Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have been pushed around, arrested, and evicted from Zuccotti Park, but still feel they are getting their point across. We move into a place fix whats wrong with the culture and move out.” said Justin Stone-Diaz, an information coordinator at Zuccotti Park For now the occupiers feel that they have not accomplished their goals and are not ready to move on.
Sept. 15th when 1500 hundred people gathered on Wall Street to let the world know that they represent the 99% that will not stand for the corruption and greed of the one percent that holds most of the wealth in the country. Seventy-Five days later, the movement pushes forward.
Occupier Enio Luka said “ In a short period of time we have made progress, we have brought the injustice that we feel to national attention, we have occupied cities around the U.S and I feel this is only the beginning.”
Occupiers have had to face their fair share of problems during their stay at Zuccotti Park. On multiple occasions such as the march over the Brooklyn bridge On Oct. 1, numerous protesters were arrested and jailed for a period of time. The incessant drumming at the park caused many who live in the neighborhood to file noise complaints against the protests. Hygiene and living conditions were so poor, it created a fear of health and safety issues and forced Mayor Bloomberg to evict the occupiers from the park and restricted them from camping there.
Before the eviction, Zuccotti Park was filled to the brim with occupiers. The idea of camping in the park was modeled after “Hoovervilles”, described Stone-Diaz. Hoovervilles were shanty towns people built and lived in when they lost their homes during the great depression. In this modern-day Hooverville, the participants started to form a small self-sufficient community. The community prepared meals, organized clothing drops where campers could change in to fresh clothes, and established a library, a information center.
Now the number of protestors who gather at the park has been reduced to those who live in New York City who faithfully go back every day to keep the fight going.
“When we were evicted, they evicted 2,000 people from all different parts of the country, those people went back home and started occupations in there cities,” said Stone-Diaz
Occupations have been seen in dozens of cities around the country each using their own models in their movements and each finding success in drawing in national attention. The movement continues to grow every day, whether it be through social media or by more people showing up at occupation sites. The youth of the nation has dedicated them selves to this fight and as Stone-Diaz said before, this occupying force is not leaving until the issues with the United States culture are solved.
“ I’m glad people from our generation are not just sitting playing video games any more but are out on the streets fighting for something they care about.” said Brittany Gay, who works near Zuccotti Park. This seems to be the idea of many of the youth of our nation. They are tired of graduating and being unemployed, tired of trying just to get by, and they are glad that people are finally fighting the injustice that is going on.
Protestors at Occupy Wall Street and other locations across the say they are ready for a long fight. There has been talk of trying to get a candidate who supports the occupy movement to try and run for president in the future. Also occupiers are now trying to move their protests into houses foreclosed by the government and vacant lots around the city.
Through the eviction and through the many issues the occupiers have had, they still feel that their messages are being heard. Occupiers around the country are not backing down. Trying to show the government that they are in this for the long haul. “ This is not a protest, this is a process, the process helps us learn how to protest,” said Diaz.