I was wrong. Mea culpa.
The wisdom of this 42 year old college instructor was that Occupy Wall Street had to define itself, pick a side, advocate for policy, establish its demands.
So much for my wisdom.
While I still think that traditional media serves a purpose in this movement (in addition to social media, blogs, etc), I do not think OWS should be forced into media framing. Yes, the media wants the good v. bad, the up v. down, the black v. white…the binary arguments that it only seems capable of delivering. The fact that they are having a hard time framing OWS is wonderful. Keep it up.
The more OWS defines what it stands for beyond “We are the 99%” and getting corporations out of politics, the more it gives the republicans and their messaging machine the opportunity to frame it, package it, and make it easily-digestible for the FOX/CNN crowd.
For 12 years, I’ve been explaining to my students that the Civil Rights Movement was able to get policy enacted because it changed the narrative in the country. The visual images of the police dogs attacking protesters and the fire hoses used during marches changed the narrative. Yes, policy is the end game. But we have to change the narrative first. And that’s happening thanks to OWS. Thank God.
In the last 3 weeks, I’ve had more conversations with my students, colleagues, and family members about income inequality and the control of corporations in our political system than I’ve had in 12 years of teaching. I do cover it in my classes, but it has been academic to my students. They now see it on the streets. They feel it personally. Many of them are adults returning to school because they are unemployed. The 99% message is getting through. Please keep pushing this theme. It’s something that most of my students can relate to, they can buy into it, they can understand it.
So…eventually the specifics will come, but for now, YOU—OWS—and those of us supporting you and cheering you on – are changing the conversation. You are getting us to talk about these issues rather than what social services should be cut. You are giving us all a voice.