The other evening, Wednesday November 9th, I accidentally witnessed the inception of Occupy Harvard. It started with the gates being on lock down, and a Harvard ID being required to enter the yard at all. Then when I walked into the yard there was a crowd of people in front of the John Harvard Statue. From what they were saying I understood that they were Occupy Harvard, that they would parade around Harvard Yard, and then meet other protesters who were not allowed in the yard (because they did not have ID's) in front of a building outside of the gated in part of campus. I captured this on film then headed off to my Harvard Extension class. Turns out there were hundreds of people gathered that night.
Before deciding whether I was in support or not of this movement I wanted to find out more. So, the next evening, Thursday, I went in the cold rain to see what their intentions are. In the yard in front of the John Harvard statue this time there were tents pitched in addition to a group of people gathering. It turns out I showed up at the exact right time again, right as their General Assembly was beginning, and they were going to talk and come up with exact intentions for their Occupy Harvard movement.
Before having a large group discussion, we broke into smaller groups and discussed specific reasons for the movement. Some people said it was to support the Occupy movement that has spread throughout the country and globe. Another intention was for the Harvard Corporation to have more transparency. Another intention was to bring awareness of the Occupy movement to the Harvard campus. That these are the best and brightest, and are the people to make the changes needed. At this point I had to leave and get to class. I missed them getting back into a large group discussion and deciding collectively what the set intentions would be.
Everyone in my group did agree on this being a peaceful and relatively non-disruptive movement (any protest can not be totally non-disruptive). Mainly, violence and disruption would turn people off to the movement before even hearing what it is all about.
Talking with other people from school, classmates and policemen who are guarding the gates, I have heard mixed opinions about Occupy Harvard. What I have heard is "they don't have any purpose, any goal," or that "they are hypocrites, that they are the 1%". I have also also heard other opinions that this is great, people gathering to make a change on the Harvard campus.
Personally, I would like more clarity when it comes to their specific intentions, and will find out more about this in the days ahead. Though, with that said, it is refreshing to see a group of people gathering together in order to make a change. They see something is wrong in the system in this country, and want to DO something about it. There seems to be way too much apathy going around in this nation. Its about time for people to start marching in the streets (and pitching tents on campus). Maybe people get upset when they see this, and want them to go away, because they want to continue in their apathetic daze. They don't want to take a look at and question the way our country is run.
Its a lot easier to just believe what the media is saying about this Occupy Wall street movement. It is being painted in a very ugly light. They are saying that these are a bunch of dirty, trouble making hippies, who have no set intentions. They they are fragmented, disheveled and won't last long. They are showing only the unsightly images and reporting on unsightly moments.
Its a lot easier to just write them off and pretend their not there and have no purpose, than to open our eyes and realize that their must be something going on here. This movement has spread from Wall Street in New York City, across the country, and across the world. It has literally landed on my path to school. Maybe its time to pay attention and listen up.
Its a lot easier to keep things the way they've always been, rather than take responsibility and do our part in bringing about change. People hate change, even when it's for the better.
To read the official Occupy Harvard Press release click the link below:
To learn more about the Occupy Wall Street movement click on the link to my blog post below:
