U neighbor exhorted me to teach them; he had asked me, “Why are you so loyal to Wash U, why do you still work for them when they don’t even pay you?” to which I answered “I love my job and want no other,” to which he responded “Good answer,” etc.)
I am sorry if you took my remark about charity versus political activism personally. How can it be personal when I do not know you personally? How can “class war” be personal, when a social class is no more a Person than a corporation? Since the only persons I know in this discussion thread are Molly, Kait, and myself, what I say can only be personal for the three of us. I meant to commend Kait and Molly for doing something honorable, and I meant to criticize myself for not doing enough. Yes, I feel good when I perform acts of charity, good enough to go on, and become complacent.
Yes, I too feel good when I perform charity, much better than when I have to beg. When I have to beg, I feel obligated to pay it forward.
In Autumn 2009, I was teaching four courses for a starvation wage at the three termini of the Metrolink system, without health insurance or the medication I need, while my house was put up for sale the day before Thanksgiving. I attended a rally and harvest festival put on by the North Side Community Benefits Alliance, at the Shining Light Pentecostal Church, slated for demolition along with its surrounding African American neighborhood, to make way for Paul McKee’s gentrification project. One of the organizers handed me the microphone and so I spoke. I told the crowd that homelessness can happen to ANYBODY, even privileged folk like me. I told them “Please don’t give up. There is ALWAYS a way out.” When I was in grad school, my apartment was looted during a medical emergency that left me functionally blind. I had no insurance at the time. Nobody believed I would ever make it out of grad school. What could I do? I did the only thing that has ever worked for me: instead of feeling sorry for myself, I found people less fortunate than myself, and found a way to help them. There is ALWAYS something you can do” I told the crowd. This has always worked for me, and nothing else has ever worked. There is ALWAYS a way out of any seemingly impossible situation, but only if we all help each other. We cannot stand alone. My words were well received because they were spoken in a desperate situation, when I could not help myself.
Some of what I did during my grad school emergency was charity, but most was political work, because although I had no money, I had an important role to play in graduate student government, and so I could help. That is what saved me.
We all have different roles to play, at different times in our lives. I think we should be a bit more charitable to each other. I think we should not take political theater and civil disobedience so personally. I think we should be thankful for random acts of kindness, and for organized charity, and all who volunteer their time and resources. I wish I could personally thank the police officer who helped me down the stairs, and all the rest of them, the ones on the First Amendment Beat.
I stand by my remark, “What has Occupy accomplished so far? We have broken the great American taboo against open discussion of social class. We have made open discussion of social class the topic du jour. For that alone we are already a historically significant social movement.” I will now add: “We could declare victory and go home, if we have a home. Instead, we will escalate, nonviolently of course.”
I wish everybody who reads this a very happy Thanksgiving, a good day to count our blessings.