Thursday, January 19, 2012

Occupy Providence

Going to Occupy yesterday was not only freeeeeeeeeeeeezeing! But it sure was an eye opener. I went with Yemi after class and decided to take pictures and read the signs and kind of just get a feel for how things were. I was very shocked to see that the park was pretty much abandoned, so when I asked Yemi if she had any insight she said that the weather is a very big factor. Which is pretty evident considering that is it very very cold out side. Yemi also told me then the movement has died down, and that they have shifted in their views.



In my post I will focus on how Occupy Providence goes hand in hand with  Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Roles of Allies as Agents of Change by Andrea  and Allan Johnson's article, Privilege, Power, and Difference. I rooted my connections not only from both article but also from Mike's post, which really helped me out.


I went to the website of Occupy Providence and this is what their "About Us" section entailed;
"Occupy Providence stands in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements throughout the world as a vehicle for socioeconomic change."
Occupy Providence is a sub section of the actual main movement of Occupy wall street. Its the representation of the 99% of the population that is being representation by the filthy rich of the 1%. They are looking for socioeconomic justice and wants the banks to spread out money evenly. Though now the movement has branch out into many different categories, that is their main focus. They get together for general meetings that occur through out the week, make signs to rally, and camp out to show what the greed of the 1% has done to their lives. They are upset about bank bail outs, foreclosures, lost of jobs and money not going to the ones in need.


Mike mentions in his blog,
"The people camping out at Occupy Providence were mainly men and a majority that I saw were white. Because these white men are fighting for financial equality, Ayvazian would classify them as allies. Johnson would claim these men have privilege and that people with privilege are the only people who can change the system.  These white men are working side by side with people of color and women for equality."

Which really brings up a good point.  Ayvazian focuses so much on how the only way this country will ever see change is if one unites with others and see that the voice of a group of people will shake grounds and create change. Ayvazian strongly believes in allies and the remarkable outcomes that comes from the support of one another, especially for the desperate need of having socioeconomic justice in this country! Not to sure on how i would feel in regards to the last part of Mike's quote in regards to the representing population in Occupy Providence were white men, because there were only about 5 when I went, I think it was just a small mix of people being there. I do know that Occupy is a mixture of people coming from various backgrounds...but the way that Mike described it, how white American men would of course gain more attention if they were speaking out that they had a problem with this, and supported the Occupy movement.

Final thoughts on Occupy:

Occupy is something that I have been intrigued by. I still do bot have a specific view, or idea behind it. It is a movement that I definitely would do more research on, and seems very interesting, and for the people of this country. I do hope that it can crate a positive change for this country and especially to balance out the inequality especially in the socioeconomic field of the society we live in!



**The pictures on this blog were from Burnside Park, in Providence, Rhode Island....from my camera!

7 comments:

  1. I thought I was the only one a bit confused. You see I understand that 1% of the population controls more than 70% of the wealth in the country, I also understand that the rest of the population fights for the 30% of the wealth. What I didn't understand from Occupy Providence was what they were actually fighting for? what do they want? Do they want the wealthy to hand out their money? I think this movement is interesting because banks can't evenly spread out money to other social classes,because it's not really theirs to distribute.

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  2. Great pictures. I'm glad you included more information on the movement and the website itself. It was a big help.

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  3. I think just as you will do Vanessa I will also do some extra research regarding the occupy movement.

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  6. Jose I was a little confused at first too, but the guy I spoke to at Occupy Providence said this sums up what they want... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8o3peQq79Q

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