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Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a politically progressive protest with anti-capitalist elements. The protest began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, after being stoked by from various angles including a Canadian magazine and a New York economic action group. The movement gained force through a combination of main-stream media and word-of-mouth coverage, provoking numerous sympathetic protests overseas. The protest was ended by police eviction, acting on the mayor's go-ahead, at 1 am on November 15, 2011. OWS provoked a number of resurgences and is still having an impact on American politics today.
METHODOLOGICAL NOTES
As a matter of course, we do not tend to use sources that were published more than 24 months before the time of research. However, given the historical nature this request we used several older sources to capture information as close to the event as possible as well as more recent sources to achieve a modern perspective.
The request asked that we address the inception, groundswell/key players, end, and resurgence/lasting impact of the OWS movement. While several of these sources address more than one part of that list, for reference they have been categorized based the part of the request that most directly or predominantly address.
OWS INCEPTION: US NEWS LINK
This story by US News explores the origin and rise of Occupy Wall Street. It looks at the way OWS inspired movements sprung up in nearly 80 countries outside the US. One notable quote in the story comes from then-Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain: "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself."
INCEPTION AND GROUNDSWELL/KEY PLAYERS: VANITY FAIR LINK
This story from Vanity Fair names names, covering a conversation between influential leaders and observers of the movement as they discuss OWS and how they participated in and contributed to its groundswell. One notable quote comes from Vlad Teichburg: "People think this started in New York on September 17, but that’s not true. From my point of view, it started in Egypt."
OWS INCEPTION AND GROUNDSWELL: MOTHER JONES LINK
This article by Mother Jones has a similar take on the rise of the movement, pointing to a Canadian magazine and the New York City General Assembly, among other groups, as critical to the rise of the movement. The referenced article, from the magazine, Anti-capitalist Canadian, includes the phrase "Are you ready for a Tahrir moment?"
OWS END: BUSINESS INSIDER LINK
This story from Business Insider focuses on the fall of the movement, addressing the police actions and government decisions, including those of then-Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, that ended the protests. One quote from Mayor Bloomberg at the time goes: "No right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities"
OWS LASTING IMPACT: THE ATLANTIC LINK
This story in The Atlantic describes the movement glowingly, analyzing its impact on the world's conversation about inequality and wages. The story attributes OWS with injecting an awareness of the dichotomy between "the 99 percent and the 1 percent."
OWS GROUNDSWELL: THE EUROPEAN LINK
The article takes an international perspective, addressing the way OWS was perceived overseas and addresses the way the movement made political noise heard in places far from Zuccotti Park. It marks out the inclusiveness of the movements, in one quote mentioning that "in principle, everybody could participate."
OWS GROUNDSWELL: NEW YORK TIMES LINK
This piece by the New York Times focuses on the media coverage and media reactions to OWS, both at the time and in the aftermath. In doing so it discusses how the movement, and information about it, was spread and how that information affected groundswell. OWS mouthpiece Patrick Bruner is quoted as saying, "...when this media doesn’t cover us in a fair light, the desire isn’t to shame them, it’s to create an alternative."
OWS RESURGANCE: DAILY TROJAN LINK
This story by The Daily Trojan looks at the one-year anniversary of OWS and discusses the resurgence and legacy of the movement. One notable exhortation directly from the author is: "While Occupy Wall Street may not have produced any direct effect on economic policy but it has contributed to a resurgence in activism which youth should not hesitate to take advantage of."
OWS RESURGANCE: BILLMOYERS.COM LINK
This blog post from 2012 addresses the echoes of the movement throughout the year following the end of the protest. The author remarks on "the huge mass of different Occupy groups which has never stopped meeting and planning throughout the winter even if Occupy’s public presence diminished."
OWS LASTING IMPACT: THE METRO LINK
This recent story in The Metro looks at the relationship between the OWS's legacy and new Democratic Socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The thesis of the article, reflecting on the eviction of the protesters from Zuccotti Park, states that "You cannot evict an idea."
CONCLUSION
The ten links above should provide a survey of the beginning, the rise, the end, and the lasting implications of the OWS movement. The origins of the movement can variously be traced to Egypt, Canada, and various movements in and outside of New York. Its impact has been said to be felt in the rhetoric of Senator Bernie Sanders and the rise of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.