Black Youth Respond to the Occupy Movement

Why African Americans aren’t embracing Occupy Wall Street
Stacey Patton, Washington Post | Published: November 25

“From America’s birthing pains to the civil rights protests of the 1960s, blacks have never been afraid to fight for economic or social justice. Crispus Attucks, a former slave and the first person killed by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre of 1770, is considered the first martyr of the American Revolution. Frederick Douglass, a slave turned abolitionist, stressed in the 19th century that black and white laborers’ fortunes and freedom were intertwined, saying that white labor “was robbed” of fair wages so long as it competed with unpaid black slaves.

In 1969, James Forman, former executive secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a civil rights organization, called on blacks to not perpetuate capitalism or contribute to the exploitation of blacks in the United States and elsewhere. He urged black workers to take over America by sabotaging U.S. factories and ports “while the brothers fight guerrilla warfare in the street.” And Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party renounced the American Dream as defective and called for the destruction of the capitalist system.

Blacks have historically suffered the income inequality and job scarcity that the Wall Street protesters are now railing against. Perhaps black America’s absence is sending a message to the Occupiers: ‘We told you so! Nothing will change. We’ve been here already. It’s hopeless.’”

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Black Wall Streeters on the fence about Occupy
Shartia Brantley, The Grio | 12:06 PM on 11/22/2011

“As Americans voice their dissatisfaction about Wall Street, we wanted to hear from some workers on Wall Street on what the movement means to them:

‘I completely understand the frustration of the OWS protesters. It is a fractured view of capitalism that can justify bailing out a company that has made bad investments. And after the bailouts the banks’ failure to lend has just exacerbated the problem. I just wish their protest had more organization, a clearer message and some specificity to their demands.’”

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Bronx Students Occupy Public Education, Release 10-Point Plan
Jorge Rivas, COLORLINES | Friday, November 18 2011, 2:01 PM EST

“A group of young activists from the Bronx called say they’re being deprived of a quality education, and they’re prepared to fight for something better.

The Resistance, which was formed through a youth arts organization called The DreamYard A.C.T.I.O.N Project, have developed a 10-point education platform for New York City public schools.”

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Occupy the Hood Calls Youth of African Descent to Improve Their World
Phillip Jackson, The Afro-Americsn | November 16, 2011

“But a glimmer of hope has come to us in the form of a spin-off from Occupy Wall Street. It is called Occupy The Hood. While Occupy Wall Street addresses the viciousness of capitalism, uneven distribution and control of world resources, corrupt and ineffective governments, lack of human well-being across the world, climate change and the environment, wars and global violence and other dire issues that impact us all, Occupy The Hood is being led by young people of African descent and addresses issues that cause people of African descent to suffer. And while we must absolutely stand in solidarity with our White, Asian, Arab and Latino brothers and sisters working to change the world, we must also organize to directly improve the conditions in our “hood.”

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David Banner’s Thoughts On the #OccupyWallStreet Movement
The politically active entertainer speaks from the heart on behalf of the 99%
David Banner, Black Enterprise | Posted: November 16, 2011

“To me, the occupy movements sweeping this nation represent the American version of the protests in Africa and the Arab world, collectively known as the Arab Spring. Many of us watched those historic uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain and wondered if and when such a mass movement could ever be possible in America. The occupy movements occurring nationwide have answered such wonderment with a resounding ‘Yes,’ and an emphatic ‘Now.’”

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Racial Fractures and the Occupy Movement
Bridget Todd, Racialicious | November 16, 2011

“That being said, some Occupy movements are more racially inclusive than others. Many seem to have openly embraced the sometimes-thorny intersections of race and class that tend to pop up during discussions of economic injustice. In Albuquerque, occupiers renamed their movement ‘UnOccupy Albuquerque’ out of respect to the Native American community’s distaste for the word ‘occupy.’ In LA, protesters reached out to black and Latino homeowners who were facing foreclosure. In Atlanta, Occupiers renamed their occupation site Troy Davis Park.

If it is to be successful, the entire Occupy movement needs to take deliberate steps to be racially inclusive, even if that means addressing the white privilege that exists from within the movement. Only then will they be capable of wielding strength as a unified movement. As Color Lines puts it, ‘The Occupy movement is clearly unifying. Centralizing racial equity will help to sustain that unity. This won’t happen accidentally or automatically. It will require deliberate, smart, structured organizing that challenges segregation, not only that of the 1 percent from everyone else, but also that which divides the 99 percent from within.’”

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Who Owns the Idea Behind Jay-Z’s ‘Occupy All Streets’ Shirt?
Wall Street Journal | November 11, 2011, 8:06 PM ET

“Jay-Z was sporting a black t-shirt that read “Occupy All Streets.” The shirt will soon be for sale via his Rocawear collection.

