Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Courtney Harrop

Stop the NDAA, January 3, 2012, Grand Central Station
Photo: Stacy Lanyon

I started a citizen journalism/radio sustainability course at my local community radio station in Powell River, British Columbia on September 18th. On the 17th, I saw a random, two liner on the internet that there were people setting up tents in Liberty Park, and when I went to my course the next day, I told people " You know, the revolution started yesterday? People are setting up tents in New York, and it's going to get big. There is no media coverage yet." I essentially broke the story of OWS in my town of 25,000 people on the west coast of Canada, and I knew deep in my heart it was going to get big. I had closely followed the uprising in Egypt and Libya, and when thousands took to Tahrir Square, I knew it was only a matter of time before North America and the rest of the world would wake up. 

 Occupy Vancouver started up shortly afterwards, and I became very involved in the Media Committee, gathering footage, livestreaming, and documenting. When the Occupy movement started, I knew this was the awakening I had been waiting for, and I knew that I needed to get involved in any way I could. I have a burning desire to do my part in making sure this movement is documented, as I feel WE need to be able to tell our story, without it being twisted by the mainstream media. What has drawn me into this movement the most is the amazing things that can happen when people work together and the amazing people that are doing so much hard, necessary work. I have been honoured to spend time at a number of different occupations, and that's the one thing they all have in common. It's like home. If we can do it, so can the rest of the world.

I feel the Occupy movement is important in so many different ways. I am a single mom, who struggles often to make ends meet, and I want my kids to grow up in a world where they don't have to constantly worry about their future, or the future of the planet. I feel it is important to try to make the changes we want to see, and if the people at the top don't want to listen, we need to make them hear us any way we can. I think it is important to shift the paradigm, which is something I think Occupy is doing, and I also think it is important to show the average person the things that are really happening out there, since the mainstream media has no desire to do so. If we want to have true democracy, we have to create it.

I hope that this movement brings about people's willingness to listen and talk and work together to be the changes they want to see, in themselves and each other. I would like to know that I have a voice and that it will be heard. I don't expect everyone to agree, and I know it will be a long hard stuggle, and I know we all have so much to learn from each other. I hope it brings about a world where my kids can be educated and be able to live the kind of life they choose, without being beaten by police or having their civil rights taken away from them. I would like to know that my kids can speak out and feel like they have a voice too. I would like to see a world where people aren't dying of starvation and lack of medical care when there is enough food and resources on this planet to provide every person with what they need. No one said everything could be fixed overnight, but I think we are on the right path, and I heard a rumor that "this occupation is... not... lea..ving!"

You can view Courtney's Livestream at  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/courtneyoccupy. 

 Interview by Stacy Lanyon
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