- Rhiannon Fionn
- Jennifer, Rachel (19), and Steve Warren
As promised in an earlier post, CL will be bringing you over the next couple of weeks voices from the occupation of Charlotte — individual participants, in their own words, talking about why they joined the local Occupy movement.
Today, listen to Jennifer and Steve Warren, of Mooresville. They stopped by the occupation briefly on Oct. 9 with daughter Rachel. The family brought water to the occupiers and sat with them on the lawn of the Old City Hall during the first of the twice-daily Occupation Assemblies. The Warrens just came to listen, they said, but it wasn’t long before they were offering advice, encouraging the occupiers to study and learn from past civil rights movements.
Before they left, I asked them three questions: Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here?
“It’s always been my belief that silence is consent, and for too long, people in this country have not spoken up,” Steven Warren told me.
Listen to Steve, in his own words:
Jennifer Warren offered a different perspective: “I’m the parent of a special needs daughter who’s 19, and I feel that individuals with disabilities voices are simply not being heard.”
Listen to Jennifer, in her own words:
Further reading:
24 Hours with Occupy Charlotte
Occupy Charlotte: Working Out the Glitches
CMPD holds Occupy Charlotte press conference
Listen to voices from Wednesday’s #OccupyUNCC
Who are the 99 percent?
Oct. 1: The birth of Occupy Charlotte
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2011.
fantastic people! proud to be an american when I hear these stories. These young people are risking arrests,physical injury, exhaustion to stand up for our rights as a people. I’m humbled.
The headline states something that far too many people don’t realize.
When someone, for example Bill James, says something outrageous it is important to openly disagree. If you just tell yourself that your are better than he is and will not be drawn into the argument, then the speaker and all those who agree with him will interpret your silence as agreement.
It is important that some people know that they are not in the majority.
That is why I speak in support of gay rights even though I am not gay. That is why I speak in support of immigrants even though I am not an immigrant. And that is why I speak in support of the health care law even though I have health insurance.
I am surprised that it took this long for people to get riled up. Since the Reagan Administration, the government (both sides of the aisle) have been selling their collective souls to the rich people in order to finance their re-elections. The poor are cared for. It is the middle class that is being burdened with ever greater portions of the load.