An occupier participates in a little-known action in Zuccotti Park in the wee hours of the morning, drawing the blueprints of the #OWS encampment in chalk:
“From this angle all I can see are his boots, more particularly the black military boot, buckled in silver that is blocking my ability to finish my chalk drawing. It is three in the morning and I am about to be arrested. I am using chalk to draw out the blueprints of where the tents had been prior to the dismantling of the Occupy Wall Street encampment by the NYPD in Zuccotti Park.”
“Lady, we don’t even have charges for that”
is what Nicole’s arresting officer told her as she was transported to One Police Plaza following an arrest for hula-hooping in an intersection early in the morning of #S17. She recounts her experience in jail:
“We shared stories, everyone having a good laugh … We stood shoulder to shoulder forming our own ‘Pee-poles Wall’ singing ‘Solidari-pee Forever’ whenever a sister had to use the facilities. It’s amusing to me that after all this time the NYPD still thinks arrest will drive us away from the movement. Some of the strongest bonds I have made since coming to Occupy have been forged in a jail cell.”
“Yesterday, I was free.”
An occupier reflects on his arrest on #S17:
It was wonderful. Each time I heard a new story of the actions taking place on the street after I was picked up I felt like I was missing something; but I also knew the community we formed in our cells was one of the most incredible things that would happen all day; one of the most liberating things I would ever feel.
What’s Wrong With This Picture? The story of my #S17 arrest
Photographer Julia Reinhart was arrested at #S17 protests, putting the Twitterverse in a tizzy and even being covered at the Gothamist.
She gives us her full account at Occupied Stories:
I took one more shot of the cops standing at the corner, when the white shirt officer in charge of the scene pointed at me and said: “That’s it. She’s done. Take her,” and he promptly grabbed my hand. I shouted out that I’m an independent photographer, and showed him my credentials from the National Press Photographers’ Association. The officer looked at my badge and said “they’re not ours, so I’m not interested.”
It’s decided: this photo by Armando Gallardo is the best photo taken from yesterday, Occupy Wall Street’s anniversary.
Check out a first-person story from the day on our site.
My Occupy Birthday
An activist reminisces on his past year at OWS, while reporting back on new projects to tackle in year two:
I’ve had my share of personal successes and failures in life, leading a more or less comfortable existence, and therefore have remained complacent (and complicit?). Last year, though, when I witnessed innocent young people, right here in New York City, brutalized and arrested just for publicly stating that they believed our world was in peril and that they wanted there to be a better tomorrow, it triggered in me an uncontrollable desire to help. This is something I hadn’t ever encountered before and I didn’t know how to start, so I went to investigate what these kids were doing in Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park), and found at least a sliver of hope in the bravery of these young’uns.
Ethan’s story tells of self-actualization while presenting some projects on how others may become involved with the movement moving into year two!
When two are arrested at a #chalkupy event, a mother sees the event as a teachable moment on how the police respond to dissent:
When I pressed her about what I should tell my children about their fear of police, she recommended that I go home and have a discussion about how it’s wrong to damage public property, and that it was going to take tax payer money to remove the chalk. I offered to go home and get rags and buckets. She said it wouldn’t make a difference. Of course, we did go home and have a discussion. I did tell my children not to be afraid of police. (We are not people of color, so it’s a lot easier for me to say this to my children than it is for others. If we had dark skin, this particular issue would have been much more complex. And that conversation will come, too.) But, I also told them that our country is not perfect. Just like at home, we all have to pitch in.
Photo by John Jack Anderson
Check out @CourtneyOccupied’s awesome photos from last week’s protests in Anaheim!
In the Middle and In Between: A NATO Retrospective
“We played cat-and-mouse games with columns of riot cops all afternoon. They tried to contain us and direct our movements; we tried to outmaneuver them and get to the convention center. We succeeded, making it to the eight-foot metal barricades three times only to be threatened by the Special Forces guarding the dignitaries meeting beyond. I did a stand-up TV interview at one barricade, telling the reporter that our goal was to be seen and heard by those inside the summit. I was only seen and heard by the soldier who cut the interview short, barking a command to leave the secured area immediately.”
We return to the #noNATO actions as a member of Occupy Chicago recounts her experience months later.
“The policing of Critical Mass demonstrated to me who the police serve; not innocent people who want to go about their lawful business free from oppressive interference from the State, but corporate interests bent on airbrushing out any possible dissent from the spectacle of the Olympics™.”
Police and cyclists clashed just outside the opening ceremony at the London Olympics.
