First Hand Visit to Occupy Wallstreet!
Last Wednesday, I got to visit some family in New York for six days, and four school days. I visited Central Park, Chinatown, Columbia and New York University, and various other places. But there was one place I had been anxious to visit and take pictures of: Wall Street and Zuchotti Park, famously now known for the campsite of the protesters against Corporate America.
As I ventured into the campsite, one thing that surprised me was how peaceful and organized the site was, and the various little shops inside. There was a first aid tent, library, and much more. I passed by little tables set up where people handed me fliers, bracelets, and pieces of information. A guy even told me, “Only girls who are anarchists are pretty!” after walking by his table.
I found that the police were actually a bit rude; they often told me to “move it” or go away. I found this pretty annoying and finally just walked away from their little group.
My favorite part of the whole experience was this man whom offered me a shirt. He told me to pick any shirt from the pile next to me, and he’ll spray paint it for me. In return, he just asked for any amount of a donation. I gave him the crumbled and slightly torn three dollar bills in my pocket, and I got a cool shirt that has the Legend of Zelda in the front, Occupy Wall Street in the back.
Though most of the world knows about Occupy Wall Street, not many actually know the reason of protest and their objective. I have done extensive research to find out the actual goal, and here’s what I’ve found out: It’s mainly about money and economics. Social inequality economy, which basically means differences in income and wealth. They think it’s not fair these people have so much money while there are families suffering from poverty. I can slightly agree with their idea, but you can’t blame a person from working hard and earning money in return.
The protesters say they plan to stay even through the winter. But yesterday, the police finally snapped. They threw them out of Zuchotti Park and trashed the tents and centers. The police have informed the protesters they can still protest, but not camp out. But I feel that this is not the last of the protesters. They will end up probably finding another way. The revolution of the twenty-first century is turning out to be something very interesting.
Signing off!
Samantha Delgado
wow i luv that u actually got a t-shirt! 🙂 lolz