This morning I began reading the news and some of my favorite political sites. The Urban Politico contributor, William Sullivan Jr, referenced a thoughtful article by Naomi Wolf about the rights of peaceful civil disobedience and Mayor Bloomberg's erroneous methods of dealing with OWS.
I then found a related link to 92 year old Pete Seeger joining the OWS movement. Huff-Post threw up a video from an OWS protestor at the end of an article by Christian Salazar which led with the following:
NEW YORK -- Folk music legend Pete Seeger and `60s folk singer Arlo Guthrie joined Occupy Wall Street demonstrators Friday in their campaign against corporate greed while residents near the protest park encampment pushed to regain some peace and quiet in their neighborhood.
Seeger joined in the Occupy Wall Street protest Friday night, replacing his banjo with two canes as he marched with throngs of people in New York City's tony Upper West Side past banks and shiny department stores.
The 92-year-old Seeger, accompanied by musician-grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger, composer David Amram, and bluesman Guy Davis, shouted out the verses of protest anthems as the crowd of about 1,000 people sang and chanted.
They marched peacefully over more than 30 blocks from Symphony Space, where the Seegers and other musicians performed, to Columbus Circle. Police watched from the sidelines. Huff Post 10/22/11
Looks pretty peaceful to me.
7 comments:
I am SO proud of these people! Much like the civil rights marchers of the 1960s, they've started something BIG.
Pete Seeger? You gotta love it! Naomi Wolf is right on. And those who haven't heard of an idea who's time has come will be left scratching their head.
I still don't see any pure agenda for this.It seems to be an unorganised protest with few real demands. I'm all for peaceful protest but how do hey want to achieve their ends? What are their true goals? They tried it here in Melbourne and were 'moved on' in no uncertain terms after just a couple of days protest. Having said that, I'm not on the ground. Just guided by someone who is.
The man can barely walk and he's marching with them. That's awesome.
Also, I too was dismayed to hear about the stealing, looting, fighting, etc. Things will never change if we all act like animals. And the poor stealing from the poor seems kind of silly when this whole thing is all because of the rich to begin with.
Wow, Pete Seeger is in his nineties? Where did all the time go? I think that OWS is in its infancy, and I believe it has changed the conversation already. That is wonderful! :-)
Linda@VS: hopefully so. I guess we have to wait and see how it pans out.
GM: Yes, Mr. Seeger is still the protestor. The Naomi Wolf article was a strong reminder about the effectiveness of peaceful assembly.
Baino: I wondered what the ultimate goals were until I listened to the Boston Public Radio interview with several people in the Boston OWS sit ins. They were articulate & interesting to listen to. The initial goal, as they explained it, was to call attention to the 99% who suffer as a result of the practices of big corporations as well as the financial industry. Wall Street aka Big Business, has better tax incentives & breaks than the Middle Class, as well as access and influence to Washington. By creating a movement of civil disobedience beginning at the symbolic foot of both (Wall St), they force the media to pay attention and report on it. The media has too often ignored the plight of the Middle Class by focusing on the bailouts, turnarounds and govt safety initiatives for big business, be it financial, automotive whatever. The impression I have is to retain that attention by the media on the hard facts and push for changes in policy that will no longer favor corporate America.
Beer: Seeger walks the talk. I have deep respect for that man. Just read a Disqus reply to one of my comments on The Urban Politico and the writer (lives in NYC) says the movement is "definitely not falling apart." He's concerned about Winter's approach.
Djan: I hope so. As per my previous reply to Beer, the concern is now going to shift to increasing cold weather which the politicians are most likely awaiting with smug relief.
I've been waiting to see this again for decades and thought I never would. This gives me hope.
Post a Comment