Year-End Occupy Round-Up: API Edition

December 28, 2011

(Photo by Brian Nguyen/The Aggie, courtesy of boingboing.net)

There are occupations, and then there are preoccupations
with occupations.

Here in New York, a preoccupied, post-occupation holiday
meant a quieter-than-usual General Assembly on Christmas eve, the prelude to a
holiday of charity and prayers at Zuccotti Park (Liberty Square). December 26
was the movement’s rather anticlimactic 100-day anniversary, which for me
called to mind traditional Asian commemorations of births --
this fledgling, too, of uncertain duration.

I am certain, though, that it’s no flash in the pan. Since September
17, small somethings have changed: nights are colder and the tents folded up;
"99%" replaces talk of bootstraps and perfect meritocracy; and
taxation means the rich can pay more. We are post-encampment, unsure of what to
occupy, having control now of only our minds and speech.

And so it is that a culture of occupation, an occupying mode
is the crux of it, seeping into our very own Asian America. From protest and
commentary to quarrel, farce, and artistic tribute, Occupy ______ is in some
fashion here to stay.

Here’s a sampling of what it’s looked like so far:


Contributor: 

Tammy Kim

Blogger

Tammy lives in Brooklyn, where she writes, works as a social-justice lawyer, and teaches. She grew up in Tacoma, WA and was educated at Yale and NYU.

Comments

Comments

I fail to see any point to the Occupy movement, they seemed to be a bunch of kids that needed to be burped. I am amused you couldn't really define it Ms. Kim. . I did feel a certain sense of sympathy early on, but nothing I have read about these people seem to suggest they were really interested in the nuts and bolts of America's current problems.* . I will grant, when you are young, it's fairly romantic to protest, beats getting an engineering degree with a specialty in electric wire insulation composition. Problems is, when you're 40, you look like a silly teenager while the guy designing wire insulation is making product people truly need. My bet is the Chinese will buy a lot more wire than books on social justice. . The only people who make a good living from protesting are those who later on jockey for a tenured position at some university where they grind out endless papers saying nothing new while getting awards for saying it. It's rarely recognized the wire designer is the one paying the bills. . If those poor put upons were complaining about the cost of education, maybe they should ask or demand to know why are they paying the salary of those who grind out endless papers that say nothing new. . *- As for social justice, true social justice will occur only when the glass wearing, bucked tooth fat girl gets asked to dance by someone other than her father. Until then, it will always be about self and how one makes oneself look good versus the other guy and there is no group better at it than the left. Is racism any worse than disliking someone because they are fat or have a bad weird of humor? Why is one ism worse than another? I have asked a few of the paper grinder outters this question and have yet to get an answer.
"Is racism any worse than disliking someone because they are fat or have a bad weird of humor?" . Should be: Is racism any worse than disliking someone because they are fat or have *a weird* sense of humor? .. Mom always told me to just get by on my looks.