Profile of James Hannaham Draft One

It can truly be said that James Hannaham is a man of many talents; he admits to being a sort of renaissance man on his website, where he claims to be an “author, or writer, or something like that… perhaps novelist, but also journalist, teacher and occasional performer.”

Someone so faceted may come off as intimidating, but, attending a class with Hannaham, one realizes just how down to earth and human he actually is. He may tell the story of his tattoo – the children in school morphed his last name into the insult, “hammerhead”, which is why he now has the shark inked permanently on his arm.

Hannaham, a Yonkers native, remembers his childhood fondly, regardless of the taunts. His mother, who has since passed, was his greatest influence as a child and has continued to be through his adulthood.

Hannaham, though a published author and journalist, did not have a clear sense of what he wanted to do growing up. He majored in design in college, though the extents of his graphic work presently are funny musings about the choice of type and layout on the pages of books and magazines.

“It took me a long time to realize that what I’d always been interested in was language and words and meanings,” Hannaham said. “I was in a rock band, but I wrote a lot of odd lyrics which seemed more the point than the music.”

In 2008, Hannaham worked for Salon.com, the closest he’s come to a full-time job. He now is a freelance writer and writing professor at Eugene Lang College and Pratt Institute. His teaching is one part of his adulthood that he feels is very influenced by his mother and her parenting style. His writing, however, is more of himself. His novel “God Says No”, published in 2009, is about a closeted gay man and his struggle to accept his sexual orientation within the terms of his faith.

Hannaham is adamant, however, about separating the author from his work, which leads one to wonder how much can really be discovered about Hannaham merely through reading his work.

(need another quote here) *pending a meeting (unable to meet over break)

Living near Pratt Institute, Hannaham has strange, yet sensible, advice for living in New York City.

“Buy a piece of property in an up-and-coming neighborhood,” he says, “In a few years, your friends will marvel at how little you paid.”

*waiting on response from student for a student quote

Weekly Response (make up) 11/23

Today, the New York Times really disappointed me. I have to admit that I have yet to read the article that I am about to write on, but its content attracted me, as it took up the center of the website and seemed extremely unimportant. All I can say is that I hope to one day be paid to write articles about bulldog breeding, and have them take center-stage to greater world issues, like the leader of Yemen ending his rule, etc.

Now I have to admit I have been slightly wrong. While I still feel that this longer piece may not have deserved center stage, it was a wonderfully written article. The writer set up a scene before jumping into the piece, using fantastic details that really drew me in, even though I'd initially been opposed to reading the article. You could also tell that the writer had done his research; I felt that I was educated about something I knew relatively nothing about, but not in a patronising way - it was easy. The quotes were also great; either the writer lucked out or had a plethora of quotes to choose from, because they were quirky but added greatly to the overall piece. This piece was almost more of a feature story than a news article, and I must admit that I enjoyed reading it more than I would've liked to.

I really appreciate how the Huffington Post now has an entire online section dedicated to the OWS movement and articles relating to it. I chose to read one about a protestor passing on a note to Obama about the police brutality around the country during a hand shaking session. It was a short read, and intended to be so, but it fell a little flat for me. While I did appreciate the quotes from Obama (though indirect) and the exact text that was on the note, I would've really appreciated a comment from a protestor that was there, or someone else from the audience who witnessed when the protestors originally interrupted Obama's speech. This just makes me question what makes big news vs. small news, and where priorites are given. If it's a smaller article, is it okay to neglect certain aspects of the article, just to get a short story across? I'm personally quite confused on the appropriate way to report on a situation like this.

OWS Article - Third Draft

Carefully balancing a slice of pizza in one hand, 24-year-old Cerrij, from Mississippi, made room for her neighbor’s dog Daisy to sit on her sleeping bag – her “home” of three days. She offered the slice to her neighbor, who accepted it with a grateful smile and a nod. On the other side of Zucotti Park, located in Manhattan’s Financial district, a chorus of voices could be heard, singing Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”, accompanied by a circle of drummers.

"It's not just for me,” said Cerrij, “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.”

Following a call to action from Vancouver-based non-profit organization Adbusters, 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 an increased involvement from the NYPD, and hundreds of arrests have been made and tickets issued, many followed by claims of illegal procedure. Politicians across the nation, both local and national, have begun to take notice of the movement.

Inspired by 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 economic collapse and wealth disparity in America 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.

As the movement gained a following, Anonymous, a self-proclaimed “hacktavist” organization joined the movement, posting an online video detailing their expectations for the planned occupation.

