Occupy Halloween
A Simple Suggestion for Mass Solidarity
by Matt Meyer
For everyone who wants to support the inspiring and growing “Occupy Wall Street,†“Occupy Together,†and “Occupy the Hood†movements but is feeling too busy, too scared, too overwhelmed, too young or too old (even too middle-aged!), too tired, too cautious, too far away from the center of the action, too involved with work or parenting or just trying to survive; for everyone: a simple suggestion…
THIS HALLOWEEN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2011, WEAR A “V†MASK
For Victory & Peace, For Vigilance Against Injustice, For a Vision of a New & Better Tomorrow
Why “V�
Many of the Occupy Wall Street protestors and others have adopted the wearing of an “anonymous†mask, seen in Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta, a likeness of Guy Fawkes. “V†— in the novel and in the related movie — has an anarchist revolutionary connotation, but wearing the mask for one afternoon could simply imply uncompromising opposition to the greed and oppression by the 1%. And it doesn’t need to imply anything more than:
- Solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protestors and their anti-Corporate Take-Over message;
- Solidarity and Vigilance against increased inequality and injustice; and
- A Shared Vision for a New and Better Tomorrow!
KEEP IT SIMPLE!
No need to go out and buy an official “V†mask: Make Your Own. For the artistically-inclined, use all the colors of the rainbow and rich textured lines. For the rest of us, just draw a big “V†on an old piece of cardboard! If you like, take another piece of cardboard and add your own, home-made political message for all to see. If you like, there’s even a fine DIY mask available online. If you are not one of the 1% who owns more wealth than the “bottom†180 million rest of us in the U.S., then you have a Voice in this movement. Let your thoughts and ideas be heard!
Why Halloween?
In addition to the fact that Halloween is a popularly celebrated day of children-centered cultural fun, we are aware of some of the roots of the celebration — one of the oldest ongoing festivals in the history of the world — which spotlight the plight of impoverished youth getting food from those better off. Of course, what we are concerned about today is much more than simple hand-outs (in this way we lean more towards Robin Hood or the community-centered economics of much of traditional Africa). Halloween 2011 is good timing: the time to build and add to this important movement is right now.
What we want
- A world free from capitalist exploitation or Wall Street financiers, and an end to a society where it is OK for 1% of the population to own everyone else’s resources, land, labor, body, and soul;
- A world free from imperialism and colonialism, recognizing that “North America†is Indigenous land, that the land was and is still being built off of the backs of “free†(enslaved) African labor, “cheap†immigrant labor, and the stolen labor of the massive, imprisoned population; freeing one another also means freeing all political prisoners and freeing the land!;
- A world free from the militarism and war which drains money from every sector of society; the so-called “deficit” is only the choice to spend trillions on the wrong priorities (and to refuse to seriously tax the rich);
- A world free from the racism, white supremacy, patriarchy, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and all oppression which is used to dominate and divide us.
Who we are
This call is being made by members and friends of a collective called Resistance in Brooklyn (RnB): resistanceinbrooklyn.ows@gmail.com.
But it’s time to take these ideas, and your own creative ones, into your own hands.
Help spread the word! Let our resistance go viral!
Matt Meyer is an educator-activist, based in New York City, and serves as convener of the War Resisters International Africa Working Group. His recent books include Guns and Gandhi in Africa: Pan-African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle and Liberation (Africa World Press, 2000), the two-volume collection Seeds of New Hope: Pan African Peace Studies for the 21st Century (Africa World Press, 2008, 2010), and Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U. S. Political Prisoners (PM Press, 2008). Meyer is a contributing member of the Editorial Advisory Board for New Clear Vision.