Occupy Together
I don't recall anyone asking me, but I thought I would venture some thoughts on #OccupyWallStreet. Yesterday, 700 were arrested at The Brooklyn Bridge. The crime was blocking the Brooklyn Bridge. What first struck me about that was a clip I had just seen from Bernice Johnson Reagon . She commented that when she first got into activism, about 700 people had just been arrested. She said that that was the most people ever arrested at one time (maybe she just meant in the Civil Rights Movement). This gave me a good frame of reference that this was a huge arrest, though I would be interested to see some more about this.
Of course, from the attention paid by The Media, one would never deduce that this was an event of somewhat historical importance. Indeed, our brothers in the field of journalism seem stuck on the fact that there just aren't any clear goals. Its all a mishmash. Whats the point? One could only assume that if they could just narrow this down to a clear goal, then we could all get on board. But no, bunch of white kids from good families just makin' fools of themselves.
What I wonder is if the fact that it isn't just one goal even more disturbing. It's many things right now, and people understand that our political leaders are simply one more factor leading to a general hopelessness. I think the orange netting is actually a good analogy for how many of us feel. Its just hemmed us in from all sides until we are herded together like cattle. Voting isn't going to get us out. The President isn't going to get us out. Nor the congress nor the church.
One of my favorite songs of all time is by Elis Regina called Como Nossos Pais. The line that always sent chills up my spine was:
Elles venceram
E o sinal esta fechado para nos, que somos jovems.
It was written during the Dictatorship in Brazil. I won't bother to shred it into English, but the gist is that the enemy has won, and that we are simply sidelined.
Of course, from the attention paid by The Media, one would never deduce that this was an event of somewhat historical importance. Indeed, our brothers in the field of journalism seem stuck on the fact that there just aren't any clear goals. Its all a mishmash. Whats the point? One could only assume that if they could just narrow this down to a clear goal, then we could all get on board. But no, bunch of white kids from good families just makin' fools of themselves.
What I wonder is if the fact that it isn't just one goal even more disturbing. It's many things right now, and people understand that our political leaders are simply one more factor leading to a general hopelessness. I think the orange netting is actually a good analogy for how many of us feel. Its just hemmed us in from all sides until we are herded together like cattle. Voting isn't going to get us out. The President isn't going to get us out. Nor the congress nor the church.
One of my favorite songs of all time is by Elis Regina called Como Nossos Pais. The line that always sent chills up my spine was:
Elles venceram
E o sinal esta fechado para nos, que somos jovems.
It was written during the Dictatorship in Brazil. I won't bother to shred it into English, but the gist is that the enemy has won, and that we are simply sidelined.
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