No Blacks Supporting Occupy Wall Street? Rubbish
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blacks support ows,
blacks supporting occupy wall street,
occupy movement,
occupy wall street
Black people are most definitely showing up in support of OWS.
I recently heard a news correspondent state that blacks aren’t really participating in the OWS movement.
I beg to differ. That is complete rubbish.
I attended a general assembly in downtown NYC recently and I can state assuredly that blacks are most certainly supporting and involved in this movement. At the meeting that I attended, two black women were actually leading the discussion. There were black faces scattered throughout the crowd.
We are very much involved, so please media pundits and correspondents, do not try to yet again reduce the important role that blacks play in this country. Many of us want change also.
The other point of this post is to officially state that ClassyBlackLady.com is in support of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS), Occupy America and Occupy the World movements. It is growing in power and influence around the globe. The people who are helping to organize it are very intelligent planners—many are college grads.
I have little to gain from this post. My target audience is very specific: classy black ladies. It might bring out more people who disagree with OWS than supporters, but it's still worthwhile if it serves to educate just one open-minded individual.
They Want It All
To the folks of all races and backgrounds who are still sitting on the sidelines or who think it’s funny to run around calling OWS protesters “dirty hippies” and the like, it’s time to clear the fog from around your head.
Bottomline, if you don’t clear $300,000 per year or have millions in assets, you shouldn’t be saying anything against these protesters. They are risking their freedom and working in the interest of the 99 percent of Americans who do not make over $300,000 a year. They are fighting for those who make $25,000 and try to support a family of four on that.
A few quick stats:
- The 1 percent snatched up three-quarters of the country’s economic growth between 2002 and 2006. That was right before the economic collapse - coincidence?
- The 1 percent owns 42 percent of this country’s wealth
- The 1 percent is currently holding onto approximately 1.57 trillion dollars
In short, the 1 percent now holds a very large portion of America’s wealth. Many believe that corporations and corporate interests are hoarding the money instead of hiring and waiting for America to completely collapse so that they can try to take over the government.
And the wealthiest 1 percent, never satisfied, are still trying to gather more of the wealth! That’s why a filthy rich bank like Bank of America is now charging $5 debit fees to poor and middle class account holders. That’s why you go into a major corporate-owned convenience store like 7-11 to buy a candy bar and they now charge you $1.40—double what it cost a year ago.
They decided to raise their prices in the midst of a recession—does that sound logical to you? Very logical if you’re trying to take every last red cent that poor and middle class people have in their pockets.
Even as I'm writing this post, I'm learning that Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax REFUND last year. Why does this corporation get a REFUND when millions of everyday, struggling Americans have to pay? The government basically cut them a check for doing business. Why do they need more money?
They want it all. In my opinion, they want to turn this country into a wasteland, take all the money and run.
To add insult to injury, they’re also trying to destroy social programs that help poor folks and devise a way to put the Social Security program in the hands of Wall Street crooks. (But if you’ve seen the recent AARP commercial, you know that senior citizens are simply not having it.)
The Power Is in the People
They might have the cash right now, but thankfully the power is still with the people. 99 percent versus 1 percent — you do the math.
- We can make a conscious choice to put our money into a non-profit credit union instead of using a bank like Bank of America.
- We can make the choice not to buy their overpriced sweets and either make our own at home or spend our money on a sweet apple at a local farmer's market instead.
- We can make the choice to educate our kids about entrepreneurship instead of encouraging them to go to an expensive college that takes their cash without a guarantee of a well-paying job.
- We can vote out politicians who only seem to have the interests of corporations and the wealthy in mind.
So the big question is, what can you do differently starting today?
Don’t Be a Bandwagoner
A recent poll showed that one-third (about 33 percent) of the country currently supports OWS and the Occupy movement. I imagine that a large portion of the 67 percent who don't are either 1) rich, 2) stubbornly committed to supporting the wealthy (still believing they are part of the American dream) or 3) bandwagoners.
