Zuccotti Park, one of the many fairly unknown and generally unassuming parks in New York City, was quiet and peaceful on the morning of September 17th, 2011. This was not to remain, however, as it would soon become the center of a global movement, and with it gain the attention of the entire world. For it was in Zuccotti Park where Occupy Wall Street (OWS), a movement in which protestors “occupy” public spaces 24/7 to bring awareness to their cause, began. This movement started as a way to bring awareness to grievances the protestors had with the actions, and the government’s response to those actions, of Wall Street banks and financial institutions before, during, and after the financial crisis in America. Occupy Wall Street has since spread to hundreds of cities around the world and has begun to incorporate additional issues beyond that of their namesake. The occupation protest that Occupy Wall Street has chosen, is an effective style of peaceful protest, which has made OWS a movement that those with similar ideologies should join or work with. Occupations of the past Occupations in general are a very effective form of protest, as it keeps the movement in the news for prolonged periods of time. This enables a stronger platform for the movement to build upon, which allows people to share their grievances, and makes those statements harder to ignore. The occupation protest has a long and storied history. One of the most recognizable examples in recent history was the occupation of Tahrir Square in Egypt; which occurred during the protests and continued throughout the resulting revolution in that country. Closer to home, the Bonus Army, a name given to a group of individuals during the great depression that went to Washington D... ... middle of paper ... ... October 16, 2011: 37. Lightblau, Eric. "Democrats Try Wary Embrace Of the Protests." The New York Times, October 11, 2011: 1. mediamatters.org. Fox's Guilfoyle: Wall Street Protesters Are "People With Absolutely No Purpose Or Focus In Life" There To Just "Dirty The Streets". September 30, 2011. http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201109300025. Milne, Seumas. "Comment: The Occupy movement has lit a fire for real change: Establishment praise for protests reflects anxiety at public anger - which now needs to be turned into political pressure." The Guardian, October 20, 2011: 31. Office of the Press Secretary. "News Conference by the President." The White House. October 06, 2011. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/06/news-conference-president. Timpane, John. "In Occupy movement, many voices, interconnected." The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 11, 2011: A03.
Carpenter, C. C. J. et al. “A Call for Unity.” Newseum. The Freedom Forum. 12 Apr. 1963. Web.
Demonstrating a form of protest that was more of an art form and a statement than riots and violence, in September 2011, people occupied New York 's financial district of Wall Street over issues that Henry David
I would recommend this book to a wide range of persons with a wide range of interests varying from global civil rights movements, political scientists, historians, social reformist, to the college student whom is activity participating in Occupy Wall Street demonstrations of 2011. In my opinion, the book is a tribute to strong journalism written f...
“This world is but a canvas to our imagination” (Thoreau). The world is quite literally a canvas for graffiti artists, and these two opinion editorials cover the desire for this medium of art to be appreciated and showcased. Eric Felisbret wrote “Legal Venues Celebrate Graffiti as an Art Form” which was published on July 16, 2014 in the New York Times. Felisbret’s article was about creating more legal venues to showcase graffiti. Kathy Grayson wrote “L.A. Graffiti Exhibition, ‘Art in the Streets,’ belongs in N.Y.C.,” which was published on June 26, 2011 in the New York Daily News. Grayson wrote her article to persuade readers that “Art in the Streets” belongs in New York. The articles were simultaneously the same and very different in their content. Even though the specific messages were diverse the purpose was to persuade the discourse community, who value law, education, and their community, into having graffiti displayed as art. These two
The working class, faced with all the struggles that capitalism puts it through, is bound to revolt against the ruling class. During the 19th century, Marx states that “the workers begin to form combinations (Trades’ Unions) against the bourgeois; they club together in order to keep up the rate of wages; they found permanent associations in order to make provision beforehand for these occasional revolts. Here and there, the contest breaks out into riots.” Today, the working class hosts manifestations and form multiple organizations to help them through their struggles. In New York, the Occupy Wall Street movement organizes marches to demand fairer laws, such as universal health
Andrew Calabrese, Virtual non-violence? Civil disobedience and political violence in the information age (2004) 6 Emerald Info 326 available at http://spot.colorado.edu/~calabres/Calabrese%20(civl%20dis).pdf
In October of 2011, the media could no longer ignore the thousands of protesters camping in Zuccotti Park calling themselves Occupy Wall Street with their battle cry of “We are the 99 percent” (Gitlin 50). The social movement began to bring awareness on economic inequality in which 99 percent of the wealth was controlled by one percent of the population. The name Occupy Wall Street began because the protestors were occupying the space outside of Wall Street through setting up tents and refusing to leave the location (Gitlin 26). As more and more protestors flocked to the camps, the movement broadened its goals to include a wide variety of issues including agriculture, housing and student loans. Described as lacking any clear-cut goals for the movement by the media, news pundits bickered over the credibility of the movement and if these protestors would create the next social revolution in the United States (DeLuca, Lawson, and Sun 491). The coverage of the movement varied from newspaper to newspaper, but the framing of coverage continued to show a disorganized, but large movement that showed no signs of stopping. As Occupy Wall Street gained momentum, the public became aware of sexual assaults occurring within the Occupy Wall Street camps. As a result of this information, media began covering these assaults as part of their Occupy Wall Street coverage.
