Are the Occupy Wall Street protesters crunchy? Yes. But they are also driven by legitimate economic grievances.
Jin Zhao and Teresa CotsirilosAfter two weeks of disparaging press and occasional pepper spray, it looks like the motley crew at Occupy Wall Street is finally getting some decent attention. Cornel West has voiced his approval. Radiohead almost sort of played a concert there. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka embraced the protest earlier today, and a collection of New York’s formidable organized labor coalitions—including the United Federation of Teachers, 1199 SEIU, and Transport Workers Union Local 100—voted unanimously to support them.
Intrigued by misinformation surrounding the protests and protesters, we recently took an irresponsibly long lunch break, hopped on the 4/5, and went down to Liberty Square to talk to them ourselves. We found a crunchy, diverse, mostly young group of people that both belied and adhered to the stereotypes imposed on them. Plenty of people were just there for the ride (“What do you do for a living?” we asked a young woman with a pink asymmetrical haircut; “I just, like, you know, fuck things up,” she said), but most of the activists we talked to were compelled to protest by legitimate grievances and systemic, socioeconomic concerns.
Our first interview was with Robert, a 24-year-old organizer from California who hitchhiked across the country in order to participate. Keep a look out for more voices from the protest throughout the coming week. You can read the Nation’s crash course on who the protesters are and what they want here.
—Jin Zhao and Teresa Cotsirilos
Jin ZhaoJin Zhao grew up in Kunming, Southwest China and received her MA in Communication from Georgia State University. Her broad interests range from progressive politics in the US, globalization issues and new media, to arts, cultures and music. She currently works as a web intern, journalist and producer at The Nation.
Teresa CotsirilosTeresa Cotsirilos is a Berkeley native who may or may not have once declared her awkward love to Jonathan Franzen in a coffee shop. She has sold pirate supplies in San Francisco, ill-advisedly irritated soldiers in Jerusalem, and taught Sex Ed in rural Namibia with nothing but condoms, determination, and a large hand-drawn diagram. A Harvard graduate, she has written extensively for Salon.com, Let's Go Travel Guides, and American Girl. She currently works as a web intern, journalist and producer at The Nation.