| OCCUPY TOGETHER | United States |
'Occupy Movement', a Single Cord Can Carry a
Message
Message
| Occupy Together posters by Eric and Deanna L. |
| By Eduardo Barraza | October 14, 2011 |
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Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Phoenix, Arizona
| HISTORY IS ABOUT TO CHANGE Grassroots Journalism |
|
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An embryo of a social movement begins to take shape.
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Phoenix, Arizona – Imagine a party where ninety nine percent of the attendants didn’t get a
slice of pizza because one percent of the partygoers eat it all. The majority is angry because
the pizza was supposed to be for everybody. This happens at the next party, and the next,
and the next. The same one percent always gets to eat most of the food. Now, the ninety
nine percent is not only hungry, but fed-up with the gluttony of a few who have continuously
taken what was supposed to be for them. You bet: the party is over; so over.
slice of pizza because one percent of the partygoers eat it all. The majority is angry because
the pizza was supposed to be for everybody. This happens at the next party, and the next,
and the next. The same one percent always gets to eat most of the food. Now, the ninety
nine percent is not only hungry, but fed-up with the gluttony of a few who have continuously
taken what was supposed to be for them. You bet: the party is over; so over.
| Multimedia Coverage |
Map shows spread of actions
Are protests less effective
today?
today?
Marches and protest work in
more than onew way
more than onew way
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For millions of people living in the United States, the party
has been over for years now. They have seen this
disparity illustrated in the scenario above happen in their
own lives. Therefore, they have increasingly and
understandably become fed up with a reality that has left
them jobless, homeless and hopeless.
Older and younger people, educated and uneducated,
have found themselves at a dead end situation and in a
scenario of despair and, now, confrontation. They have
taken their personal frustrations to the streets to
illustrate the statistics in government’s reports not
understood by everyone. But these men and women
understand; they’re the real people who make up that
data.
It is this harsh reality of millions of unemployed and
uninsured individuals who have seen their sense of
stability gone with the recession that we now see in the
form of street protests and sit-ins. They have emerged
from the unemployment lines, the food banks, the
unsuccessful job interviews, the shelters to form a
homogenous mosaic that, whether we like it or not,
depicts the widespread socioeconomic reality of the
United States.
This reality is well known and evident at social and
government agencies who work with the unemployed, the
homeless, and the uninsured. The “occupy movement,” on
the contrary, has made this underprivileged crowd visible
to everybody, to both people who can’t understand
neither their situation nor their drastic actions and folks
who have been there and walked in the same shoes. In
any case, the “on your face” approach taken by
individuals who have occupied Wall Street, and now
almost every other major city in the country, finished to
collapse whatever was left of a facade.
When millions of people are in a similar situation, one
single cord can carry a message to all parts of the body.
The message hits a nerve, a light bulb goes off. An
embryo of a social movement begins to take shape. No
need to try to convince, persuade or indoctrinate. Even
propaganda dies at the hand of genuine popular artistic
expression.
Call this embryo a forest fire of frustration and protest.
Call it a social earthquake with an epicenter in New York
that is now shaking almost every major city in the U.S.,
and spreading as fast as an internet virus. Or a tsunami-
like wave that sounds the alarm of revolution, enlisting
millions of unemployed, underemployed, and poor
Americans.
The widespread effect the “occupy movement” is having
all over the nation, and even in other countries, has been
possible only because the demands of a few exposed in
public areas of New York are the same demands of people
all over the nation. Organizers of social causes of all sorts
wish they had the same replication effects. But that
belongs to a real people’s movement with a cause so
common most people find it on their empty tables or at
their next door neighbor’s.
Thus, in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, the echo of this alarm
is being heard, mobilizing at least a few thousand to
spread that fire, to replicate the temblor, and to ride on
that gigantic wave that calls to occupy public spaces in
downtown areas across the land.
has been over for years now. They have seen this
disparity illustrated in the scenario above happen in their
own lives. Therefore, they have increasingly and
understandably become fed up with a reality that has left
them jobless, homeless and hopeless.
Older and younger people, educated and uneducated,
have found themselves at a dead end situation and in a
scenario of despair and, now, confrontation. They have
taken their personal frustrations to the streets to
illustrate the statistics in government’s reports not
understood by everyone. But these men and women
understand; they’re the real people who make up that
data.
It is this harsh reality of millions of unemployed and
uninsured individuals who have seen their sense of
stability gone with the recession that we now see in the
form of street protests and sit-ins. They have emerged
from the unemployment lines, the food banks, the
unsuccessful job interviews, the shelters to form a
homogenous mosaic that, whether we like it or not,
depicts the widespread socioeconomic reality of the
United States.
This reality is well known and evident at social and
government agencies who work with the unemployed, the
homeless, and the uninsured. The “occupy movement,” on
the contrary, has made this underprivileged crowd visible
to everybody, to both people who can’t understand
neither their situation nor their drastic actions and folks
who have been there and walked in the same shoes. In
any case, the “on your face” approach taken by
individuals who have occupied Wall Street, and now
almost every other major city in the country, finished to
collapse whatever was left of a facade.
When millions of people are in a similar situation, one
single cord can carry a message to all parts of the body.
The message hits a nerve, a light bulb goes off. An
embryo of a social movement begins to take shape. No
need to try to convince, persuade or indoctrinate. Even
propaganda dies at the hand of genuine popular artistic
expression.
Call this embryo a forest fire of frustration and protest.
Call it a social earthquake with an epicenter in New York
that is now shaking almost every major city in the U.S.,
and spreading as fast as an internet virus. Or a tsunami-
like wave that sounds the alarm of revolution, enlisting
millions of unemployed, underemployed, and poor
Americans.
The widespread effect the “occupy movement” is having
all over the nation, and even in other countries, has been
possible only because the demands of a few exposed in
public areas of New York are the same demands of people
all over the nation. Organizers of social causes of all sorts
wish they had the same replication effects. But that
belongs to a real people’s movement with a cause so
common most people find it on their empty tables or at
their next door neighbor’s.
Thus, in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, the echo of this alarm
is being heard, mobilizing at least a few thousand to
spread that fire, to replicate the temblor, and to ride on
that gigantic wave that calls to occupy public spaces in
downtown areas across the land.
Nevertheless, the strategy of occupying public spaces should not last for too long. Hopefully,
those who have made use of this method know that is the initial drastic measure to create
the awareness necessary to spearhead a movement of really effective, multiple actions that
will bring a social change of greater proportions.
those who have made use of this method know that is the initial drastic measure to create
the awareness necessary to spearhead a movement of really effective, multiple actions that
will bring a social change of greater proportions.
Eduardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Photo Gallery: Occupy Phoenix