All around the country, the Occupy movement has been trying to work around ever increasing barriers that are censoring their voices. Censorship is becoming a part of our everyday world now, approved under the guise of protection. But just who is being protected and why? It certainly isn’t the people, who have been the receivers of the violence meted out by external forces. Even the term ‘occupy’ indicates strong action, and yet those who practice it are doing so with a delicacy that isn’t evident in the word itself.
I started this post with the tweet above because I’ve actually met the man that this article covers. On one of the earlier days at the San Diego Civic Center, I bumped into him and had a conversation with him and another friend of his. The reason why I reacted to this tweet is that this man, Curtis, is really a remarkably articulate and passionate man who believes in this cause with all of his heart. It showed in our exchanged words, and only strengthened my support of this movement. Curtis gave me the strength to use my own skills to push for change by highlighting the inadequacies, as I’ve been doing here and at the Urban Times (see the links on the books and more tab if you’re curious).
For all of its inconsistencies from encampment to encampment, the one consistency is the people’s belief. It doesn’t take much to understand what they want, and to want this movement to work. Because, clearly we need something to work to fix the world that we live in. Many don’t understand the message, but unless you’ve been standing still and REALLY looking closely at the world around us, you probably won’t see what so many already see. The division between 99% and 1% is not the true focus, but merely a symptom of the problem. The collective symptoms all lead to the true focus, which is that there is a lot to fix in this world and we need to administer a cure to all of the ills that we’re suffering from.
No one is insulting one specific system, no matter how convoluted Big Media tries to make the message. This team mentality that continues to instigate the ongoing battle of who’s wrong is simply a barrier that needs to be overcome so that the true work of fixing a broken system can actually begin in earnest. The time for OWS to morph into something more is at hand, and they are starting to do so. The place has become an idea, and has grown into something much more meaningful. Just like they say, “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come”. And no matter who wants to fight it, they won’t succeed in stopping this forward momentum. I truly hope that the momentum becomes a spirit that resides within each and every one of us, so that we can start to rebuild a world that’s been broken.
Antiquated systems have used their allotted time, and it’s imperative that we conceive new systems that embrace the emotions that are coming from voices heard all around the world. We’re all really looking for a single world in which we can co-exist harmoniously and democratically. Things like censorship, inequality, poverty, loneliness, and so much more are finally getting the attention that they deserve. More people need to get on board with this wish for a cure. Only then can we walk away from the ways of old that seek to separate us through selfish individualism. Individualism itself is not a problem, because each individual has something to offer to strengthen the collective (if they choose to do so). But when individualism holds the microscope on only that one individual and loses the focus on the connections that emanate, then it needs to be refocused.
This is a speech from Philip Glass to OWS on December 1, 2011 after his opera, Satyagraha, was performed at the Lincoln Center. He and many patrons chose to talk to the occupiers against the wishes of the authorities. They broke the barriers down that others erected, and embraced the idea that has been bouncing around the world. To hear the words spoken by the same man who told a story about Gandhi in this opera is uplifting, as it shows the continued connections that push OWS’ dialogue into our everyday conversations and thoughts. OWS continues in strength, if not in the same form. It is maturing into something much better, though its birth was already something wonderful.
