Guest blog post from Occupy Wall Street

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A colleague of mine, Barry Kirschner, a Tucson attorney is in New York on business and I asked him to send me a field report from Occupy Wall Street. Here is his post (with minor edits).

On Columbus Day, October 9, my wife and I visited the Wall Street area, ending with watching, contributing to, and thinking about what is going on in Zucotti Park, home of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The surrounding areas were loaded with police. Some looked more relaxed than others. Some looked resentful of protesters and joiners; others kept a more professional detachment to their demeanor. When I asked two policemen for directions to the park, the first (younger) gave signs of reluctance before the second and more relaxed gave helpful directions and said that I could not miss the demonstrators.

Zucotti Park is very small. It was so filled with people that you could not walk in any direction without touching (physically) those present. The crowd was eclectic with young and old, well dressed and less formally dressed, and different levels of income and (sometimes sophistication) exuding from those present. Blacks, Caucasions, and Native Americans were well represented; less so Hispanics and Asians. The stage where testimony was offered and repeated by a chorus of humans functioning as loud speakers was filled with energy and enthusiasm. The crowd as a whole was enthusiastic.

There were many signs, some quite clever. Around the periphery there were what may have been "protest the protest signs," e.g. “debt is slavery”, but it may have been the view of a single person whose sign appeared to me to belong more with Teapartiers. Other signs, e.g. “Eric Holder sucks at his job; Eric Cantor just sucks” represented the sentiment more effectively.

One souvenir which may some day retain historical significance is the four page edition of The Occupied Wall Street Journal. The paper is well done, and has a Spanish version. The choice of name is very appropriate. But this one is not controlled by Rupert Murdoch.

Logistically, the park is such a small area in a city bursting with the energy to protest, that absent really bad weather or a police sweep on this (privately) owned piece of property, this effort can go on forever. The “kitchen” looked well stocked with a variety of foods and donations. The people were friendly and cooperative. There are persons with sleeping bags who may be able to retain a presence even with sub freezing temperatures in the coming months, and snow. We will see.

The positive strength which may be long lasting and of great import, is the message that we are the 99% and that we should be empowered by that.

The Democratic Party should frame this well to fight for votes, and stiffen its spine to fight for all.