On September 17, after a march on Wall Street, demonstrators in New York City decided to camp out at Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan. They are protesting the fact that one percent of people control 40 percent of the wealth in the country and have overwhelming influence on our political leaders. Wall Street, which got its name from the wall that ran its length when New York was a Dutch colony, is home to many of the world’s major financial institutions.
Protesters have turned Zuccotti Park, renamed Liberty Square, into a miniature city—there’s a kitchen where you can prepare or donate some food (they get a lot of pizza!). Laura Gottesdiener, 24, told the Occupied Wall Street Journal (the newspaper created to support the occupation), “We’re serving more than two thousand meals per day.” There’s an information desk, a medical team and even a library which works on the honor system. The protesters sleep in the park. Kids are welcome, and there’s a special place where they can make signs.
All decisions are made by consensus (general agreement) at the General Assembly which meets every night at 7:00 P.M. In the beginning, the protesters were mainly students and the unemployed. Now, all sorts of people are involved and there are protests throughout the world.
Parents and kids spend the night at Liberty Square in New York City to protest the huge wealth and influence of just one percent of the U.S. population. PHOTO: David Shankbone
This protester was arrested—along with 700 fellow protesters—during an Occupy Wall Street march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Protesters say that the police guided the march onto the street and then encircled them to arrest them. PHOTO: Adrian Kinloch
Demonstrators occupying Wall Street have created a miniature city that includes a library. PHOTO: David Shankbone
