“This is a Love Movement” Dr. Cornel West on Occupy Wall Street Movement

A status update and comments made by a friend and colleague of mine:

You know things are bad when a young person from a middle class and privileged family is as uncertain of their economic future as a young person from a poor family.

When a black kid from the Bronx doesn’t live the American dream something is wrong with that kid. He must be lazy or dysfunctional. When a privileged non-minority doesn’t live the American dream, something must be wrong with America. I don’t think so.

When you turn a blind eye to the suffering of your neighbor don’t be surprised when the suffering creeps across the yard. The social and political system in this country that contributed to the suffering of the underclass for decades was allowed by the privileged who wanted to maintain the status quo. Now that same greedy machine is biting the middle class in the ass. I think it is too late for the blame game. The damage is done. I only hope we can all learn an important lesson: The social woes of the underprivileged are the social woes of EVERYBODY. We are all connected.

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy

Richard’s status update after attending a General Assembly in Albuquerque:

Irony in action: At the Occupy Albuquerque movement this evening, after getting kicked off of Yale Park and discussing steps to take, an individual walked by and called the protesters "Idiots". The word "idiot" is descended from the Greek word, Idios, which means private person, or individual. This specifically relates to anyone who was not part of the Polis, or the political workings of Athens. The protesters were in a group, in the midst of a highly democratic decision-making process (voting on proposals) actively using their First Amendment Rights to freedom of assembly. So who's the Idiot? I love irony. :)

I think I might have been waiting for this movement for my whole life. From the outset, the occupy movement reminded me of King’s movement for the poor that never really happened. I’ve also thought often of Langston Hughes’ A Dream Deferred. Actually tons of stuff has gone through my head since I first heard about the Occupy Movement, so I am going to throw some of that together.

Two quotes of Martin Luther King Jr. that I love and have used as a signature line on emails:

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

And

"When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

I reposted this picture on facebook. I feel it’s pretty clear who is actually protesting the power and who is not.

Ani Difranco’s song Fuel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMX8QPP9t-U

Who are the police supposed to serve and protect?

Paraphrasing Brian:The homeless have been “occupying” Albuquerque for quite awhile. If you put signs in their hands, then it’s a problem.

And here are a couple of videos:College humor: We Are the 1%

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrQiGBpHVCc

Video made in support of OWS by moveon.org http://front.moveon.org/this-powerful-clip-is-exactly-why-we-support-occupywallstreet/#.TqcG2DpGEGQ.facebook

Dr. Cornel West participating in a people’s trial of Goldman Sachs. I really like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgvgHQMV6Mc

We made the front page of the Valencia County News Bulletin.

In this picture are my sons Jason and Jarryn and my husband Jim.