Protesters descended onto a patch of green grass next to Ohio University’s Morton Hill last week in the vein of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. The movement here is called “Occupy OU.” Chalk scrawling on the sides of the ancient brick buildings are marked with a hashtag. I remember staring at these ‘#OccupyOU’ drawings but not really understanding them. This twitter-style guerilla marketing technique made everyone wonder, “What’s going on?” As I left Gordy Hall after a grueling hour of Spanish 213. I took out my cell phone and snapped a photo of the people now fully settled on the grass. Tents and signs rose from the earth as they had in Manhattan. Although smaller than the protests in New York, I found it interesting that there were so many people there. There were definitely more than I expected. Most people walked by me with a look of confusion, “Why is she doing that?” I heard one girl mutter as her rain boots trudged across the ground. I debated getting defensive and stopping her, but I held my tongue. Instead I thought to myself, “My answer? History is being made.” Look all around you. We’re in an environment of learning, where people are free to do and say as they please. There has been no other time in our nation’s economic history that has been as fleeting and teetering as today (with the exception of the Great Depression). With unemployment hovering around nine percent, jobs depleting faster than you can say ‘democracy’ and rumors of a government shutdown, the people have a right to be angry. In fact, that is our common thread. We are all angry. The Occupy Wall Street protests were a long time coming, and let’s face it: we all need a little bit of a voice in this economy and state of affairs. As the protesters became bigger in number, tents sprang up on this small square of grass caught in between a church and a hall for learning. Students walking up or down Morton Hill gawked at what came to be a small spectacle. Cardboard signs stuck in between the wire fence with crude Sharpie marks on them reading, “We are the 99 Percent.” Tents drenched with Ohio rain stayed standing through the night, whether people were actually in them or not. The protesters themselves are quick to answer any questions passersby have. Another cardboard sign reads, “Ask an Occupier”. Most hesitate to ask on the count of shyness or ignorance. I’m not a shy person, but I don’t have any question I can’t answer myself. I know our economy isn’t great. I know our government is in debt. I know unemployment is high (my father, unemployed), and I know that we are not being taken care of, but I do not claim to have any solution. I do not know if the ‘99 Percent’ even exist. According to a New York Times editorial (with an unnamed author), the 99 Percent is a quite logical symbol of a collection of many Americans, “ When the protesters say they represent 99 percent of Americans, they are referring to the concentration of income in today’s deeply unequal society. Before the recession, the share of income held by those in the top 1 percent of households was 23.5 percent, the highest since 1928 and more than double the 10 percent level of the late 1970s.” Statistics like these have been popping up all over due to the influx of “Occupy” protests all over the country and the world. According to the UK’s Guardian which has compiled a visual representation and list of all the Occupy Protests there have been protests in 951 cities in 82 countries. Some that have taken place all over the world over the past month (except in the New York area) have been in: Madrid (Spain), Chicago (Illinois), London (UK), Johannesburg (South Africa), Tucson and Phoenix (Arizona), Los Angeles (California) and now Ohio University (Athens, Ohio). As I pass the protesters again I think twice about stopping, then, realizing that class starts in 10 minutes, I just keep walking. One of these days I will stop. After a while I start to grow tired of living in a country that is in such economic and political turmoil, but then I remember it could be worse. Whether you feel like you are in the 99 percent or not, there is something to be said for the courage to stand up for what is right, in the United States, Europe, South Africa or even here in Athens. Being confused is one thing, but being oppressed is another. I’m not too sure which of those I am, but in the coming months if these protests grow and create change maybe I will. Tess Stevens is a freshman studying journalism.
