Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011

Occupy Wall Street

On Sept. 17, 3,000 people assembled at Battery Park with the intention of occupying Wall Street to protest greed and corruption in the government and financial system. They didn't succeed — at least not geographically. Denied access to Wall Street, the protesters instead found a home at nearby Zuccotti Park, just around the corner from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. During the first week of the occupation, some 300 people camped out, crafted a motto ("We Are the 99%") and organized small-scale marches to protest a system that they say bailed out the banks and left everyone else to fend for themselves. It was a message that resonated. Within a month, the Occupy movement gained momentum, spreading to cities across the U.S. and around the world. Though it's hard to say at this point what, if any, long-term effects the movement will have, efforts to silence the masses — such as mass arrests, evictions from protesters' strongholds, and in some cases, incidences of alleged police brutality — have so far only served to fuel the fire. After protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park and other encampments across the country, Occupy Wall Street declared November 17 a Mass Day of Action. To commemorate the movement's two-month anniversary, protesters took to the streets in New York City and beyond to send a definitive message — It doesn't matter how long it takes, their voices will be heard.