Friday, November 18, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY / #OCCUPY MOVEMENT

 From boingboing:
"Earlier this evening, tens of thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters marched throughout New York City, many making their way on to the Brooklyn Bridge, carrying LED candles and chanting. As Occupiers took the bridge in a seemingly endless sea of people, words in light appeared projected on the iconic Verizon Building nearby:

"99% / MIC CHECK! / LOOK AROUND / YOU ARE A PART / OF A GLOBAL UPRISING / WE ARE A CRY / FROM THE HEART / OF THE WORLD / WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE / ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE / HAPPY BIRTHDAY / #OCCUPY MOVEMENT / OCCUPY WALL STREET / list of cities, states and countries / OCCUPY EARTH / WE ARE WINNING / IT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING / DO NOT BE AFRAID / LOVE."


Mark Read, 45, the person behind the project, said,
"We are the 99%," everyone knows that one. "We are unstoppable, another world is possible," a bunch of chants that have circulated around. "We are winning." There's one you'd see internationally, when Zapatistas are marching on the zocalo, and it circulated thorugh radical circles. "Failure isn't possible," is another I wanted to use, which I don't think made it in there. 
And "It's the beginning of the beginning." I loved that one. So frequently, things happen in the world that make it feel like we're at the beginning of the end. But -- "the beginning of the beginning," what a radically optimistic statement that is. 
The scale of the environmental and economic crisis we are facing, it's extraordinary. This movement is a response to that crisis. Our leaders aren't responding to any of that in a way that is commensurate to the crises we face. And that one sign has always spoken to me. We have to throw off our despair about the future world we might be facing, because if we come together as people and humanity, we can change it. And what Occupy Wall Street makes me feel is that for the first time in a long time that might be possible. 
That means a lot to me. This is choosing hope over despair. This is actively and resolutely making that choice. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be over in two months. It's not going to be just the result of conversation..."
I'm with you, Mark! That means a lot to me too, choosing hope over despair, when I am *so* angry about so much that I want to bite people, and not in a fun way. Thank you to you and your crew for making a beautiful thing. Thank you  #OCCUPY MOVEMENT.