Occupy: A Call for Accountability

Being part of a mass movement, the energy, the emotions and the determination of people drawn together to change what they believe is unjust is a powerful and addictive thing. I got a taste when I literally ran into hundreds of protestors marching in Occupy Oakland on Tuesday heading back to my hotel after a meeting. It was as if the crowd drew me in. Without thinking I pulled into a side street parked my car, joined the march, and got my cell phone to take pictures and video of history unfolding.

It was the most diverse group I’ve ever seen, made up of people from all walks of life, all racial and ethnic backgrounds, all religions and all ages – which our political leadership should realize is in itself a force to be reckoned with. It’s one thing to see it on TV, but being amongst them, you instinctively grasp and feel a part of an organic movement to fight for a common cause: demanding real change to address the inexcusable wealth gap in America and standing against the people and policies who have created this gap and those who still continue to benefit from this inequity.

Granted one of the critiques of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has been the lack of a clear agenda; another has been the diversity of messages, issues, and demands made by the protestors. But one thing is undeniably clear: the 99% is unhappy and feels betrayed. And if our lawmakers and political leaders are smart, they won’t ignore this dissatisfaction as merely the complaints of a disgruntled few, because it absolutely is not. People are genuinely suffering and unhappy.

On Tuesday, I also felt the anger of the crowd; anger at the city of Oakland for raiding a camp where protestors had engaged in peaceful demonstration for two weeks; and anger at the fact that those in power don’t seem to be listening. And there was definitely anger at the hundreds of armed police officers in riot gear stationed around the city to treat the residents of Oakland as unruly lawbreakers. At one point, as we were congregated in what is now known as Oscar Grant Plaza (in memory of a young unarmed African American needlessly shot to death by a BART police officer), we began chanting “Oscar Grant,” at the police who were ready to attack the crowd with tear gas and batons. A few began cursing at the officers, some using very insulting language to convey that the police had betrayed the people. Others in the background were kinder, saying to the officers, “We love you, we’re doing this for you too.”

And at that point, I realized that this is all about accountability, whether it’s accountability for police officers, for government, for banks or for corporations. And that’s what the underlying demand of the protestors is: reforming our system to hold accountable those driven (perhaps by greed or simply by a system that allows them to do so) to increase their power, bank accounts and assets at the expense of those who are struggling every day just to make ends meet.

And it’s a call for accountability for America as a nation, with abundant wealth, resources, and the ability to house, feed and clothe every person who calls this country home. Yet, all you have to do is walk into any major city and visit the low income communities or areas of the city where the homeless congregate to see that we have failed to provide for the basic needs of those who are less fortunate. And for this we are all accountable.

As I get ready to leave Oakland, I hope that the OWS movement – of which I now consider myself a supporter – succeeds. I hope it stays true to the diversity that gives it an immense power. I hope this country lives up to its promise of justice, fairness and equality. This is the hope of people all over the world – as evidence by the Iranian reform movement and the Arab Spring. But the difference is that our system – at least in principle – allows us to express discontent and work towards progress without fear of repression or imprisonment. We have to work to translate these foundational principles into reality. And it won’t be a new phenomenon; America has seen great change come about through peaceful protest and civil disobedience – these were the cornerstone strategies of the civil rights movement. I hope we use lessons from our great history to ensure that the Occupy movement changes this country for the better, just as our predecessors who fought for racial equality did a generation or two before us.