(MintPress) — The rap superstar who once stood in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement is turning his back against the 99 percent, claiming their arguments are convoluted and antithetical to what America stands for.
Jay-Z’s statements aren’t too far off from those who have watched television screens and read newspaper headlines glancing over various Occupy protests and gatherings throughout the nation. As Occupy Wall Street has transformed to “Occupy All Streets,” mainstream media hasn’t exactly kept up.
“I’m not going to park and picnic, I have no idea what to do, I don’t know what the fight is about,” Jay-Z said in an interview with New York Times Magazine. “What do we want, do you know?”
Occupy protesters will be the first to agree that their messages are many, claiming there are too many issues that need attention — too many causes that can’t be ignored. And while they haven’t abandoned their opposition to Wall Street corruption, they’ve learned to use the same tactics to target other areas of injustices seen throughout the nation.
What is Occupy now?
Janet Wilson, an Occupy activist and primary driver of the “Occupy the Roads” caravan, admits Occupy has expanded its lists of concerns over the last year. But, as she puts it, that’s because there are just too many causes worth standing up for.
“Do we have to focus on one thing and let everything else go to crap? We’re speaking out against the injustices that are being done,” Wilson said in an interview with MintPress, “and there are many.”
Wilson spends her time traveling throughout the nation in her sticker-laden caravan, learning the topics various Occupy encampments are standing against and picking up activists along the way. Their local issues of concern are what make up Occupy’s long list of causes, and it’s important to Wilson and others within the movement to stand in solidarity with them.
“Do we care about money in politics? Do we care about education, that Monsanto has GMO food that’s not labeled? Do we care about fracking? How do you say which is a priority,” she said.
The Occupy Wall Street website communicates that same message. With Occupy activists living in all corners of the nation, various actions regarding a number of topics continue to occur on a regular basis. On Monday, a video posted of a march on Fannie Mae in Atlanta was front and center, followed by a show of solidarity for the teachers on strike in Chicago.
A site dedicated to Occupy press releases includes causes ranging from the occupation of nuclear power-related facilities to a show of support for urban farm activists — each topic complete with a description of why Occupy has taken a stand.
And while press releases may be written and posted, the Occupy movement isn’t making a splash in mainstream media — not in the way it did one year ago when it shut down Wall Street in an effective campaign of interruption-based awareness.
Media coverage
Wilson will be the first to say that those within Occupy can improve in some areas, largely when it comes to communicating their message to the media. Social media serves as a way for activists to spread news and information amongst themselves, but it’s not serving as a means for reaching those outside the movement.
Occupiers also have their own news sources. Take Occupied Chicago Tribune, for example. In the Occupy news website description, it includes a slam on the very newspaper that could be taking its message to those outside of the movement. The same model was followed with the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
“We’re proud to have no affiliation whatsoever with the 1 percent Chicago Tribune or the Tribune Co.,” it reads.
The statement represents the sentiments by most within the Occupy movement, who have a distaste and distrust for major media outlets, which they’ve seen either brush over their message or cover them in a way that activists say doesn’t truly represent who the majority of people within the movement area.
The May NATO protests in Chicago, for example, drew coverage from local Chicago outlets by way of photos, but was largely overlooked by major outlets like CNN and FOX News, which showed the thousands gathered as mere images, not coverage from the ground concerning the issues raised by those who had made the journey to march against the NATO Summit.
In July, hundreds of activists converged on historic Philadelphia for the Occupy National Gathering, drawing those from around the nation interested in coming together to develop a clear plan for the future of the movement. That, too, received little to no attention from major media outlets, other than to report on arrests that took place overnight. During that same gathering, delegates from around the nation came together for the 99 Declaration, a spin-off movement of those interested in injecting the Occupy message into the political discussion. It, too, went on in the shadows.
Images of “hippie” looking activists, along with extensive coverage of arrests — which many Occupy activists routinely decry as acts of intimidation — paint a picture among those who view it through mainstream outlets that they stand for, well, whatever the viewer would like to assume.
“They (activists) are concerned citizens. They may not look like everyone in America, but they’re the ones out there giving a voice to those who aren’t being heard,” Wilson said.
Moving forward — not dying, adjusting
And while there’s frustration for an end to this cycle of misinformation and confusion, some tied with the movement, including world-renowned activist Noam Chomsky, claim something must be done to organize the encampments that have been set up throughout the nation.
Speaking last year to activists in Boston, Chomsky praised the occupations throughout the nation and in New York’s Zuccotti Park, but said it was then time to take it to the next level, particularly addressing neighborhood political organizing.
“Don’t be obsessed with tactics but with purpose,” Chomsky told the crowd. “Tactics have a half life.”
That’s something Wilson can agree with. Having decided not to attend the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention protests because of assumed amped-up police and Homeland Security Presence, she admits the tactic of occupying a park is undoubtedly now going to be challenged by law enforcement. And with all the energy spent fighting for the right to demonstrate freely for causes they so deeply believe in, it leaves some activists looking for another way to carry on their mission, or missions.
Her caravan, in a sense, is just that. It’s a mobile information machine, generating dialogue among her passengers and curious citizens along the way. On Nov. 10, Wilson is taking off on a multiple caravan cross-country tour with Occupy Armed Forces.
“These are important messages, and they’re going to be on the road … and we’re going to talk to people and try to explain to people and the media why it is that people are outraged and out on the streets,” Wilson said. “Hopefully they’ll get it.”
And despite Jay-Z’s criticism of their many causes, it seems the Occupy protesters won’t give up their fights — no matter how many there are.