Over at Waging Nonviolence, I’ve been doing a bunch of coverage of some of the big protest actions being planned this fall, efforts to turn people’s attention away from the nonsense straw polls and candidate posturing and onto masses of people in the streets. I’ve been going to planning meetings for both those intending to occupy Wall Street on September 17 and those who will do the same at Freedom Plaza in DC on October 6. Though only loosely coordinated, these are part of a nationwide effort to bring the spirit of 2011 to the United States in the coming months. As I write today in the Boston Review:
With uprisings having spread from Tunisia to Egypt, across the Arab world, and then in various forms to China, Greece, Spain, Israel, and England, 2011 may join 1789, 1848, and 1968 as a year synonymous with people-power—and no small amount of chaos. Though their aims are more limited, the September 17 and October 6 groups have adopted what seems to be this year’s signature tactic: the sustained occupation of symbolic public spaces. They’re planning to build their movements by holding public assemblies that will last for days, weeks, or even months. Their respective agendas, though not final until they hit the streets, involve curbing corporate influence on politics and society, protecting the environment, and finally ending the costly wars abroad.
Also, don’t miss another short piece that went up yesterday at Killing the Buddha on the young Wall Street occupiers to be in Tompkins Square Park. And my comprehensive Waging Nonviolence story about them too.