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Nov 26, 2011, 11:20:01 AM11/26/11
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http://www.truth-out.org/giving-thanks-occupation-election-demonstrations/1322072168
Giving Thanks for the Occupation, Election, Demonstrations
Thursday 24 November 2011
by: Leo Gerard, Campaign for America's Future | Op-Ed
I want to thank you, thank you
Thank you, thank you,
Thank you, thank you,
Thank you, thank you. ~ Natalie Merchant, "Kind and Generous"
This week's holiday mandates giving thanks. For many Americans, that is
complicated by the harsh years since 2008.
There's the bitterness of lost jobs, foreclosed homes and diminished
opportunity. There's the resentment over bailing out Wall Street, then
watching banksters grant themselves sensational bonuses while denying Main
Street loans to save businesses. There's the fear generated by county club
conservatives demanding draconian cuts to Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid.
It's hard to muster gratitude while suffering, to feel appreciative while
dreading a meaner future.
The past two months, though, produced glimmers of hope -- the occupation,
the election and the mid-November demonstrations. These events suggest
empowerment of the 99 percent and emergence of change. They're reason for
thanks giving, especially by those formerly in the middle class who will for
the first time experience this holiday without the traditional feast.
Change began in September with the launch of Occupy Wall Street. Previously,
the disaffected had rallied and protested. The newly-homeless had held
signs. The jobless had marched on Wall Street, the epicenter of the economy's
crash. But this was different. These rabble-rousers didn't protest and go
home. They dug in. They offered no end date for their cries for justice.
Like the sit-down strikers who inhabited the General Motors plant in Flint,
Mich. for 44 days in 1936 and 1937, these protesters are determined to stay
as long as necessary.
The New York occupiers' gumption and message - "we are the 99 percent" --
inspired a movement worldwide. Activists encamped in more than a 1,000
cities. And when police tried to rout them, the occupiers defied the
official oppression, just as the sit-down strikers did. Emblematic is the
84-year-old Oakland, Calif. protester who said after police pepper sprayed
her in the face that the experience energized her.
Giving Thanks for the Occupation, Election, Demonstrations
Thursday 24 November 2011
by: Leo Gerard, Campaign for America's Future | Op-Ed
I want to thank you, thank you
Thank you, thank you,
Thank you, thank you,
Thank you, thank you. ~ Natalie Merchant, "Kind and Generous"
This week's holiday mandates giving thanks. For many Americans, that is
complicated by the harsh years since 2008.
There's the bitterness of lost jobs, foreclosed homes and diminished
opportunity. There's the resentment over bailing out Wall Street, then
watching banksters grant themselves sensational bonuses while denying Main
Street loans to save businesses. There's the fear generated by county club
conservatives demanding draconian cuts to Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid.
It's hard to muster gratitude while suffering, to feel appreciative while
dreading a meaner future.
The past two months, though, produced glimmers of hope -- the occupation,
the election and the mid-November demonstrations. These events suggest
empowerment of the 99 percent and emergence of change. They're reason for
thanks giving, especially by those formerly in the middle class who will for
the first time experience this holiday without the traditional feast.
Change began in September with the launch of Occupy Wall Street. Previously,
the disaffected had rallied and protested. The newly-homeless had held
signs. The jobless had marched on Wall Street, the epicenter of the economy's
crash. But this was different. These rabble-rousers didn't protest and go
home. They dug in. They offered no end date for their cries for justice.
Like the sit-down strikers who inhabited the General Motors plant in Flint,
Mich. for 44 days in 1936 and 1937, these protesters are determined to stay
as long as necessary.
The New York occupiers' gumption and message - "we are the 99 percent" --
inspired a movement worldwide. Activists encamped in more than a 1,000
cities. And when police tried to rout them, the occupiers defied the
official oppression, just as the sit-down strikers did. Emblematic is the
84-year-old Oakland, Calif. protester who said after police pepper sprayed
her in the face that the experience energized her.
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