Please don’t be one of those people who always jumps on the bandwagon after everything is said and done. There are always folks who pretend as if they were down for the cause all along but let everyone else do all the hard work.
I imagine there were a lot of people who were disgusted by the Civil Rights movement, calling the protesters “dirty,” “lazy,” “troublemakers” and all kind of names. Even some blacks had this mentality.
But when the CRM produced a massive change in politics and law in this country, then everyone wanted to claim a part of it. Don’t be one of those people who are late to the party—learn more about OWS and understand that they are working in the interest of 99 percent of this country. At least try to learn more before you judge. Then make an educated decision on whether you’ll support it.
OWS Official Website --- > http://occupywallst.org/
Move your money to a credit union (it's the same as a bank but without all the greed) --- > http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/
Read an article from BusinessWeek that explains some of the sentiments of OWS protesters:
Another from Vanity Fair that explains the dangers of having 1 percent hold nearly half of the wealth in this country:
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105
Posts
occupy wall street is a white middle class white male college grad dominate movement, history shows and shows use now that this movement is not about inclusiveness but about exclusiveness for those who are the large percentage of this movement, black folk need to awaken and learn from their past, that their movements start from with in, not from jumping at the bit to join some one elses. In reality this occupy wallstreet movement is not a universial movement as it may sound by it's name.
Anonymous, while I respect your opinion, I STRONGLY disagree. fighting wall street greed is not just a white thing, it affects us all.
In fact blacks are some of the most affected by what's happening on Wall Street. It doesn't help to simply talk about the problems in your community, you have to take action at some point. And that's what the OWS protesters are doing, blacks included. Thank you for commenting.
I strongly agree with anonymous. Using your logic in regards to bandwagoners, we are the bandwagoners. Why did we wait for disgruntled, middle class whites to protest what Wallstreet has been doing to us for decades? This movement is nothing more than a group of people who lost the little priveledge that they had and are now in danger of being in the same position as Blacks. Yea we might share the same fundamental problems but we need to place these problems in context.Once that's done, we'll realize that our problems are much different at the core, hence a seperate movement needed to accomplish our goals that are unique to us.
Haven't we learned from our past? They are looking for allies, not friends. The movement is based on strength in numbers and once the grievances of the white middle class agenda have been addressed, they will discard us. It never fails. I don't understand(well I do) why Blacks are so quick to assist everyone else's agenda but our own's. These doctrines of multiculturalism and colorblindness are what have us in this predicament now. We're so busy trying to be accepted by everyone and accepting of everyone that we disregard the problems that directly affect us. We don't see our own color and the problems associated with our color. We fight their battles because we think we are apart of their struggle when in fact we have our own struggle to take part in.
Once the status quo returns, we'll be in the same position that we were in prior to the movement. Until we come together and address problems specific to us, we'll never progress. Engaging in white minority politics will not solve our problems. I advise you to read Dr. Amos Wilson and Dr Frances Cress Welsing to get a better understanding of racism in this country and how it applies to these ideological movements(Tea Party and OWS). If it were only Blacks protesting, the same OWS protesters would have called the cops on our black asses. I am open to talk about issues and take action. Im ready to move but we need to move as a collective.
To Anonymous #2 again I ask, what movements have blacks been participating in for the past 20 years? WHEN are our black brothers and sisters going to stand up and make their voices heard in the way that OWS managed to? OWS went out to Brooklyn and other poor areas to help black families keep their homes. It's not just about their own struggles. I don't see many black organization organizing on that level to help their neighbors with their basic everyday needs. But if I did I would support them just as wholeheartedly. Why did it take OWS to get blacks in NYC to protest the stop and frisk tactics which are obviously racist? Many blacks have a very complacent view toward taking action but only want to talk about things. I like action. And yes, we need to act collectively in an organized fashion to make change.
I appreciate your contribution!