Pamphlet Handout

Here is an idea I've created to better explain the impact of OWS as a new wave of protesting through social media.  It explains how much OWS has effected the social media and its impact, how much it has impacted everywhere other than NYC, and the numbers of their followers, peers, and members through various social media tools. 

1st side

2nd side

Get to know the 99%

Along with various photos from the "We are the 99%" blog, they have also added a short video of the people who are part of the movement. Here you get to meet the members on a personal level, where they tell their words to the camera.  Some are young, old, black, white, hairy, bald. Whatever the case, they aren't just "hippies."  Many have had a prestigious education.  They have families, previous occupations, worked hard to keep ends meet, and many of them still have a smile on their face.

Just to get an idea of what the 99%ers are up against, here is a diagram taken from the occupy wall street tumblr.  The diagram compares their movement with the Tea Party movement.

What the Heck Has #OCCUPY Done So Far?

If your wondering what Occupy Wallstreet has done, heres a website that provides the most straight forward answers to that one question.

The site is simple. It simply generates various sources of what occupy movement, whether it be in New York, California, or Florida, and posts the actual activity that occupy movement has done. It also includes the source to where you can find the information piece. To go to the next source, you simply click the boxed link which will usually have different responses like "I can do that in my sleep. what else?"

Here are some posts:

Occupy Our Homes, a national coalition of Occupy-affiliated groups, has stopped numerous illegal foreclosures across the country.

Protesters organized a Bank Transfer Day, which helped credit unions add over 650,000 new members in one month (as opposed to 80,000 in a regular month), resulting in more than $4.5 billion in new deposits.

Protesters have interrupted and stopped numerous foreclosure auctions by peacefully singing.

Occupy the Farm and Occupy Berkeley have created a farm from vacant land, allowing previously unused space to be accessible and beneficial to the local community.

Despite the fact that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo campaigned on the promise that he would not enact a “millionaire’s tax,” protesters hounded him at every single stop in NYC, and set up an encampment across from the capitol in Albany. New York State now has a millionaire’s tax. You’re welcome.

Occupy Buffalo successfully lobbied to have the City of Buffalo move $45 million out of an account with JP Morgan Chase, and to transfer the money to a smaller regional bank.

Here is the site- what the heck has occupy done so far?

Who are the 99%?

Not many who view the OWS movement know who are the 99%ers are.  Many consider them "old dirty hippies" or homeless folks, or the lazy half of the country. But one website challenged that general view, a view most see on traditional media outlets like television news shows.  "We are the 99%" is a tumblr website that shows just who these 99%ers are.  These people, according to the website, are: 

"someone who doesn’t know whether there’s going to be enough money to make this month’s rent. You’re someone who gets sick and toughs it out because you’ll never afford the hospital bills. You’re someone who’s trying to move a mountain of debt that never seems to get any smaller no matter how hard you try. You do all the things you’re supposed to do. You buy store brands. You get a second job. You take classes to improve your skills. But it’s not enough. It’s never enough. The anxiety, the frustration, the powerlessness is still there, hovering like a storm crow. Every month you make it is a victory, but a Pyrrhic one — once you’re over the hump, all you can do is think about the next one and how much harder it’s all going to be."

The following photos taken from the website of ordinary people who have gone through various life experiences that have been difficult, harsh, and just down right upsetting of things no human being should have to go through. 

 

We are the 99 percent

Occupation Undermine OWS: Mainstream Media vs. Occupy Wall Street

This video discusses the general view from mainstream media of OWS


Here is a video clip of Fox News bashing OWS




Fox News is the biggest news conservative corporation, which they believe gives them more ground to ridicule liberals.  Yes they actually went to cover OWS, but in their way.  Simply covering something doesn't always show the facts.  That is the problem sometimes with tradition media.  social media has rapidly integrated into our everyday lives, allowing us to speak for ourselves whenever we want with no limits.  Traditional media is usually taking a general idea and making it a one way deal. "Fair & Balanced" is not the case for Fox News.  Just because you say something doesn't make it either right or passible for accuracy.