But, according to Business Insider in a post published on Gawker, Rocawear is not planning to release profits from the shirt sales towards the movement. In a statement, Rocawear argued that the sentiment of the shirt was more universal than the political movement in Zuccotti Park and other cities.”

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Thank Obama for the Occupy Wall Street Movement
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report | Wed, 11/09/2011 -- 14:44

“The Occupy Wall Street movement probably would not have caught fire if President Obama ‘had not lost his last stitch of emperor’s clothes this past spring and summer’ trying to make a ‘Grand Bargain’ with the GOP over the dead body of the New Deal. The logic of OWS is anti-finance capital, the common enemy of humankind, and the promise of the movement is that it will be as permanent as the enemy. Although African Americans are painfully aware of the difference in police behavior towards white protesters, they reasoned: ‘If white people could take over a city site and proclaim themselves the Occupation, why not ‘occupy’ Black neighborhoods?’”

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Occupy Atlanta: Bloods And Crips Come Together
The Huffington Post | 11/7/11

“Guillory, a 20-year-old who joined the Crips at age 14 met Britton, a 29-year-old Blood member, during an impromptu freestyle rap session at Occupy Atlanta.

“I saw him in the park, saw his colors.,” Guillory told Franzen. “There was no mean mug or rivalry because we realized that what’s happening here is so much bigger then gang rivalry.”

Both men were attracted to the protest and its purpose. Guillory joined the movement after hearing about it on the news. Britton, who was passing the demonstration one day, said he stopped to get more information and never left.”

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How art propels Occupy Wall Street
Michele Elam, CNN | updated 1:38 PM EST, Fri November 4, 2011

“Occupy art might just be the movement’s most politically potent tool in its dramatic reframing of the racial dynamics of a populist uprising frequently characterized as largely white and ‘hippie.’

Fairey’s ‘You Are Invited’ is an especially compelling example. It offers an image of a young black woman with turtleneck sweater and iconic Afro, a la Angela Davis — the ‘uniform’ of the Black Panther Party of the 1960s and ’70s. The poster’s retro look recalls a militant past, almost startling in our new millennial moment, and surely is meant as a challenge to the idea that as a society we are anywhere near ‘post-race’ enlightenment.

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Black Voices From Occupy DC
The Root | November 1

“As the Occupy Movement picks up steam from coast to coast, demonstrators in the nation’s capital have garnered attention, setting up a little more than two blocks away from the White House at downtown Washington’s McPherson Square. Here’s what some of the District’s resident Occupiers had to say about the movement when The Root visited McPherson Square on Nov. 7, 2011.”

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Occupy Harlem: ‘Occupy Wall Street Is Not A White Thing’
Trymaine Lee , Huffington Post | First Posted: 10/31/11

“This was a group of veteran activists and young turks alike, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement. And it was a moment decades in the making for veteran Harlem activists, like Nellie Hester Bailey, who have fought and protested and rallied for fair wages, tenants’ rights and against police brutality here for years.

‘Occupy Wall Street is not a quote-unquote white thing. It is a white thing that the 1 percent and the bankers are representing white oligarchy and white plutocrats for the most part,’ Bailey said. ‘But this is an organic movement from the bottom up. Now we have to take advantage, seize the time and the moment … and it is time that we become part of this landscape so we can begin to highlight our issues.’”

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There Is Diversity at Occupy Wall Street
The Root | October 2011

“Filmmaker Obatala Mawusi said that the days he spent documenting the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City were “eye-opening.” In particular, the diversity he saw among the protesters belied the images of the movement in mainstream media. In early October 2011, Mawusi spoke to some of the black participants about why the Occupy Wall Street movement attracted them.”

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Kanye West Visits Occupy Wall Street, Makes Bold Statement About Fiat Currencies By Wearing Gold Grillz
Foster Kamer, Observer | 10/10 4:14pm

Yes, that Kanye West—the one with the $25,000 chains and small child-sized Horus-head-as-bling pieces—dropped into Occupy Wall Street today. He was apparently accompanied by Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, who Tweeted “kanye west is on his way to #occupywallstreet” with this photo:

It sounds like it was sheer pandemonium, though no definitive accounts other than plenty of pictures and “he was here, and then he left” have yet to come through.

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Black ‘Occupy’ Protesters Start ‘Occupy The Hood’
Darren Sands, The Loop 21 | 4:34 PM Oct 7th, 2011

“The racial makeup of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been a curious, if not ironic fact of the movement; on the whole, ‘Occupy’ encourages openness and inclusion — but has been almost exclusively white.

If it’s up to a growing number volunteers calling themselves Occupy The Hood, that won’t be the case for much longer.

Founded by Malik Rhasaan, 39 of Queens, N.Y., and Ife Johari Uhuru, 35, based in Detroit, @OccupyTheHood has close to 3,500 followers on Twitter, the growing support of notable figures and a cadre of volunteers devoted to getting the word out about the cause of the protests to African Americans and Latinos.”

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