It's Day 5 of the occupation of Wall Street and the activists have settled in for a while.
Their camp in Zuccotti Park, formerly Liberty Plaza Park, shouting distance from Goldman Sachs bankers, is fully stocked with blankets, a kitchen, a medic table, and even a childcare center. A couple hundred people (hard to get a count as people milling in and out also included local folks on their lunch break and some curious construction workers from the World Trade Center site) are hanging out in the park, chatting, napping, chanting, talking to reporters or trying to recruit passersby.
“We've got everything to sustain us for months,” Lily, working at the medical table, told me. She's an EMT, and she said that they have a full committee of people with some sort of medical background to be prepared for emergencies, as well as all sorts of medical supplies, some donated and some bought with money that Lily said was being donated from all over the world.
“So far we've given out lots of Band-Aids, because everyone has blisters, lots of cough drops because nobody has a voice,” she said.
It's easy to see why no one has a voice, as there's nearly always someone chanting. I heard them from down the street as I approached; a line of mostly young people holding cardboard signs and singing along with a drum. I also saw trumpets, trombones, and a French horn.
Monica Lopez was part of a small crew huddled around laptops with portable wifi, keeping in touch with the rest of the world—and I do mean world. Monica is from Spain, having flown in a few days ago to join the occupation after taking part in her own country's occupations of public squares in protest at austerity measures imposed by the government.
“We did this in Spain four months ago,” she told me. “I'm the happiest person now—my life changed. It started with a big demonstration—300,000 people were there, and about 1 AM people decided to stay.”
She said that the police in Spain were videotaped beating protesters, and it drove more and more to join the resistance.
“We were so scared but we were so many they couldn't stop us,” she said. “We built a mini city, created assemblies.”
Monica and the other organizers have created assemblies here as well, and have in addition to the medical committee a legal committee—there have been several arrests—a security committee, and perhaps most important, a fun committee.
As I was leaving, a group of the activists were marching around the square, accompanied by laughing police officers. On my way out, I asked a couple of construction workers on their break what they thought of the whole scene.
“It's cool,” one of them told me.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $150,000 in one-time donations and to add 1,500 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy