Updates on Occupy Wall Street Protests
Updated September 24, 2011
This weekend, people converged on New York City and Wall Street for a new round of protests against international capitalism. The time is ripe for a rejuvenated anti-capitalist movement, given the global economic crisis, the expanding class war by the rich against the poor, and economic austerity measures being inflicted on working people. Even New York mayor Bloomberg is warning that economic riots are coming to the United States.
The Occupy Wall Street protest was called by Adbusters magazine and includes other groups.
Wall Street protests enter 11th day- Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Regards Protest As Terrorism?
- Occupied Wall Street: Some Tactical Thoughts
- Occupy Wall Street Protest Enters Second Week; 80 Arrested at Peaceful March
- Wall St. Protesters Show the Way
- Senior NYPD Officer Accused in Wall Street Pepper-Spray Incident Subject of 2004 Investigation
- Pepper Spraying Cop Was Named In Civil Rights Complaints For 2004 Anti-Bush Protests
- Wall Street Is Occupied - And The Mainstream Isn't Reporting It
- A Message from Occupied Wall Street (Day Nine)
- Anonymous names officer who pepper sprayed Occupy Wall Street protesters
- David Graeber: Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination
- Ted Rall: Occupy Main Street
- The call to occupy Wall Street resonates around the world
- "Occupy Wall Street": Thousands March in NYC Financial District, Set Up Protest Encampment
- Protesters Converge on Lower Manhattan, Plan 'Occupation'
- Wall Street Protest Begins, With Demonstrators Blocked
- Thousands to protest on Wall Street for US Day of Rage September 17, 2011
- Photos: Anonymous's Occupation Of Wall Street
- Protests show disillusionment with Wall Street capitalism
Hashtags: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Five things about Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street continues after one week and even though the composition of the crowd and the tone of the occupation changes day by day and there are many things I could criticize here are a couple of things I've been exited by:
1) The event is unusual for nyc because it is a mixture of out-of-towners and locals creating a political space together that lasts for more than a single march where everyone coalesces for one day and then disperses back to their home bases. That means a mixture of politics and also a spectrum of people's ability to articulate their politics.
2) The occupation is not about hating the NYPD. Even though the NYPD have acted in a predictably brutal manner as everyone has seen in the videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbOXXOrx6FY). But there does not seem to be the local nyc activist's disgust and rage towards the NYPD among the occupiers which just might free up a lot of energy.
3) The occupiers are tough motherfuckers. No way could I sleep under a tarp for a week getting rained on and poked in the side with NYPD rules, surveillance and arrests.
4) It's a non-violent occupation. It's not about fucking shit up. Even Jason Ahmadi, the young man being dragged across the pavement and bloodied by the NYPD in the above video, seems to be a committed non-violent activist in the Ghandian tradition (caveat: it could be another Jason Ahmadi in the video below):
http://dotsub.com/view/96cbcbc8-b195-4bf4-affb-d182d3310555
5) It is a consensus based occupation. I have lots of problems with the consensus process but I have to admit that it seems to be working in this situation. Perhaps its working because the process needs something is very much at stake. When the consensus process is carried out without a sense of something being very much at stake then it becomes empty ritual.
Andy
