BTW, I sooo didn't get anyone's name but I did meet the same guy from North Carolina that Ariel met, Mike. We only talked to two guys really, well 3 but the 3rd one was a bit weird and I didn't understand much he was saying.
So when we first got there, it was definitely an interesting set up. There were tents everywhere. We saw a bunch of guys just standing around in a circle. They had just finished a meeting and some of them were heading out.
The first guy, who was our main "speaker" so to say, he asked us if we knew much about Occupy Providence.
"Occupy Wallstreet was the first, it started off as a call to oppose the gross economic injustice, massive foreclosure , the banks robbing people, the government giving millions and millions of dollars to banks that have mismanaged their funds."
He told us how there were about 1500 locations around US. Ethan asked if they were willing to stay here as long as it takes and he said that they're willing to stay there as long as it takes, that they might not necessarily there but they'll be in different places taking action.
They started tenting out in Burnside on October 15th after they started Occupy on October 1st. Four times a week they have meetings, which is kind of like their town hall meeting where people are able to voice their opinions, proposals, vote on things and basically talk about issues on site.
Although alot of people aren't always physically there because they do have families or school but they do support the movement.
LET ME JUST SAY HOW FREEZING I GOT THIS POINT!! OMGGGG, MY FINGERS WERE ABOUT TO FALL OFF!!!
He said we looked cold and tried to move us towards the sun to talk to us lol, and Ethan called him a warrior for standing through this kind of weather. He said everyone just bundles up really warm and the cold isn't too bad. I for one hate the cold! Idk how they do it.
They had this big box in the middle of Burnside, they called it an info booth. It's kind of like a chill spot, he said they listen to beats there sometimes. I noticed they had brochures for visitors and snacks and stuff for the people staying there.
"Welcome!! The Occupation Belongs to Everyone! We are the 99% Occupy Providence is a 24 Hr a Day Protest of Corporate Irresponsibility, Mass Economic Injustice, & Wall St. Crime"
"The richest people pay the least percentage of taxes, but if anything they should be paying the highest percentage." I know a lot of the stuff he was saying is things that are pretty obvious, but just like this class, it's things we dismiss, we just say "well that's what it is" but it shouldn't be like that.
"There's jobs now but can you raise your family working at Walmart? It's all about getting a dignified job that pays a living wage...Nothing wrong with working at Walmart but if you have 3 kids and a $1500 mortgage, how are you supposed to raise a family getting $9/hr?"
He told us a fact that I didn't even know. With women accounting for more than half of the population, only 1% of the land in the world, which boggled my mind completely!!
He asked us what we learned in class and after we told him, we basically summed it up that everything we discuss in class, is exactly what they are fighting for. Equality for everyone, women being recognized as powerful and knowledgeable human beings, and realizing that we have to be the change we want to see.
Ethan asked him for one last thing to leave us with, to bring back to class:
"The fight for economic and social injustice is everyone's fight and I believe it's something MLK Jr. said, "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'
I don't know if Occupy Providence is working, I don't know where they started and how much of a change has already occured, but what I do know is that these people are sticking together in a place that is there home right now to fight for something they all believe it. They're TRYING, which is better then a whole lot of us. So why knock their hustle, ambition and motivation to make a change?
No comments:
Post a Comment