#NerdsUnite: An Observation on #Occupy
<editorsnote> For weeks now people have been posting on my wall, and tweeting to me that I should cover something on Occupy Wall Street. I, personally, will never ever ever ever evvveeerrrrrrrr talk about politics. It's not my passion, man - I'm an effin hippie! BUUUUTTT I'd adore it if someone DID come on board to cover it!! Insert Monica. I met her in San Fran on one of my many adventures, and Occupy Wall Street is her passion - so now she's here to talk about it! YAYYY FINALLY!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Monica Aguilar
It’s an amazing time to be alive. Opportunities to create yourself are everywhere. Nowhere was this more apparent than on campus at Occupy Berkeley yesterday during their strike. I approached this event with a lot of trepidation and fear. What if there’s a riot? What if I get shot? What if I get arrested? Ugh, I was so nervous.
Luckily, nothing like that happened. Instead, I found myself in the vortex of a movement with so much energy behind it. Participants included parents, old hippies, the unemployed, non-students, and of course, the students and teachers. What amazed me about UC Berkeley was how many groups there are!! If you want to join a group that’s doing a drive for canned goods for food banks, step right up! Want to join the effort to ban the sale of plastic water bottles? (YES!) Then join them in their next meeting. Speak Korean and want to join your native folk in a cause? Go for it. It was truly amazing to see all this diversity and opportunity in one small section of their campus.
The reason I went to this event is because it’s a part of a three week project I’m doing for an internship at an ad agency in San Francisco called The Citizen Group. I am visiting 3 Occupy locations in the Bay area to find out, why are people joining these movements? What does it mean to be a ‘citizen’? I thought it would be an adventure to talk to people and get a behind the scenes look as an observer versus a participant.
I guess you might call it urban reporting. I can guarantee that you won’t find this on your local news channel. My next stop? Occupy Oakland. The following week will be at Occupy San Francisco. Pictures of my time at Occupy Berkeley can be found here. At the end of all this, I’ll be producing a video of my journey.
Oh, the joys of heeding the call to find the answer to the age old question; why?
How about you guys? If you could, what would you want to ask these people who are choosing to risk their lives for a cause? Inquiring minds wanna know.