“On September 17, Anonymous will flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months,” a computerized voice claims in the video. “We want freedom.”

Within the weeks leading up to the proposed occupation, the NYGA met continuously to plan how best to organize the occupation and provide necessities for the occupiers. A trial run of the occupation on September 8 resulted in the arrest of nine occupiers.

On September 17, 5000 protestors marched through the Financial District, occupying privately owned Zucotti Park in hopes of bringing

“You have to get things into the collective unconscious in order to change things,” said 24-year-old medic Kat Adams, who has been volunteering at the occupation since September 26, when it was still in its most nascent stages. “Someone eventually has to come up with a comprehensive idea, but first you have to get the idea out there.

This call for change by Adams and fellow protestors is the most publicized and widespread demonstration against America’s economic system since the economic collapse of 2008. However, the collapse was not a surprise occurrence; years of deregulation of the economy and poor choices on banks’ behalves plummeted the nation into an economic crisis.

“A convergence of events over the past 12 years has brought America to an impasse,” Gregg Rule, financial advisor of MorganStanley and Smith Barney, said. “We are locked into a grinding economic downturn, the great middle class is shrinking, power and prosperity have become ever concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.”

Regardless of preventative measures taken following the Great Depression, deregulation of the economy in the 1990s and new rights given to banks led to mismanagement of money.

Banks and investment groups were allowed to merge. As a result, banks could now make risky investments and loans, which had previously been the business of investment groups only.

With this change, many people were able to take out loans – including, but not limited to, mortgage loans – that they may not be financially able to pay back. When, after a short period of economic prosperity, the value of houses took a nose-dive, the amount of foreclosures on homes skyrocketed.

People were unable to pay back their loans and banks were soon buried by debt. When the market crashed in 2008, President Bush signed a $700 billion bailout of the banks, at the expense of the American taxpayers.

In addition to feeling wronged by both the government and the banks, people are frustrated with growing wealth disparity between the earnings of the top 1% and the other 99%.

In a report by the Congressional Budget Office, the disparity is clear; from 1979 until 2007 the average income for the top 1% has grown 275%, while the 99% has reached its highest growth at 65%.

“People need to start listening to us, rather than the 1%,” said a 35-year-old man from Chicago, who requested only to be known as “Joe”. Protestors have adopted this mathematical lingo as a mantra for the occupation, shouting it during marches and holding up signs emblazoned with the words “We are the 99%”.

Some members of the 99% have been detrimental to the cause – specifically those outfitted in the blue and white of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Many arrests have been made since the beginning of the occupation, the most controversial of them followed by claims of wrongful arrests and brutality.

“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,” said Jill Nelson, author of “Police Brutality: An Anthology and two-time participant at Wall Street, “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 by the hacktavist group Anonymous.

Another large controversy arose out of the police action taken on October 1, when over 700 tickets, desk summonses and arrests were made on the Brooklyn Bridge after the police seemingly allowed protestors into the roadway.

“The police permitted and led demonstrators onto the Brooklyn bridge, they were escorting the demonstration, they took them way out into the bridge and stopped the demonstration,” summarized Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which has since filed a class-action lawsuit against Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD on behalf of the demonstrators.

Yotam Marom, a recent college graduate of 25, feels that the police involvement has been used as more of a scare tactic against protestors to discourage their involvement.

“Parents that have kids can’t risk being arrested, people that have to go to work the next day can’t risk being arrested,” Marom said. “I can risk being arrested. I was held for eight or nine hours.”

However, there are some that feel that the police involvement has been entirely appropriate and even beneficial to the movement.

“We facilitate peaceful protests, that’s what we do, we do it every day,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “That is our job. This is what we do and we do it every day. Make certain people can demonstrate peacefully.”

Peaceful protesting will continue not only in Manhattan’s financial district, but also in other corners of the country and world.

The Occupy movement has spread not only nationwide, but internationally. It now includes major cities in Spain, Germany and England. Not only large cities have participated, however; within the United States, there have been occupations in small towns. 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 support.

“There are a few people that have been adamantly against what we stand for, but they typically will engage in conversation with us,” Zimmerman says. “Usually, they realize that they agree with more of what we have to say than they thought.”

One person who can’t be convinced on the pressing issues of the occupation is a man repeatedly voted into office by New Yorkers themselves – Mayor Micheal Bloomberg.

"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 protesting and occupying as being damaging to city jobs.

However, many politicians outside of New York City’s local realm have shown their support of the movement.

“It’s independent... it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused,” said Nancy Pelosi, House Minority leader of OWS. “And it’s going to be effective.”