Occupy-One Year Later

Occupy is a network. Occupy is a metaphor. Occupy is still alive. Occupy is dead. Occupy is the spirit of revolution, a lost cause, a dream deferred.

These were the many rumored beliefs of where Occupy Wall Street was headed.  Heres is a video that shows just how strong they still are after 1 year.

#OccupySandy

We Got This (Occupy Sandy) from Alex Mallis on Vimeo.

The occupy movement has become something for the people.  Occupy Sandy is exactly that.  The Occupy movement have shifted gears in an effort to help their fellow 99%ers.  In this video, it will show what the occupy movement is doing to help out others in their time of need after Hurricane Sandy.

The Occupied Wall Street Journal Newspaper

Occupied Wall Street Journal Occupy Wall Street Journal 1st Issue

Occupy Love: A Documentary to OWS. Media Response to the Documentary

In the video author of Sacred economics Charles Eisenstein explains the motives behind the movement.  He states that the movement "isn't about the 99% defeating or toppling the 1%...thats not what its about. What we want to create is the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible--a sacred world, a world that works for everybody. A world that is healing, a world of peace." During the video, it really showed a different side of the Occupy movement, a new kind of collective culture and spiritual element that the movement may have, despite the opposite view seen from the media.  What is adherent here is that there are two sides of views of a story in anything, and for the Occupy movement, the two sides are portrayed in the media.  One way is on the television through big corporate news organizations, the other is through the average citizen.  The average citizen can demonstrate their own take on an issue through various social media mediums.  This documentary, viewed on Youtube, has roughly 318,000 views, with 6,584 likes and 226 dislikes.  The amazing thing about Youtube is that it is an archive of collective videos easily accessible to watch.  Not only that, but it has a link for the video to be shared on other social media websites to increase the viewing count.  Spreading the word has never been more viral than today, and thats why Occupy Wall Street's Movement impacted so swiftly through the use of the social media.


Website: http://occupylove.org/

We are the 99%!

the first poster Adbusters put together in 2011 for OWS

Welcome! Here is a blog dedicated to the political and social impact of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  Political activism is not something new here in America.   OWS all began with an e-mail sent to Adbusters, a culture-jamming magazine that focuses their idea of the destruction of the physical and cultural environments through commercial power, which aimed to catch the eyes of the 90,000 members has hashtagging #OccupyWallStreet.  The idea quickly expanded, and formed this massive involvement not only in America, but in other parts of the world.

OWS put together a General Assembly, which started as a planning committee into a decision-making body for the movement.  With just a few thousand dollars, the organization started making their plan of action. They focuses on tactics, fundraising, food, and and building a social media foundation to globalize their message. They expected some 20,000 people gathered from Adbusters to participate, but they weren't sure of that number.

OWS's message was this: Occupy Wall Street represents the stranglehold on American politics and society by the interests of a wealthy few, a government by the corporations and apparently for them (Schneider, 2011).

When September 17th, the day the OWS would commence, people from all over the country to help for the movement.  The number of participants was 2,000 but the number later minimized to 200. They soon settled in Zucotti Park, a park privately owned by Brookfield Office Properties. There they set up camp and turned from protesters to occupiers.

Soon after, the movement initiated their motives and got to work by protesting, holding up signs and shouting "we are the 99%!."  Along with protesting came arresting.  OWS had their fair share of disputes with the NYPD, but by September 21, videos of occupiers being grabbed and roughly seized began a series of social media tools to come into play to record what actually happened and what OWS had to say about it.

And that is generally what this blog is about.  Its how OWS utilized the technology advancements we all commonly use. From out phones with various social media applications, to traditional media on television news shows.  OWS was single handedly the most spoken out protest group of not only America, but the world.