Hi There!
Well, this one took me longer to do than I thought. I thought I could get it done by yesterday evening, and put this post up last night. However, my family persuaded me to tear myself away from drawing this, and looking back, I think that was probably a good idea. One thing I have to realize, and you probably do, too, is that taking breaks and taking time to do things can be helpful.
When I take time away from doing a task, and then come back to it, I do better and think of ways around that I hadn't thought of before I took the break. So even though I lost some time, I think it was worth paying that small price. I think the challenging thing to do is to find the right balance between getting things done within a small window of time, but not lose your sanity while trying to do so.
Now, as promised, my post on the Occupy the Rose Bowl Parade. My brother and I went up there. We didn't arrived in time to march in the event itself (The parade took off at about 8 in the morning, and the protest followed the tail-end of the parade), but we were there for a rally in front of Pasadena City Hall. There were speeches and songs. Honestly, we were there to take it in. I just wanted to see who was present at the rally. Thankfully, even at the late stage we caught it at, the rally was well-attended (there were at least 200 there when we arrived, then it thinned out). Even KCAL 9 News was doing a story on it.
I published the video in the previous post. Told ya it would come in handy, didn't I? Again, I tried like hell to find a way to embed it in this post, but alas, that was the only way. Anyway, if you watch their coverage, you'll notice that the woman doing the report was the exact same one in this picture taken by me.
So, the key to the meaning of this picture is, why did I include these people? During the concert, the musician, a woman wearing a skimask as she was singing and playing the guitar, as seen below, was asking people to step up to the adjoining mic and sing out their frustrations, troubles, hopes and goals as members of "the 99%," as they call it.
While all this was going on, I could not help but notice that police had been assembling nearby, en masse, using ATV's, heavy trucks, patty wagons, even armored black vehicles that looked like small tanks. Many of the cops were from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Counterterrorism unit, and some of them were wearing what appeared to be bulletproof vests or flak jackets. As I said, some of this was occurring directly adjacent to our rally, making me think the cops might be ready, at a moment's notice, for some rumble to go down. This was because I had heard many reports of police units getting generous with their force on said occupy protestors.
Here is some photographic evidence of the police crackdown on Occupy Wall Street's participants.
Here, you see the cops in full riot gear, ready to stomp ass. The one guy on the left, there, seems to be slapping the nightstick in his hand, as if to say, "you have to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky?" These pictures were provided by photojournalist Zach Roberts, who described in vivid and graphic detail his arrest at the 3-month anniversary rally in Lower Manhattan. Between all of these stories, that was my main concern, going into all this, that the cops would get very brutal. Below is another photo, taken, again by Mr. Roberts, from his holding cell.
Thankfully, nothing of this sort happened, either in the parade itself, or at the susequent rally in the shadow of Pasadena City Hall. However, their presence put this inspiration in my mind. What if the cops had joined us? After all, the police are public employees, who are themselves being squeezed by budget cuts nationwide. In some cities, such as Camden, New Jersey, police forces are being cut altogether. Can you imagine how much it would suck to live in a locale with little or no police protection? Violent crime is a big problem in Camden and other cities where this is happening, and this will spell disaster for those communities.
This economic discontent has been boiling for all of last year, 2011. The catchphrase "We Are the 99%" is similar to an online mobilization, The Other 98%, which began in 2010. In response to all of Washington's dealmaking on tax cuts, a group calling itself US Uncut was formed in early 2011. When "Tea Party" Governors in Wisconsin, and then Ohio, tried to remove public unions' right to collectively bargain with employers, people began marching in the streets last Winter and Spring.
The most interesting thing I found in these protests was this. When the Police and Fire Unions there were put in the deal, firefighters and cops began joining the marches. When I learned of it, I found it very intriguing and heartwarming.
Now, this is Rachel Maddow reporting this, so she's got her very clear point of view on this. What I found most interesting of this is that here, the people usually thought of as the protestors' opponents were actually with the protests here. Why? Because this was not about some divisive political back-and-forth. Now, protesting is about more than just idealism and rabblerousing. This is about all of us in our society.
Here are the realities. You have probably heard some of these stats. The top 1% of earners have had their share of income go up significantly over the last 30 years. Here, I think this graph will help explain.
You see that there is a distinct "u"-shaped curve to this graph. You can also clearly see that it begins climbing sharply in 1980. The two apexes seen on the u-curve are in 1928 and 2007, both years, wait for it, right before, that's right, the economy went into a 500-mile-per-hour nosedive. Coincidence? Now, let's look at this graph.
This graph is a vivid illustration of the statistics I was first introduced to six years ago. Back then, around the end of 2005, beginning of 2006, there were about 38 million people in this country with below-poverty wages. I remember hearing that this meant that about 1 in 8 people here lived in poverty. As of 2009, according to the above graph, the number climbed to over 43 million, and is now over 1 in 7.
These numbers, however, hide the condition of each of these peoples' lives. Behind each of these 43.6 is someone trying to get by. Trying, with less and less success, to build a full, satisfying, meaningful life for themselves. Interestingly, the young are most likely to be poor, now. Millions of children now live in poverty. Shockingly, some barely have enough food just to keep them alive, in the United States. Add to all this the pressure of trying to get or keep one, or two, or three jobs, care for a family, and the pressure, hardship, and often pain, is unimaginable.
The basic needs of people are food, water and shelter. I would add medicine to the list. However, what is scary is that people are having more trouble getting, in some cases, even the most basic of those met. This is a painful reality that those in power, in politics or business, don't seem to get. To them, it seems to exist as an anomaly, that they encounter sometimes, but never confront on a constant basis.
What causes all this hardship and pain, is what I wanted to speak to in this drawing. Here, I recorded my thought of an event of unprecedented unity. Here, the Counterterrorism officer, in full flak-jacket, riot apparel, is sharing some of his hardships, and struggles, being part of the downtrodden. He is coming together with the stigmatized protestors, both parties realizing that for all their differences in their lives, many parts of their lives bond them, as well. One of the speakers was saying "We are 1," and I thought "including all the cops over there."
This speaks to a deep longing of mine. I would love to see the people of this world be more unified with each other. Now, I have grown and matured, I know that this will not come easily. For this to happen, some overhaul of our lives must happen. who knows what form this will take? Might be positive, might be negative. I didn't draw this as an endorsement of Occupy Wall Street. I support them to the extent that I support any political movement these days.
What this speaks to is the surface of what is going on, but also its transcendence. I may generally side with the left, but I also have come to realize that beyond right or left, there is some sense of unity, of connection, people can have with their world, and with each other. Conveying this was my main hope with this drawing.
Well, this entry certainly went longer than I expected it to. I never know when I sit down to blog. Sometimes I do a light, short post, other times, it's a big, landmark piece, like it is here. I mean, I knew this would be a big one, but I didn't know it would be this long and involved. Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope you found this reading worthwhile. I'll have some more good things ahead for you soon.
See ya and, keep wondering, folks!
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