Danielle DiGirolamo

Guitarmy 99 Mile March, July 11, 2012, Staten Island Ferry

Photo: Stacy Lanyon

I guess all of my life I’ve always known that there was something wrong with the world, and I always wanted to change it. I always used to think that I was the only one. All the sudden, I see on Facebook, everyone is talking about New York, and I’m like, “What is going on here.” I went to my friends, and they told me, “A revolution is going on right now.” I was like, “I gotta get down there.” I saved as much money as I could and got to New York. I’m from Connecticut. I started in Zuccotti. September 30^th was the first day I was there.  It was crazy. Honestly, I felt like I literally just came out of a history book. Just being there, it felt like I was in the sixties almost. It was history in the making. It was insane. I guess it’s just my calling. It’s what I’m supposed to be doing. When I went to the park, it was awesome. There were all of these different sections. It was the first day that the newspaper came out, and people were lined up all around Zuccotti holding up signs, and the police force was ridiculous. I knew the police were awful, but I didn’t realize how extreme it was until then, especially when we were on the Brooklyn Bridge. 

From Zuccotti, I went to the occupation in New Haven, Connecticut, and I was there from October 15^th to April 18^th. It was awesome. We turned into a family. We had groups, but everyone just worked together. That occupation was there longer than any of the other ones. We were actually fighting the city about the rights to who owned it. We had a really good lawyer. We actually got to kick the cops off the Green the first time they came to kick everyone off. We got a continuance. Then, the last day we all got arrested. They literally had to carry us all out. A lot of people who were in New Haven moved to different parts of the country. A lot of people are in Portland, Oregon, and a lot of people are in Philly. The people who are still there are working with an organization to try and put in a free school and a library.

To me, the reason why it’s so important is because we have lost a sense of community. People don’t know their neighbors. Nobody knows what’s going on. Everyone is fending for themselves, feeling like they’re all alone and that nobody can help. Everyone is out for themselves and the money. I think ever since Occupy started, people got to see what community is really about. It was hard in the beginning living with everyone, but we got to learn how to get along with people better. People are so busy that they don’t appreciate each other for who they are, but when you get to live with each other, you get to really see each other. We were able to raise so much awareness. Ever since Occupy started, people everywhere, even people that aren’t with Occupy are rising up and fighting whatever injustice that they feel needs to be fixed. Basically, because of it, all the problems are slowly getting fixed one by one. Everyone is focused on their specific issue, and then they are all working together.

One of the biggest problems is the environment. People are fighting against fracking and the Keystone Pipeline. Then, there's Monsanto. I hate Monsanto. That’s a big problem that we need to fix. That’s our food. That’s one of the main reasons people are getting all of these cancers and diseases. People don’t realize what’s in their food anymore. I think people are becoming more aware of what’s going on, about the things they are eating, the things they are using, becoming more environmentally friendly. I think people are becoming more conscious of it and even people who aren’t exactly protesting are all of the sudden helping to make this world better by making small changes in their lives, like being more aware of what they are buying and recycling. Even those small changes make a difference. I think it’s really important to just keep going. I think the best thing about Occupy is that we don’t stop. We just keep going. People think, “Oh, they’re done,” and then we wind up on the street again.

I think the world we are working for will be a lot more community-based. A lot more communal living is becoming possible where large groups of people can live on land together and were there is a lot more farming. Basically, I think we need to be 100% environmentally friendly. I want to start working with hemp. You can make hemp plastics, hemp fuel. The world that I want to live in is where we  get rid of all of the fossil fuels. There are so many ways for us to get alternative fuels. I want to see more community, people knowing each other and talking care of the earth that we live on. We need more community-based organizations rather than large government. Power needs to be diminished, and I think it could, especially with the free stores that are coming along. I would love that. Things need to be free. We need to stop worrying about money and start worrying about people. We need better schools. Knowledge needs to be accessible to everyone. If we can start working with children on these issues, if we could teach them how to survive instead of manipulating their minds, their reality will be different than ours. I think we’re going toward that. The truth is coming out. 

Interview by Stacy Lanyon

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