>> >>JOANNE: It's been six months since the occupy movement began in New York City what
startedded as a protest against Wall Street became an international phenomenon.
Contributing terms like the one%, 99%ers and the word occupy itself to the cultural leks
con.
To talk about where the movement stands now are occupy San Diego members David Abramson
and Jonathan groab rt thank you for being here.
David, how did you get invawived with the awk eup pie movement?
>> >>DAVID ABRAMSON: By watching the initial occupations in ZUCATI park and Sacramento.
This is the first time I've ever protested or been involved in something like this.
Real a what drew me to it is this this is the very first burld wide movement of people,
you know, standing up together across all different communities, different backgrounds,
ages, and coming together for a common cause and create solutions for our problems.
>> >>JOANNE: Did you actually sleep in the con course downtown?
>> >>DAVID ABRAMSON: I did.
Not for too many days y.had a full time job as well.
But I had been down there prit a much every day since the beginning.
>> >>JOANNE: I want ta show the people some video of the height of this movement.
What you're about to see are a number of people getting arrestd for sleeping downtown, violating
an ordinance.
Professor groab Graubart, I want to toss it over to you.
Coming from the images we're seeing now, I think you'd be hard pressed to find ack eup
iers occupiering a place in San Diego.
Has this lost steam?
>> >>JONATHAN GRAUBART: I think what's most interesting is they have an infrastructure
in San Diego and across the country.
It has changed the discourse, as you mentioned, but now it's one frame of reference for organizing
protests, and organizing a strategy that's an alternative to an lek tore Paul tiz in
San Diego and across the country.
I think it's at a very interesting next phase.
>> >>JOANNE: We're in an election year right now.
Do you see how it's infiltrated perhaps the political campaign as well?
>> >>JONATHAN GRAUBART: It's infiltrated it in a shallow manner which is not surprising
because electoral politics is unappealing.
The republican party is trying to insult it whenever it can.
I think the occupy movement needs to stay away from electoral politics and keep rooted
in its independent framework.
>> >>JOANNE: It was also criticized for not having a leader and perhaps that's why it
maybe couldn't go further than what some people claim it you know that it hasn't gone far
enough.
Do you think that's the case that it need as strong leader?
David?
>> >>PEGGY3: I was very.
>> >>DAVID ABRAMSON: I was skeptical of a movement without leaders in the beginning,
but six months in occupy San Diego taught me through consensus where everybody has a
voice, we come up with better decisions than if we had a leader telling us what we should
do.
It's shown in our actions and initiatives we've gotten accomplished.
It's really changed nee believe that a decentralizedÊ it's not that we don't have leaders, everyone's
a leader, and we step up and back at different times.
>> >>JOANNE: What have you accomplished then?
What has the movement here in San Diego actually achieved?
>> >>DAVID ABRAMSON: We had a national bank transfer day, where 250,000 to 800,000 people
took their money out of banks and joined credit unions.
We got a union back inin through the ports shut down efforts, contributed to shutting
down the sopa and peep uh, internet bills.
We've changed the collective consciousness of people, and occupied the hearts and minds
of people to mend injustices that are happening right now.
>> >>JOANNE: Early on when I asked how you got involved, you spoke to the idea this was
a large movement being part of something bigger.
But was there something in that message other than just the method of being part of a large
movement?
Was there something that spoke to you?
>> >>DAVID ABRAMSON: Yeah, there real a was.
It's still intangible, but really why I'm there is I want to see a better world for
me, and for my children, when I have children, and for everyone around me.
Toorks create something new, and to create something democratic and create something
that will create community, and art, and culture, and sustainability.
I feel like we're all firing on the same cylinders from all these wide perspectives and getting
things done.
>> >>JOANNE: Professor, is that just sort ofÊ is this really a youth movement that
has caught on diseation captured the minds of young peep tool feel like they're part
of something more?
>> >>JONATHAN GRAUBART: I think it's something that spread beyond that.
I want to say something about the leaders f.you think about the civil rights movement
and the African American protest, I read about this, Martin Luther King Jr., he had a very
imperious chief of staff.
He was rattling all these people, saying get behind the lead leader.
This young man who became student non violent coordinating committee went up and said reverend
you say follow the leader, why not have lots of leaders.
I think that gets to the occupy movement.
I'm not particularly young anymore and it speaks to me.
>> >>JOANNE: Okay, professor Graubart, and David Abramson, thank you for being here.