In order to apply for a position as an Eagle columnist, I was required to write a sample of a column I could see myself writing a few months into the semester.
So, I decided to write a commentary on modern youth political activism in what turned out to be my exasperated and pessimistic treatise on the complacency and overall apathy of our generation.
Although my harsh critique landed me the position, I have been doing some thinking, and I am pleased to say that I was dead wrong. It seems that we are not so complacent after all.
Starting with a handful of frustrated people that decided to protest Wall Street in anger against the “greed and corruption of the wealthiest one percent,” the Occupy Wall Street movement has now grown to unforeseen proportions with participation and support from a wide range of individuals and organizations.
There are currently occupations in over 1,000 cities in a wave of solidarity with New York City protestors, according to the website occupytogether.org.
Here in Washington, the people have established an occupation presence based downtown in McPherson Square. Each day, they occupy in growing numbers, in a series of marches, general assemblies and committee meetings.
Mirroring the horizontal leadership structure of the Wall Street protestors, everyone’s ideas are heard and decisions are always reached through consensus, creating the sense that every person has a real stake in the movement.
For the most part, the protestors are young, dedicated and full of passionate anger against the top one percent, whom they hold responsible for deep inequalities, unemployment, the cost of higher education, etc. After taking part in their actions and spending time with some of the protestors, I have detected a profoundly powerful and productive energy being put towards affecting fundamental change.
Following the lead of individual Wall Street protestors, when asked their names, D.C. protesters commonly respond: “My name is Troy Davis” in honor of a case that has helped renew strength to sustain the occupy movement itself. The protestors realize that you cannot separate race and class struggles when Troy Davis, an innocent man, was put to death Sept. 21, after 20 years on death row with uncertain evidence linking him to the crime.
Slowly but surely, the flaws in the existing social order are becoming ever more apparent. From conducting the unjust Iraqi occupation, to condoning the racist, inhumane practices that characterize the modern prison-industrial complex, to subsidizing the oligarchical financial sector’s theft from the people, one fact is consistently being illuminated: We are living under an out-of-touch government that continues to cultivate a historically oppressive system.
The illuminators, however, are not the corporate-controlled media but rather the reawakened and enlightened masses that are demanding nothing short of radical change. With help from social networking, independent/community-based media and the prominence of whistleblowers like WikiLeaks, the people are gaining comprehensive access and sharp awareness of every issue.
From what I have seen during the last few days, we, the youth, are taking the lead as we expand our immense power and learn from the successes and failures of previous generations.
Is this a moment in the sun?
Let’s not let it remain only as such. Let’s make sure that this time, our movement becomes the germ from which springs a radical shift in the combined existing economic, political and social paradigm of this country.
In my earlier column, I wrote:
“We know we have the power to create fundamental change. It’s simply a matter of whether or not we are ready to sacrifice the comfort of our superficial blueprints for life in order to become a part of something greater than ourselves. I like to hope that we will give it up someday.”
I’m proud to say that someday is today.
Mana Aliabadi is a freshman in the School of Public Affairs.
