On Occupy Laredo

When I first became aware of the early efforts of Occupy Wall Street through reports and images coming out of New York City,it never occurred to me that this movement would reach the very streets of my home.  Yet on November 6, 2011 at 3:00pm I sat at Jarvis Plaza and listened to a group of people from the city of Laredo, TX,as they discussed how to raise awareness of the issues that embody the Occupy movement. 

Occupy Laredo is a local reproduction of the efforts by Occupy Wall Street to increase active consciousness of what is expressed as the perverse behavior of major organizations, including corporations, large banks, and Wall Street, that drive our economic system,and primarily serve the wealthiest of society.  The concerns include income inequality, the unemployed, the working poor, the middle class, of the underserved, the underrepresented, and every other group of people that have become estranged from an existence that is not influenced by the decisions of a few.  In the case of Occupy Laredo, the grassroots effort is the combined work of everyday people, including students, local business owners, and academics. 

Veronica Palacios, an Occupy Laredo member, was in attendance at the meeting and discussed her detestation for what she asserts is corruption in the corporate world as related to their clout in the political system.  She shared that her concerns stem from issues on a national level and that this local movement provides a venue for expressing these concerns.  "I don't have the money… to go all the way to New York and protest over there, so I figured we can do our own protest locally," stated Palacios.

Although not everyone may agree with the positions of the Occupy movement, it is my view that as members of the Laredo population who possess a level of higher education, college students should take note of how this movement is an expression of social action.  It is the right of the free people to question and scrutinize the systems that govern their existence.

Occupy Laredo has an online presence on Facebook and Twitter.  They hold weekly meetings, which include education sessions such as "How the 1% Crashed the Economy" which was scheduled to take place on November 9, 2011.  They may be reached via the previously mentioned social network sites or at OccupyLaredo@gmail.com.

(Jorge Aviles may be reached at Javiles@dusty.tamiu.edu)