Photo: Stacy Lanyon
I do homeless outreach and social
services, and I liked the idea that so many people would come to Liberty Square for so many
different reasons. I liked it being used as a public platform to discuss the issues
that were going on, and I liked that it was being used in a way that people felt comfortable and safe. It’s important not only on a local
level but on a global level. It’s
important that we all have a safe space where we can discuss the issues, where
we feel that we can connect with each other not only culturally but cross-culturally and discuss what’s going on in our world and how we can bring this
forward in a positive way that will be beneficial to everybody and not just one
group.
It’s important to create the dialogue. It’s important to get
people to understand there are other people out there trying to affect change. It’s
important that the powers that be see that we’re unhappy with the way things
are and that we’re not here to try to create any kind of chaos. We’re just
trying to get what’s fair. There are so many issues. State side, there’s a ton
of issues. We’ve got housing. We’ve got homelessness. We’ve got job issues. We’ve
got health care, and these are the things that affect how people’s lives are
going to be, so we need to start somewhere. Everybody has that sense, even if
they can’t put their finger on it, they know something is wrong. They feel
helpless. They don’t know how to direct that energy, and they don’t know where
to go to affect change. I think the wonderful thing about Occupy is that we not
only give a space, when we have it, we give a safe space, but we also bring back
people’s hope.
We have activists come here that haven’t been involved in
activism or organizing for years, and all of the sudden they are re-energized.
They’re like, “Oh my god!” The movement has given that platform back to
people and has given them a space where they feel like they have a voice. We’re not going to be able to affect
change tomorrow. We’re not going to be able to do that, but if we can at least
start the dialogue and get people thinking and exchanging ideas with each other and wondering, “how can we do this? How can we bring this back to our homes? How can
we bring this back to our communities? How can we affect small changes?” Even
if it’s just a community garden to grow fresh vegetables, these
are positive changes forward, but at the same time, because we come from that
society, because we come from that system, there’s also changes that we need to make inside of ourselves, so it also creates a platform for us to work that out,
so that we can, as they say, become the change we want to see in the world.
I think we all want a world where we just feel like we got a
fair shake. I would love to see a world without war. I would love to see a
world without poverty. I would love to see a world, again, where everyone gets
a fair shake, where they can just live peacefully and co-exist peacefully
without all the bullshit, without all the borders and the separations. I would love a world where
everybody actually acknowledges each other as human beings as opposed to, “you're this, you're that.” That’s what I would love to see. When we come
to our space, wherever we are occupying, you see that. You see an amazing cross
section of humanity, and everybody is fine with each other, so if we can create
that in a small space, we can definitely carry that over to a
large area.
We can do amazing things with technology. We can build
skyscrapers. We can do this. We can do that. We can send people to the moon,
but we can’t take care of our neighbors. That’s why I think Occupy so resonates
because it’s from the heart, and people recognize that. They may not be able to
articulate it, but they are automatically drawn to it because it’s
natural to do that. It’s natural to help each other out. It’s natural to feel
concern about your fellow human beings. That doesn’t just mean here. That means
anywhere on the planet. You’d have to be a stone not to do that, so that’s why, for me, that’s the most important thing, to create that dialogue, to create that
safe space, and once you’re in it, the rest is natural.
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/