For the past few weeks, you were likely not aware of the over 700 arrests that were made on Wall Street in New York City. No, these arrests were not of dirty bankers, ponzi schemers or money launderers; they were ordinary citizens protesting on the streets. The media has been quiet. Very few stories profile the grievances of the protestors or the brutality inflicted upon the protestors by the NYPD (http://youtu.be/Zgr3DiqWYCI). Some Marines have pledged to stay in NY to protect citizens from police (http://on.fb.me/pkbjiu). As I write this on a plane, I am just now seeing the first stories in USA Today and local Raleigh, NC news. The woman seated next to me asked what I'm so fired up about. She's heard nothing.
In fact, the majority of the news has been coming from the people involved via Youtube videos, blogs, or on Facebook & Twitter. One of the most popular videos was of four women behind a police barrier that got maced by an officer without warning or allegedly without cause. Multiple celebrities have joined the protests including Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Russel Simmons and Cornel West, amongst others. And yet most major news outlets have said very little.
Despite the seeming media blackout, a revolution has been brewing. A movement originally known as Occupy Wall Street has grown so large that it has engulfed other major cities: Occupy Boston, Occupy D.C, Occupy Chicago, Occupy Austin, and over 145 others in the US alone (it has also spread to international cities). The movement is in protest of corruption that stems from corporate control of the Federal government through lobbyists and special interest groups. It is in protest of bail out initiatives that save "too big to fail" companies paid for by the American tax payer. The cause is galvanized by the blatant abuse of these funds by the companies receiving them and the lack of arrests in what the people perceive as the most unethical and illegal use of corporate power since "Boss Tweed" of Tammany Hall fame.
Reminiscent of the now dubbed "Arab Spring" (revolutions in Egypt, Lybia, Tunisia and others ignited over Social Media channels), people have rallied to the cause and shown their solidarity all over the United States to this cause (http://on.wsj.com/qH9u3P). The momentum is not slowing down. Hundreds of thousands have shown their support on each city's respective Facebook page; last time I checked Occupy Austin's Facebook page had over 11,000 "likes", Occupy Wall Street's Facebook page has 184,000.
The news companies have not done their jobs to spread the word until late in the game, so the people have taken upon themselves. Instead of watching news anchors reporting from the scene, we've seen video reports recorded on smart phones shared through social channels. Instead of reading documented stories in the newspapers we've had to learn through our friends' and friends' friends' Facebook and Twitter feeds about what has occurred and where the next protest will take place. Social Media has become our global newspaper, where stories are reported by the people and not by the corporate backed media.
So where does this all take us? Rather than Thomas Paine's infamous pamphlets and Paul Revere's horseback reporting we have digital knowledge in the form of blogs, online reporting on Youtube, and up-to-the-minute headlines through Twitter. Instead of Continental Congresses we have events coordinated and executed through Facebook and Meetup. Everyday more support comes through social media to this cause and many others.
As I write this, GOOOH.com (Get Out of Our House) is coordinating a massive campaign effort to eradicate "career politicians" from our Congress and Senate and replace them with regular citizens wanting real change. We may not be gathering muskets and bayonets to take on our oppressors, but that doesn't make this less revolutionary. This is a new revolution, passionately fought with our minds, words and voices. We're using Social Media to rally the cause, to gather the troops, and to form a new representative government; the Republic we once fought to obtain. It's time to win it back. Get active on your preferred Social Media channel. Share your opinions. Dissent if you like, disagree if you must, but use your voice as the representative government we were given, bought and paid for by the blood of our predecessors.