"It's not just for me; it's for the entire world. It's for you, for the cops that are out here night after night, for the unions, for teachers,” said Cerrij, a 24 year old from Mississippi, before making space on the sleeping bag – her “home” of three days – for her neighbor’s dog, Daisy. On the other side of Zucotti park, a chorus of voices could be heard, singing Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”, accompanied by a circle of drummers.
Following a call to action from Vancouver-based non-profit organization Adbusters, New York City’s Zucotti Park has been occupied in a protest now known as Occupation Wall Street (OWS) since September 17, 2011, an attempt to bring to light the alleged corruption of big businesses and the deregulated economy to light.
Protestors have been camping out in Zucotti Park, as well as participating in marches and planned protests throughout the city. Many of these actions have seen and increased involvement from the NYPD, and hundreds of arrests have been made, several followed by claims of police brutality. Politicians across the nation, both local and national, have begun to take notice of the movement.
HOW IT STARTED
Following the occupation of Tahrir Square in Egypt, Adbusters proposed a similar occupation to the Arab Spring of early 2011 on July 13, 2011, urging those upset with the current economic disparity to occupy Wall Street. On July 26, the movement went viral, spreading around the Internet, with Adbusters proposing a spread of the movement to other cities around the country and world.
As the movement gained momentum and support, on July 28 the New York General Assembly (NYGA), previously in existence for support of earlier protests, called for a public meeting to organize the occupation for August 2. In a video posted to YouTube on August 4, Larry Holmes, a NYGA leader,shouts passionately, “Let’s get the steam roller rolling”, reminding those around him that this is “only the beginning” of a protest against bank bailouts and trillions of dollars cut from different social programs.
Anonymous, a self-proclaimed “hacktavist organization and key component to the growth of the protests, joined the movement. Their video, which can be found on Youtube, proclaims“On September 17, Anonymous will flood into lower Manhattan, setting up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months.”
Within the weeks leading up to the proposed occupation, the NYGA called for donations of food and water, as well as volunteers for the Food committee, and met continuously in the weeks prior to the occupation. On September 13, occupywallst.org released an informational pamphlet of resources for protestors, including names and phone numbers of legal organizations and rights given to protestors, following a trial run of the occupation on September 8 that resulted in the arrest of nine occupiers.
On September 17, 5000 protestors marched through the Financial District, occupying privately owned Zucotti Park.
WHY PEOPLE ARE ANGRY
Regulation of the economy followed the Great Depression in order to prevent another economic collapse. Banks were expanding and joining, i.e. Citigroup, in an act made illegal after the Great Depression. However, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was passed in 1999, allowing banks to merge.
Derivatives, which allow bankers to make bets on all aspects of loans (i.e. school loans, mortgages), became a fifty trillion dollar unmonitored market by the 1990s, creating an unstable market.
Loans were easier to get, as many banks were not concerned with whether or not they could be repaid due mainly to the fact that banks received money based on their rating. During this time, annual cash bonuses to bankers spiked and bankers became extremely wealthy.
In 2008, home foreclosures skyrocketed as more people could not pay their mortgages.
The Federal Reserves took over Morgan Chase, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae as all were on the brink of collapse. The Federal Reserve bailed out the banks at the billion dollars of American taxpayers. On October 4, Bush signed a 700 billion dollar bailout.
By 2010, foreclosures had reached six million. Banks have become larger, more powerful and more concentrated since the bail out.
Gregg Rule, senior vice president of the portfolio group and financial advisor for Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney, said in email correspondence of the reasons leading up to the occupation, “A lack of job creation, a stalled economy, people losing their homes - while, at the same time - a small percentage of the population enjoys unprecedented wealth.”
POLICE INVOLVEMENT IN THE OCCUPATION
Timeline of Confirmed Major Arrests
October 1, Brooklyn Bridge: 700 summonses and desk appearance tickets issued to protestors who neglected to stay on the walkway and took over the bridge
October 15, Times Square: approximately 70 arrests made by 9 PM after groups refused to disperse, resisted arrests, etc.
Many arrests have been made since the beginning of the occupation, but the most controversy surrounding the arrests comes from claims of wrongful arrests and brutality.
Jill Nelson, author of “Police Brutality: An Anthology” and two-time participant at Wall Street, said, “"What is rare is the sight of young, white, middle class looking women being hunted down and pepper sprayed, tossed about, hand-cuffed and in some cases arrested by members of the NYPD. It says something profound about…how dehumanized, culpable and just plain low those who protect economic privilege and property are…”
Nelson refers to the Youtube video showing arrests made in Union Square, where young women are corralled and pepper sprayed by NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. Controversy followed this viral video when Bologna and his family received threats after his personal information was posted online.
Combating the many controversial arrests is the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has had representatives at the occupation every day, giving presentations and handing out pamphlets to inform protestors of their rights, according to press representative Jennifer Carnig.
MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM
The Occupy movement has spread not only nationwide, but internationally, including major cities in Spain, Germany and England. Not only large cities have participated, however; within the United States, smaller towns have begun their own occupation. One woman residing outside of Bethel, Alaska is the lone occupier in the movement, Occupy the Tundra.
Crystal M. Zimmerman of Occupy Amarillo (Texas), said of the offshoot, “We held a solidarity march and rally on the 15th….nearly 100 people showed up….As we walked, people honked in support, gave us a thumbs up, cheered for us, and some even joined in the march.”
Although far from the actual Wall Street, Occupy Amarillo is gaining momentum, with more involvement from the community, and is only one example of the many offshoots cropping up worldwide.
WHAT POLITICIANS HAVE TO SAY
"If you focus for example on driving the banks out of New York City, you know those are our jobs," said Mayor Bloomberg on his weekly radio show, on October 7th. He has openly been less than supportive of the movement on Wall Street, criticizing the movement as being damaging to city jobs.
However, many larger scale politicians have shown their support of the movement.
During the debate on October 18 in Las Vegas, congressman Ron Paul said, “I’d go to Washington as well as Wall Street. I’d go to the federal reserve. They create the financial bubble… you can’t solve these problems if you don’t know where these bubbles come from.” Other supporters of the movement include House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, GOP candidate and former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer, and GOP candidate Gary Johnson, to name a few.
Only time will reveal how politicians respond to the protesting on Wall Street. During a news conference on October 6th, President Obama addressed OWS and defended his own economic decisions, reinforcing that he supports banks and lenders who do right by their customers. However, Obama noted that this will be a process and that, “… until the American people see that happening, yes, they are going to continue to express frustrations about what they see as two sets of rules.”
No comments:
Post a Comment