Three weeks ago, Trump’s title elevated from GOP candidate to president-elect. Following this revelation, protests erupted and injured countless civilians and law enforcers. Even high schoolers, trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time, have been tear gassed and endangered through the protests. Yet, these protests determine nothing: on January 20th, Donald Trump will still become president. While hatred continues to simmer below the surface, protesters slowly realize that their street performances cannot ensure a better future, only a violent present. As they become discredited about the state of their country, the democrat’s anger morphs into anxiety. With a president-elect, who, in the past three weeks, has altered his platform and changed
When the United States of America was first formed, its citizens had many new rights and freedoms that they did not have in their motherland. Today; however, citizens of the United States do not share as many rights as the first immigrants had. A freedom that individuals think has been stripped away from them is the freedom to protest. This freedom has been restricted over time by the government who has set many rules and regulations on protesting laws. However, in society today, many wonder whether or not these restrictions are justified or if they break the constitutional rights of being an American.
"The Role of Civil Disobedience in Democracy." Civil Liberties Monitoring Project. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. .
In the 1960s, activists confronted white mobs and police with dignity and decorum, sometimes dressing in church clothes and kneeling in prayer during protests to make a clear distinction between who was evil and who was good. But at protests today, it is difficult to distinguish legitimate activists from the mob actors who burn and loot. The demonstrations are peppered with hate speech, profanity, and guys with sagging pants that show their underwear. Even if the BLM activists aren’t the ones participating in the boorish language and dress, neither are they condemning it. (Reynolds 2015)
In the article “Revolution in a Can” by Blake Gopnik, he states, “The most elaborate images from Egypt, Libya, and Haiti today look very much like the 1980s paint jobs on New York subway cars and warehouse facades, and yet their point is not to function as art but to work as carriers of content and opinion” (114). In other words, graffiti is used to show how people truly feel inside. This is important because in addition to being considered art, it also serves the function of expressing oneself if that freedom does not exist. As a matter of fact pieces like this can be found all over the world. They are located on the Palestinian West Bank, on a wall on Benghazi in Libya, and in Tahrir Square in Egypt. A piece of graffiti art that epitomizes this is Begging for Change by graffiti artist Meek. The work engaged the public since it was done right near a train station. It features a homeless man holding a sign that reads, “Keep your coins, I want change”. The piece radiates a very powerful message stating how money can’t solve
Reed, Roy. “Rights Marchers Push Into Region Called Hostile.” New York Times. 23 Mar. 1965: 1+
...labelled them as such (Hayward, 2006). In this case, if the label is accepted there could be more protests and riots because the individuals may believe that this is the quickest way to get the message across, UKUncuts activist also claimed within ‘The Guardian’ that ‘more high profiled campaigns could be expected’.
Activism comes in all shapes and sizes, and when someone does it in an unusual way it cannot go unnoticed. Banksy’s “The Flower Thrower” is a perfect example of this due to the fact that it’s vandalism with a deeper meaning. The man known as Banksy is a graffiti artist and a political activist, and the most intriguing thing about him is that he chooses to remain anonymous. There are many theories about his identity, one even claiming that he is a fictional character. Despite proof of his identity, several countries are on the look out for him. Many have even issued warrants for his arrest because his public works are considered vandalism. His paintings are known for making people question their everyday lives and really