Revolution

On October 13, 2011, I visited the site of Occupy Wall Street on the eve of a possible forced eviction from Liberty Plaza on the orders of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Spurred by the notice, OWS supporters formed cleaning crews and tidied up the plaza. Scott Stringer, the President of Manhattan Borough, urges that talks between the Mayor and OWS commence and he sees no need to rush the planned park clean-up.

by Pauline Moullot and Valentine Pasquesoone

Like many of you, I have been following the Occupy Wall Street movement since its inception, which is now entering its fourth week. My initial reaction on hearing of the occupation was one of caution; I assumed—and I am sure I am not alone—that this was another case of young, white, privileged college students staging a demonstration out of genuine concern, but able to do so because they knew Mom and Dad would keep putting money into their checking accounts.

On October 8, I interviewed Chris, an Occupy Wall Street supporter. In this video, Chris breaks down some of the most serious issues the so-called 99% face in an advanced capitalist economy, and some of the possible (painful) solutions to these problems. The subject matter is big, but the Movement's imagination is bigger.

On October 8, 2011, I visited the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zuccotti Park, New York City. The occupiers have renamed the area in the Financial District, Liberty Plaza. In this video, you can see the wide variety of occupiers - young, old, students, labor, families, and all kinds of persuasions. The occupiers have established a unique, radical protest movement, one that provides food, medical aid, legal assistance, education, entertainment, and much more.

After his panel on the Arab Spring, I asked Libyan writer Hisham Matar about the Libyan revolution, Libya's complex relationship with NATO countries, and the role of the writer in times of conflict.

What does it mean to create a society? To be in a society? Nicaraguan poet and former Sandinista revolutionary, Gioconda Belli, writes in her page-turning memoir, The Country under My Skin, about traveling to once-forbidden sites in Managua in the days immediately following the fall of Anastasio Samoza’s regime:

by Paul Sullivan. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.