**UPDATE 8 October 2011 14:47 EST: I have added a couple of pictures from the protest today**

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After I taught my undergraduates at Fordham University this morning, I got on the subway and headed back to Occupy Wall Street, the ongoing protest in lower Manhattan about to enter its fourth week, and which has now spread to many cities around the United States. (My initial post about it is here.) Over the past week, with increased media attention and many unions deciding to join the protest, the crowds have gotten steadily larger. (I am happy that the union to which I belong, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), today announced that it was endorsing Occupy Wall Street.)

There were easily a thousand people around the park, and hundreds more walking around the outside checking things out. There are lots of ways you can contribute: if you are in the New York City area, you can hold a sign on the east side of the park for the media, foot passersby, and passing traffic to see, or you can read literature related to the protests, or you can enjoy the music, or you can stop by the OWS booth on the east side of the park to see what the protest needs immediately that you might contribute, or you can patronize any of the local booths set up to sell wares or distribute material for many different causes, or you can just wander and let your very presence count for something, in the awareness that your very presence combats your own and others’ indifference. If you are out of town, check out the Occupy Wall Street website, and consider contributing resources to the protesters, like phoning local businesses and using your credit card to purchase delivery of meals or other goods to the OWS stand in the park — or get involved in an “Occupy Wall Street” protest near you. Please see the donation section of the OWS site for what is most needed and how to get it there.

Everyone who believes that a radical reconsideration of the economic and social policy priorities in the United States is in order — in the direction of more fair, equitable, and just distribution of resources for the flourishing of all persons, especially those most vulnerable in our country and around the world — can do something, from simply learning about the movement to getting involved in direct action on the ground.

The movement is reaching a moment when a number of different organizations and individuals find, for their own reasons, that they share an overlapping set of urgent and fundamental concerns with others:

The market is not God! The economy is meant to serve the flourishing of human beings and all life!

Below are a few pictures from today, including the Sacred Space at the protest site, which has its own altar at which people leave mementos, and about which I will write more later.

Tommy Beaudoin, New York City

1 Comment »

1. 

   I am awed by the wisdonm and courage of the OWS people. Their energy, caring, and thirst for justice for all is an important beginning. Please know that you have support in the field. Jane

   Comment by Jane Leger — October 17, 2011 @ 4:26 pm

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