Hopefully by now you’ve seen pictures from some of the Occupy movement rallies. They show average citizens energized, angry, and marching. But what about the rest of the time? What do protestors do when they’re not protesting? How do you sustain passion for a cause when you’re living it 24/7?
I had the chance to go to the Occupy STL camp in Kiener Plaza and was moved by what I saw. It’s not just some conclave of dirty hippies or college students trying to skip out of class. It’s a group of people inspired by the events of the Arab spring who want to bring similar economic changes to our country. To take back the American Dream from corporate greed by raising awareness and by demanding reform in the next election cycle. How do they do this? By more than just marches. They host general assemblies, economic seminars, film screenings, and they issue policy statements. At 1:00 pm on a Tuesday the crowd was sparse, but to quote one of the organizers Paul, “We may look like we don’t have anyone here, but there are hundreds of thousands of people behind us.”
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