Other supporters of the movement include congressman Ron Pail, GOP candidate and former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer, and GOP candidate Gary Johnson, to name a few.

President Obama is not without his own commentary on the happenings on Wall Street. In a news conference on October 6, President Obama defended his own decisions regarding the economy and expressed an understanding of the frustrations of the American people.

“What I think is that the American people understand that not everybody has been following the rules,” voiced President Obama. “And these days, a lot of folks who are doing the right thing aren’t rewarded, and a lot of folks who aren’t doing the right thing are rewarded.”

The responses to the protest have shown the contrast in ideals of not only the American people and politicians, but also the world. The future of the movement is unknown, especially with the coming blustery winter months.

But protestor and World War II Veteran Eddie Davis seems to be onto something, expressed in ten short words.

“We all need to band together to see a change.”

Weekly Response 11/9

Since my last post, more articles have come up surrounding the accusations against Herman Cain of sexual harassment. Almost in response to my complaints about the last article, women have now come forward without anonymity, which gives articles much more credibility. In a New York Times article this week, one of the women spoke directly to the Times, giving them a quote that made their previous articles seem much more valid, and aided the overall picture they are trying to present.

The one remaining problem with this article is the amount of secondary sources it appears to use. While the article incorporates a lot of information and quotes from people involved, not many of the people seem to be directly in contact with the Times. A lot of information was gathered from emails, televised debates/speeches, or other ways. Some of the information is presented, but without a source of where it came from, which leads me as a reader to assume that it was gathered from outside sources. I would've liked for the reporters to get in contact with the people they used to verify information and get personal quotes to use.

While direct quotes from Cain were gathered at a news conference, which seems to make it appropriate, I can't help but wonder if such a high profile newspaper as the New York Times could not get an interview with Cain himself - or at least five minutes on the phone to see if he could provide some sort of commentary.

The second article that I found interesting is from The Guardian, and its placement, rather than its content, is what first grabbed my attention. The article is about Eddie Murphy quitting as this year's host of the Oscar's. This seemed to be the feature story, taking up the largest portion of the page, with a huge picture of Eddie Murphy. What made this interesting was the articles that juxtaposed the Murphy one - much smaller, beside this article, were articles pertaining to the economic crisis in Greece, climate change, and new policies in Iran. I found it frustrating that an entertainment article - specifically an American entertainment article - took center stage next to articles handling much larger and effecting issues. I guess this is really commentary on what grabs readers, and what doesn't.

The actual article was very well-written, however, and I was really impressed by the way the journalist handled the true subject - producer Brett Ratner's reignation after criticism for using a homophobic slur. The journalist managed to present information and quotes surrounding Ratner and his offensive slur, while also giving a little insight into Ratner's sense of humor. For me, this article wasn't so accusatory and one-sided, as it very well could have been. It seemed to give two sides to an individual who already has been widely persecuted.

Weekly Response 11/2

The first article that piqued my interest was from the New York Times, composed by three journalists on the accusations against Herman Cain surrounding sexual harassment. Interestingly enough, only the day before an article had been posted quoting Cain saying that the accusations were unfounded. However, this article describes a pay-off a woman received after reporting that Cain had made her uncomfortable while working for the National Restaurant Association.

One aspect of this article that I found very interesting was the omittance of names of people that provided the Times with the information. While I understand the need for anonymity in such a high profile article, it had an negative effect on me as the reader. For some odd reason, I wanted to know exactly where these claims come from, even though I believe them already. By further supporting the article using information that "friends" of the victim gave to the Times, I was even more impacted. The term "friend" relayed to me a certain relationship with the victim - one that may have an effect on what was said, and what they believed to be true.

This weak support only improved halfway through the article when the woman's lawyer was quoted, and a name was given. Finally, I had a trusted source to help me comprehend the article. The journalists also did a great job of quoting him in an appropriate manner. However, I would've preferred to see this quote higher up in the article, as the claims seem to just be hearsay until that moment.

An article for the Baltimore Sun about a bypassed death penalty used quotes in a journalistically appropriate manner, though I felt that they did not add as much to the article as they should have. While I understand the importance of including quotes in any article, this article made me realise the detriments of having extremely dry quotes. The quotes were boring, dry and didn't add much to the comprehension and interest of the article. There was only one good quote, that offered one lawyer's passionate words about the case. The rest of the quotes merely reiterated what was said in a manner that I found completely unnecessary. Striving for a combination of the two (interesting and comprehensive) would, for me, be ideal for an article.