#Occupy Life

An article by Amy Lockard    1 Comment

I have been curious about the Occupy protests going on lately.

When “Occupy Detroit” first started out a few weeks back, my friend and I, finding us a little bored on a freak Friday night (that I actually had off from shooting a football game), decided to head down to Grand Circus Park to check out what was going on. We were very excited to head down, and we geared up with cameras and video, thinking that we may get a chance to do some on-the-spot photojournalism, however we were sadly disappointed. “Occupy Detroit” turned out to just be some tents in Grand Circus Park.

Granted, when we got there, it was late, but we were expecting to see people up, or at least some of the famous signs still up.  No, all we saw were just tents, and a DPD car or two. In a way I was glad that things were peaceful in the park, because this was during the time when things were getting heated over in Boston.  My disappointment stemmed from what I thought would be a mass outcry. I mean, I think that Detroit is the ultimate example of a city that has been used up, polluted, and then abandoned by big corporations and banks. Detroit was hit hard economically way before the rest of the country. I just thought that this might be the site of the loudest voice of the Occupy movement.

One problem I find with Occupy Detroit is that they are basically occupying an area that has little economic significance other than in the entertainment industry. While, in New York, the point is to occupy that area near, and thus protest Wall Street. Grand Circus Park in Detroit is typically empty, except for those who walk through it after getting off the people mover on their way to games at the ballparks, or shows at the theaters in the area. (Grand Circus Park is right near Foxtown, for those who don’t go downtown often, and it is the site of the people mover stop for Comerica, The Fillmore, The Fox, Ford Field, etc. You have to walk across the park to get to those places.) Any other significant financial economic activity left that area years ago. So, who are they yelling their protests at? Empty buildings?

Despite the hard times Metro Detroit has fallen on in the past decade or so, there still is incredible wealth in this area, and there are probably way more members of the 1% living in the area than we realize. I saw on Twitter, around the same time of the beginning of Occupy Detroit, a suggestion for #Occupy Somerset, which, to me, makes much for sense as a better location for an Occupy protest in Michigan. I thought that one point of Occupy is to make people feel uncomfortable. I think protesting on the lawn of shiny Somerset, which is in the heart of Troy, an area where there actually IS financial activity going on, and where there probably are members of the 1% on a regular basis makes so much more sense to me. Or, another good suggestion would be Birmingham, Metro Detroit’s 1% playground. I think that would have cause a huge stir in this area. People don’t like their routines disturbed.

Further thinking about the Occupy movement, I recently heard that they have been having problems with “hangers-on” coming by for the free food. Basically homeless people are lurking around the encampments, and that this has caused a dilemma for the Occupiers as to what to do about giving out food. I heard that in New York they switched to just giving out rice and beans for three days to try to dissuade those just looking for a tasty free meal.

This brought a realization to me, and I think should serve as a wake up for the Occupy people. The real problem has come to them in the form of these homeless people seeking free food. This week at the Spinal Column we have been working on a story about food pantries, and how the number of people in need has only grown in recent years, and thus the need for donations and volunteers has grown. The charitable organizations are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. They need help. I want to suggest that the Occupiers get out of their tents, go help some one, and that way maybe, gain a little perspective.

I am not saying that I don’t sympathize with many of the sentiments of the Occupy movement. I understand their laments about having hard times in hard economies, and feeling very used. I have seen my neighborhood change as homes have emptied of families due to foreclosure. I have lost close friends who had to leave the state after losing their home to the bank.  I am still paying off my student loan on which I have been paying for more than twice the amount of time I was even in college, and I only took out a fraction of what I hear kids have to take out now in order to get an education. I feel the frustration of knowing that my generation (GEN X) might be the first in American history to actually do worse than their parents.

But, when I heard about the homeless people looking for food, and that it’s been a big issue, I realized, that is really the problem. To me, holding protest, yelling at empty buildings, or at full ones near Wall street while ignoring the real need, people asking for food to your face, is like if someone came to you with a cut finger, bleeding, asking for a Band Aid, and you refused, saying, “No, we need to fix the reason why you were cut in the first place,” meanwhile withholding the Band Aid.

We have all heard the Occupiers words. Its time to #Occupy Life.

*Just so you know, incase you might think here at the Spinal Column we don’t practice what we preach, we donate money from our “Casual Friday” fund (Every employee who chooses to dress casual on Friday donates $2 each week) to local charities.