#OccupyWallStreet: Even The Voiceless Have A Voice (PHOTO)
My cynicism oftentimes gets the better of me, so 14 days ago when protesters decided to “Occupy Wall Street,” I thought it would over and done with in a matter of days.
STORY: GLOBAL TEN: Ways You Can Help Occupy Wall Street
But these people are a testament to the spirit that built this country, their passion and momentum for going after America’s financial institutions has garnered nationwide support.
Their message has spread to San Diego, Boston, Chicago and at least 600 cities across America, from what one protester told me. But after spending two hours down in Liberty Square, I realized, these people aren’t going anywhere.
EXCLUSIVE: Russell Simmons: “I Am Asking The United States Government To Raise My Taxes”
Entering Liberty Square, the mounds of protest signs laying on the damp concrete ground, sleeping bags and the row of cooked food looking like an all-you-can-eat buffet, make it apparent that many of the protesters are there for the long haul.
STORY: Occupy Wall Street Grows With Largest Turnout Yet!
And don’t get it twisted, everyone is out there. From the old to the young, to the black to the white, this isn’t a race thing, gender thing or an age thing, it’s a people thing and the people are there having their voices heard.
STORY: NYPD’s Pepper Spray And Mace Occupy Wall Street Protesters
I spoke to Anthony Littlejohn, a father who came all the way down from Albany with his teenage son to lend a helping hand, and when I asked him why he was out there he said:
“I’m here because I want more people to recognize what’s going on here in New York, to appear as all the rich people look down from their big buildings and for them to give us back our one and half trillion dollars.”
Even the voiceless have a voice. I met a man who had taped a $1 bill to his mouth, holding up a sign that read “I could get fired for having a voice.” Apparently he was a teacher and if he gave any interviews his job could have been in jeopardy.
And that’s the spirit that keeps the momentum of this movement progressing, that, and the onslaught of high profile personalities who are lending their voices to the fight.
I had a moment to ask famed scholar Cornel West what he would want to see happen as the masses Occupy Wall Street. He said:
“I would like a revolution.”
