Some of the discussions we had in class this week really brought back vivid memories of my first march and protest. Even though I haven't been a part of the OWS movement, I was on TV early at some point in my life carrying posters protesting against an act of racism that took place at my undergraduate institution. I won't go into the details of what happened, because they are not really good memories, but as we discussed in class this week about how effective the network of the OWS movement has been as regards meeting its goals, I reminisced about the dynamics surrounding the protests at my undergraduate institution.
After the racist event took place, some organizations immediately gathered together. We had to come up with a list of things that we felt we needed to see change. It wasn't the first time that something of this nature was happening, but I think this was the last straw. We wanted to get the attention of the administration. Hence we decided to march! It was freezing cold and snowing. I thought my fingers were going to fall off. But we made it! We marched to the faculty meeting- almost 200 students. But beyond getting the attention we wanted certain things to change. But we needed some leaders to help us organize this call to action.
The OWS movement has definitely gotten the attention of the present administration. It has even gotten global attention. The next step is however to state what they want to see changed. Most people are not happy with economic inequality. Well the 1% could care less... but at least 99% are not happy with it. How a story is told can call for action as we discussed in class this past week. Right now there are so many stories surrounding the OWS movement. Clearly a network has been established surrounding this movement and from my experience during my undergrad, having a strong network surrounding a movement is a powerful tool. We had the community involved, it was great. But we needed a leader or some leaders who would keep carrying the message along. Look at back at every successful movement, a leader was needed to champion the cause.
It's beginning to get really cold out there, I don't know how many people would keep marching and protesting. I think a leader is needed. I believe this would give validation to the movement and the actors that can get involved in it.
The OWS movement has definately gained attention from governments, media and people around the world. I feel this event is a defining moment in the next generation, they just don't do it like their parents did. I am not quite sure the movement needs one clear leader. In fact, I think it may be that it has become so successful because it relies on the strength of its horizontal network and not one leader sitting at the top (which would be more of a top-down, pyramid shape). Because of the lack of one leader to rally around, the movement has been able to travel, morph and refine itself to find relevance in communities all over the world. This does not mean that leaders will not arise and take charge, but that these leaders within the OWS movement will act more as nodes within a network, drawing resources and information to themselves and pushing them back out again - instead of acting as the eye at the top of the pyramid.