How Occupy Wall Street plans to spring back to action
| Los Angeles
After a relatively low-profile winter, the movement聽that branded pup-tent聽activism into the national consciousness is embracing the advent of spring.
In Washington Friday the Occupy Wall聽Street (OWS) movement is聽launching its second act, kicking off a month-long聽series of marches, training sessions, and general assemblies with Occupyers from all over the nation.
Dubbed National Occupy Washington (NOW), the event聽began with聽a march on the聽Environmental Protection Agency 鈥� accompanied by a brace of alpacas, a large polar bear, and a even larger blow-up of planet Earth.
鈥淭his is just the tip of the iceberg,鈥� Kevin Zeese, one of the coorganizers, says by cell phone while marching under the overcast capital skies.
鈥淲e are preparing to give people the skills and training they need for longer and more聽powerful involvement,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥渢he tents were just a tactic, not the聽purpose of this movement.鈥�
While many have seen the disappearance of the signature tents from downtown parks from New York to Oakland and Boston to Los Angeles as a sign that OWS had lost both its appeal and vigor, Mr. Zeese counters that long-term social campaigns such as the civil rights聽movement unfolded over years and took many forms as they progressed.
鈥淲e may be less visible, but we are just getting started,鈥� Zeese says.
Spring is inspiring other OWS-related activism as well, including the聽99 Percent Spring, a coalition of progressive groups launching聽large-scale nonviolence training for its members and a national call for a general strike on May 1.
OWS is in transition, says Mark Tatge, journalism professor at DePauw University in Indiana. 鈥淚 don't see it dying, I see it morphing into something beyond just an attack on the big banks or Wall Street,鈥� he says via e-mail, adding that the seeds of this movement can be seen elsewhere.
鈥淭here is really more than one 鈥極ccupy Wall Street鈥� movement underway,鈥� says Professor Tatge, pointing to coalitions of groups mobilizing over issues such as immigration, fights over creationism in schools, a fierce battle over health care now before the Supreme Court, and the recent shooting of an unarmed teen in Florida.
鈥淚 expect more, not less, political activism over the next five years,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost of this is because of the widening split between the haves and have-nots in this country.鈥�
The decision to train Occupy members in nonviolent direct action methods demonstrates the movement鈥檚 decision to help set the political agenda, says Villanova University political scientist Catherine Wilson, adding that it shows that OWS is attempting to expand its base of core supporters and sustain movement participation.
鈥淎 central way of sustaining movement participation is through engagement in coalition advocacy with a range of Occupy allies,鈥� she says via e-mail. 鈥淏oth secular and faith-based.鈥澛�
Ms. Wilson points to other upcoming events on the OWS 鈥�Spring Training鈥� calendar, such as聽on April 1, Occupy Philadelphia is hosting Occupy Holy Week/Passover.聽
The intention of Occupy Holy Week/Passover, she says,聽is 鈥渢o showcase how the movement resists injustice through the use of nonviolent methods.鈥�
The day will begin with a march to the sites of 鈥渕odern-day Pharaohs鈥澛燼nd will end with the sharing of a Seder meal.聽Through the use of religious symbolism, Wilson says, Occupy is聽purposely聽evoking the history of other聽nonviolent social movements聽led by such historical figures as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and C茅sar Chavez.
However not everyone is so persuaded about the long-term outlook for OWS.
鈥淭he movement has lost most of its relevance,鈥� says Republican strategist David Johnson,聽who worked on Bob Dole鈥檚 1988 presidential bid.
The high-profile events such as police clashes with demonstrators everywhere from the University of California at Davis to New York鈥檚 Zuccotti Park kept the concept alive in the minds of many Americans, he says.聽But now, with news of unemployment going down and new job-creation rising, he says, 鈥渢his聽 movement is going to have to struggle to be relevant any more.鈥澛�
