POVERTY AND THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT By: Sirak Tewolde

BIO  18 years old.  From Springfield, Va.  Middle child with an older and younger sister.  Currently undeclared, weighing options.  Love to play tennis.

INTRODUCTION  All started with The Great Recession in  Led to 50 million Americans (16%) who were living in poverty.  Unemployment peaked at 10% in October 2009.

THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT  Began in September 2011 with protests being held in New York City’s Zuccotti Park.  Men and women gathered to fight against social and economic inequality in peaceful protests  By October 9 th, 70 major cities in the U.S. were holding demonstrations and protests, getting their voices heard.

DOWNFALL OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT  Mayor Bloomberg of New York City called for Zuccotti park to be evacuated in November 2011, thus ending the stand on Wall Street.  The movement began to lose its fray, and the groups around the U.S. began to dissemble due to police force and on their own terms.  The last remaining major city to hold any protests was Washington D.C., which held their last one in February  Was never able to fully flourish and have a huge impact.

CLAIM  The 99% who supported the Occupy Movement in 2011 were faced with several limitations, and could have had a better and longer impact if it occurred in our society today.

CURRENT TIMES  Poverty in the U.S. is currently at 14.5%.  The 1% currently make nearly $400,000 on average.  Unemployment rate is currently at 5.8%.

SOCIAL MEDIA  Social Media was used to spread the movement back in  Social Media sites currently hold roughly 1.8 billion users across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Nearly double than  Would be easier to spread the word to more people online.  Create something similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by starting a trend that will attract and spread quickly.

CONCLUSION  Although the Occupy Movement did not fully succeed in its 2011 campaign, the use of outlets like social media would help it gain popularity and allow the movement to have more of an impact in changing the inequality gap.

WORKS CITED 1.Gamson, William A. “The #Occupy Movement: An Introduction.” The Sociological Quarterly, 27 March Web. 17 Nov Packer, George. “All the Angry People.” The New Yorker, 5 Dec Web. 16 Nov Mason, Susan E. “The Occupy Movement and Social Justice Economics” Families in Society, 4 Feb Web. 17 Nov Aguirre, Abby. “Accounts Payable” The New Yorker, 19 Dec Web. 15 Nov Hertzberg, Hendrik. “Occupational Hazards” The New Yorker, 7 Nov Web. 15 Nov