{"id":680,"date":"2011-10-10T21:39:49","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T21:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hallieqbrown.wordpress.com\/?p=680"},"modified":"2011-10-10T21:39:49","modified_gmt":"2011-10-10T21:39:49","slug":"what-i-saw-at-occupymn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/what-i-saw-at-occupymn\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Saw at OccupyMN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By now, most Americans have heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement.\u00a0 Most Americans know that the protests have something to do with rising income inequality and the growing concern over corporate influence on our politics.\u00a0 Beyond that, however, questions linger \u2013 questions like \u201cwho are these folks?\u201d and \u201cwhat, exactly, is it that they want?\u201d<\/p>\n

Last weekend, I decided to investigate these questions for myself at the Government Plaza in Minneapolis, where an ongoing event is being held in solidarity with OWS.\u00a0 When I stepped off the light rail late Friday afternoon, I was greeted by a large sign that read \u201cWelcome to the People\u2019s Plaza.\u201d\u00a0 Around the sign, a crowd of mostly young people gathered, some beating hand drums and others chanting familiar slogans like \u201cwe are the 99%\u201d and \u201cthis is what democracy looks like.\u201d\u00a0 Another group of protestors stood along 3rd<\/sup> Avenue holding signs and cheering as cars honked and bicyclists rang their bells.<\/p>\n

Thirty or so minutes later, I noticed that a large rally had begun on the plaza.\u00a0 An American Indian man recounted the various injustices committed against his people by the US government.\u00a0 Particularly striking were the statistics he gave that 80% of American Indians are currently unemployed and that \u201cwe have been living in a recession for 200 years.\u201d\u00a0 He was followed by two women from the Minnesota Nurses Association, who explained that they were taking to the streets because \u201cit\u2019s always worked for us,\u201d adding that \u201cpeople think solidarity is just a union word . . . but it\u2019s all of us together.\u201d\u00a0 An organizer outlined several goals for the movement, including ending all of the following: corporate personhood, the Federal Reserve, free trade, and fossil fuel and nuclear dependency.\u00a0 The protestors are nothing if not ambitious!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of the more common criticisms of OWS is that it lacks focus and a cohesive message.\u00a0 As I listened to these speeches, I began to wonder about this myself.\u00a0 What did it all amount to?\u00a0 Talking to demonstrators did little to address my question.\u00a0 One demonstrator told me he wanted OWS to be a left-wing movement, and said he wished the Ron Paul supporters (of which there were many) would go home.\u00a0 Another, who held a sign that read \u201ckeep high tech and creative jobs in the United States,\u201d said he had been responsible for outsourcing at a large firm, only to have his own job outsourced.\u00a0 For him, free trade was the issue.\u00a0 And then there were the anti-Federal Reserve libertarians.<\/p>\n

A bit of online research helped clear the air.\u00a0 In an interview with Utne Reader<\/a>, event organizer April Lukes-Streich explains why the movement\u2019s aims have remained open ended:<\/p>\n

\u2026because we wish to give voice to the 99 percent of Americans who do not currently\u00a0 have a meaningful voice in politics and economics in America, we are unable to present a\u00a0 list of cohesive demands in the way that many people seem to think we should.\u00a0Ordinary people of all political persuasions are part of the 99 percent; what we want is not to all agree on policy or legislative issues, but to bring voice to the people to engage in meaningful, constructive debate about these issues without moneyed interests influencing\u00a0 the process and manipulating ordinary citizens.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This, of course, raises the question as to whether the protestors do in fact represent the 99%, or if (as their critics would contend) they amount to little more than a motley band of left-wingers.\u00a0 After perusing the OWS Tumbler page<\/a> in which ordinary Americans share their stories of economic woe, Ezra Klein reaches the following conclusion<\/a>:<\/p>\n

. . . what gives their movement the potential for power and potency is the masses who just want the system to work the way they were promised it would work. It\u2019s not that 99 percent of Americans are really struggling. It\u2019s not that 99 percent of Americans want a revolution. It\u2019s that 99 percent of Americans sense that the fundamental bargain of our economy — work hard, play by the rules, get ahead — has been broken, and they want to see it restored.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is consistent with what I observed.\u00a0 Many of the young people at the Government Plaza spoke of student loan debt and shrinking job prospects.\u00a0 A middle aged woman lamented that this is the first generation that will not do as well as its parents.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there is a utopian streak to the movement that is difficult to ignore.\u00a0 Before leaving on Friday, I attended the General Assembly meeting at an adjacent park, where demonstrators gathered to collectively make decisions regarding finances, events, public safety, media outreach and other matters.\u00a0 At one point, when a facilitator explained that only selected committee members had the authority to spend money, a young man stood up and protested that this was an \u201cauthoritarian\u201d measure.\u00a0 Because the GA is supposed to be a \u201chorizontal system\u201d in which \u201call share the power\u201d the man\u2019s comment led to a lengthy, but probably unnecessary digression.<\/p>\n

So it would appear that Ezra Klein is mostly right: 99\"\"<\/a>% of the 99% taking to the streets are doing so because they want to see the fundamental bargain of our economy restored.\u00a0 Yet the past thirty years have taught us just how much power 1% of any given population can have, and it would be a shame to see legitimate grievances sacrificed at the altar of utopian fantasies.<\/p>\n

One final observation. As many within the African American community are painfully aware, this recession has hit people of color particularly hard. According to CNN Money<\/a>, “black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%.” One would expect these numbers to be reflected in the OccupyMN demographics, but my overall sense was that people of color were somewhat underrepresented. Further outreach and greater inclusivity are clearly needed if the movement is to acheive its desired “99%” status.<\/p>\n

For more on OWS, <\/em>check out this helpful primer<\/a> from Ezra Klein. For details on OccupyMN and its activities, visit their website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By now, most Americans have heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement.\u00a0 Most Americans know that the protests have something to do with rising income inequality and the growing concern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[56,57,58,59,60,61,62],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-st-paul-community","tag-economics","tag-ezra-klein","tag-government-plaza","tag-occupy-wall-street","tag-occupymn","tag-ows","tag-protest","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallieqbrown.org\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}