WORD VIRUS: FACES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Sunday, October 2, 2011

FACES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

FACES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The #OCCUPY WALL STREET movement is going into its third week in New York City, with dozens more cities across the United States joining in with their own grass-roots actions. Corporate media coverage has been nearly non-existent, and reportage that exists is often far from objective and loaded with demeaning stereotypes designed, I think, to trivialize the growing power of this movement.

Consider the example from NPR below:

New York Unions Vow To Support Wall Street Protesters : NPR
www.npr.org
"The rag-tag group of youths protesting against Wall Street have been dismissed by some as disorganized. But, now, organized labor is joining their cause."

The above story cultivates stereotypes ("rag-tag youths" and hippies), and NPR even posts a Getty image of a "hippy" giving a peace sign. Why not post a photo of the 700 protesting airline pilots in uniform; senior citizens; children; workers, and all the rest of this very diverse crowd.

NPR I guess is money-pressured to toe the corporate line these days too.

All the suppression and manipulation of news connected to the Occupy Wall Street movement means, I think, that someone is afraid.

In fact, the Occupy Wall Street protests are the first genuine grass-roots political activity this country has experienced in a very long time. Unlike the Tea Party, there is no corporate or billionaire monies behind us. We are endorsed by no political party. We are Americans seeking justice and fair play. We will no longer tolerate corporate socialism while our fellow citizens are evicted from their homes, deprived of jobs and reasonable wages and benefits, and, in general, made to pay even more for the criminal activity of the greedy few.

This movement is not evolving in a linear fashion. There is no power group, so far, sitting around a table carving out a tablet of rules and direction. I've participated in the growth of this thing. From many, one, is an anarchic process. Believe me, allowing everyone to speak at SDS meetings back in the day was probably the biggest reason armed revolution didn't break out. Be that as it may, these are different times. For every protester on the street, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of like minds prepared to take action on many levels. They are connected like no grass-roots movement ever was. Most important, the "grass roots" is the world!! I talk with rag-tag youth in the UK, Greece, Spain...and the Middle East. What is needed will be created.

The New York City #OWS has many, many faces and here are a few of them: