Photos (L to R): Linnea M. Palmer Paton (Credit: Paul Talbot at NERE Photography); David Oloroso (far left); Occupy Bloomington
The 99 percent: "Occupy" and youth, still going strong
October 12 , 2012
by Priya Mirmia, 15, and Carmela Verderame, 12
INDIANAPOLIS, IN—Not since the ’60s has the United States seen a youth-driven group capture the attention and imaginations of activists nationwide. One year ago, the Occupy movement began rallying youth from Wall Street to Oakland in the name of economic justice on issues both national and local.
Occupy has its shortcomings—it has been criticized for not having a concrete agenda, its demonstrations are often messy and disorganized, and it has been short-lived in some areas. Nevertheless, Occupy did change the face of activism and how groups use technology to recruit and organize its activists. Its trademark sit-ins have been emulated for a variety of purposes, and its organizing slogan, “We are the 99%!” has shaped conversations and attitudes across the country.
The word “activism” usually conjures up images of huge gatherings and picket signs. While these images are consistent with the wide-scale protests of the 1960s and Occupy, Occupy also moved many forms of activism behind the scenes.
Deana Rohlinger is an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University specializing in social movements and mass media. She took particular interest in the operation of the Occupy movement in her city. “A lot of people try to dismiss social media, but the college students in Tallahassee would let the community know what they needed. So they would say, ‘We need tents.’ ‘We need blankets.’ ‘We need some food’ or ‘We need toilet paper.’ They would also say, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’ ‘Here’s where we’re meeting and having working groups,’” she said. “It can be a very, very, very effective tool for communicating, not only internally, but also to reach a broader public, especially those people who just can’t be involved.” Occupy made getting involved easy—either show up at an encampment or follow the activities of demonstrators on Twitter or Facebook.
Youth and the Tea Party
Despite the benefits that Occupy offers to youth hungry for political activity, it does not appeal to most conservative youth. For those activists, there is the Tea Party, which also was founded by a young adult.
In February 2009, Keli Carender was 28 when she held her first rally in Seattle to protest the $787 billion stimulus approved by President Obama. It attracted about 120 like-minded demonstrators, but it was also just the beginning. Three days later the movement was tagged “Tea Party” by CNBC correspondent Rick Santelli, and the rest is history.
The Tea Party defines itself as a movement involving a constellation of local groups as well as several national coalitions. They all share a strict interpretation of the Constitution and support reduced government spending and taxation. The Tea Party generally endorses Republican candidates though also supports some Libertarians.
Jessica Williford, 20, of Fuquay-Varina, N.C.,, was an early supporter. “I’m registered Republican, but I’m really, really conservative. My economics and fiscal views are really in line with the Tea Partry," she said.
Williford became interested in politics at age 15 and says former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin inspired her to get involved in the party.
“I did a lot of phone banking in 2010 and 2008, most of it from home for the different campaigns where you could do it from home,” she said.
Now a sophomore at Meredith College in Raleigh, she says she doesn’t have much time to help with campaigns, but she’s still a Tea Partier. “I think the Tea Party movement has been very, very effective. I think that they are just really able to pull people in and that they are able to get the media spotlight, and I think that that’s really important if you’re trying to make a difference.” — Priya MIrmia, 15
No need to recruit
For many Occupy forces with encampments, there was no need to recruit. “People really just showed up at the same place at the same time and started talking to each other. And this happened all across the country. They’d start spreading the word that we’re going to occupy,” says Linnea M. Palmer Paton, 23, a member of Occupy Wall Street’s PR team.
The dynamic was much the same in Occupy Bloomington, which had an encampment at a park near Indiana University until it was disbanded in January. Nick Greven, 21, Bloomington, recalled the early weeks: “It was really interesting because there were large assemblies every day of upwards of 100 people. It was really cool to have all these people, who were frustrated, come together and discuss things,” he said.
Activism also was available to those who couldn’t show up at an encampment. For example, Occupy Chicago turned to social media after it was prevented from setting down roots. “We just had a street corner and were forced to walk back and forth down it at times,” explained David Oloroso, 23, a jack-of-all-trades at Occupy Chicago. “We got thousands of followers to follow updates through Facebook and Twitter and it was a really easy way for people, who otherwise couldn’t partake in a protest, to follow them and still be involved.”
That is the beauty of Occupy, Rohlinger said. “Because of the Internet, everyone can get involved.”
The impact continues
Occupy also offered a model of protests that groups across the country have emulated. Though sit-ins date to the ’60s and even earlier, in the past year they have been used nationwide to protest issues ranging from working conditions to police brutality to tuition increases.
Occupy’s slogan, “We are the 99%,” has become ubiquitous as well. While economists might argue the accuracy of the percentage (generally used to illustrate the income disparity of the U.S. population) it has become a talking point for Americans in general and presidential candidates in particular.
For example, Mitt Romney referenced it when he spoke at a candidates’ forum in Miami in January. "The 1 percent's doing fine. I want to help the 99 percent. I want to help middle-Americans get jobs that pay good wages."
“The Occupy movement has been very good at changing the things that we’re talking about, not only trying to get people more involved in changing the political system, but also addressing inequality in the United States,” said Rohlinger.
Though many Occupy groups have reduced their presence or dispersed entirely, their impact continues to be felt. Its supporters point out that the ultimate goal is change at a local level, so many successes are not widely publicized. “There’s actually a website called whattheheckhasoccupydonesofar.com and it lists a lot of the different achievements that local groups have done,” Palmer Paton said.
Other changes are harder to quantify, said Oloroso. “One of our biggest strengths is just how inclusive Occupy is, that we really want to include as many people as possible because it’s really not up to any one person, or any one type of philosophy. It’s differently shaped and created by its participants and its members.”
Even the Bloomington encampment, which met a disappointing end when the city forced its dwindling forces to leave the park on a cold winter’s day, had an effect on the community. “It was largely considered a joke by most people, but it was successful in the sense that it brought people together who were interested in working on these issues and send some sort of message,” Greven said.
To get a youth perspective on the 2012 Presidential Elections, WKCD has teamed up with the youth-led news bureau, Y-Press, based in Indianapolis. Originally part of the Children’s Express, Y-Press has nurtured young journalists for more than 20 years. Their stories and articles—on local, national, and global topics—appear every other week in the Indianapolis Star. The Y-Press web site is updated regularly and encourages external submissions and comments about youth-written stories and reviews.
Here, Y-Press reporters will be posting: stories about the campaign, the candidates, and youth perspectives on the political process profiles and interviews with young political activists results from surveys they’ve created to gather information from youth nationwide about the candidates and the issues most important to young people reports from the floor at both of this summer’s national conventions. Check back often to keep up with this special “youth beat” on Election 2012.
