(All photos by Scott Harris)
Who was this man being arrested in New York City?
Throughout the remainder of that day, Dec. 17, 2011, and into the next morning, that question still hounded me when I awoke.
In my last blog, I described how the media profession is beset with the same issues of downsizing as any other industry, and how the majority of journalists in newsrooms are often underpaid and cannot cover important socioeconomic issues with the ideal attention and care they desire.
Today, this tough working environment is further compounded by a short news cycle. In this digital age with cellphones, webcams, search engines and social media, even seasoned media professionals can't always capture the complete story of a compelling issue.
It's up to concerned citizens to help fill out those stories and improve public discourse.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is a perfect example of the widespread need for improved public discussion on the country's economic woes that were exacerbated by the financial crisis, and political climate after the 2010 elections. Throughout the movement's explosive growth, average citizens have been taking their own photos and videos and telling their own stories, while also sharing news reports from various media outlets and nonprofits through social media.
Dec. 17, 2011 was the third month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, a movement still active despite the dozens of encampment evictions throughout the country. It turns out that day was also the first year anniversary of the day a fruit cart vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in a public square in Tunisia after years of police harassment. How many could have predicted that moment of anguish would have sparked a global uprising for economic justice?
It was also the day I knew there was an Occupy Wall Street march to try to occupy a vacant, fenced in lot owned by Trinity Church, behind Duarte Square on Sixth Avenue and Canal Street. The occupiers had wanted to re-establish a new site there, but the church board rejected the request. even though they had had a working relationship prior with the occupiers.
Even though I've been rather "pre-occupied" with the movement overall and like to think that I've been trying to stay on top of this ever-growing, expansive movement (for which other well-funded organizations have assigned reporters or bloggers full time), but I can't, because other issues often get in the way. That day, I also had to choose between a Netroots NY conference that offered sorely needed workshops on online advertising, website development, fundraising, social media and other networking. There's also the problem of fatigue, trying to keep up with all the issues in what's supposed to be your time off from work.
So, when my husband, Scott Harris, Between The Lines' producer urged me to divide my time between both OWS and the conference, I was skeptical of leaving the conference. After all, I had read the New York Times article about the church's decision, and had felt that it wasn't right for the occupiers to "re-occupy" and start a new encampment on that site. But I left with the intention of coming back...
When we arrived, at 12 noon, nothing much was happening other than a CNN truck for aerial camera shots, about a dozen police covering a crowd of about 200 (with proportionately more media than protesters) and a street theater group performing "A Christmas Story" with a character named "Bloomscrooge" and the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future visiting him.
After about three hours, the square had been filling up with more street theater, musicians, tabling for literature and books sales, peanut butter or tuna fish sandwiches being given out for free. We realized something was happening in a corner at the street; people were walking quickly to one side of the square. We had been tipped off that the marchers were probably going to create a diversion while trying to occupy the Trinity Church's vacant lot on the other side of the building, behind Juan Pablo Duarte Square. It seemed they were ready to start a march, and a colleague reminded me that if I didn't want to get arrested, we would need to be cautious at all times about where we walk, due to the heavy police presence. (A group of people had just asked me to join them; they were concealing what turned out to be a large ladder under a banner.)
The march went up the street, and then turned around, making a detour around a few blocks and to the vacant lot behind the building as our tipster had said. A ladder went up...
He climbed over, and from what I could see there was no other way down... it was at least a 10-foot drop. That worried me; I certainly wouldn't have wanted to do that, much as I think action was an important symbolic gesture. I looked behind the fence and could see that he was on his back; he rolled to get up off the ground. He could've gotten hurt, especially at his age, I feared. But, he got up on his feet and was joined by many more.
The more I watched his movements and his demeanor, I felt he was someone who was of stature, and was not some "hippie" dressed up for the sake of street theater, which I am sure critics would have surmised. I tweeted his arrest cautiously after trying to get more information from other OWS volunteers and a National Lawyers Guild legal observer.
That night, at an Occupy Wall Street filmfest, an Occupy Wall Street library team member announced to the crowd what had happened, confirming that a bishop and other clergy affiliated with the church had been arrested.
Earlier, after my reading of one New York Times article, I had thought that if the church didn't want the occupiers to set up an encampment there, it wasn't necessarily right for them to be forcing the issue. But then, my question became, "Why was this bishop willing to take a chance of getting hurt and also engaging in civil disobedience by getting arrested?" When I asked the OWS library member this question, he told me that there had been a division in the church, from a real estate perspective.
On the train in, I remembered reading about the size of the real estate holdings the church owned as well as the corporate representatives on the board ... which I have to confirm ... but that information missing from the New York Time article was enough to change my view, and pique my curiosity.
It also made me me see how important it is for citizens to be willing to seek out information and get a more complete picture of the issues.
See this video by MotherJones, which this afternoon, was updated from an earlier report this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b714AL8wEWo
See MotherJones.com's report.
See this report by the Episcopal News Service.
More to come in my next blog.
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