Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Occupy Providence in Relation to Texts We Have Read
I visited Occupy Providence a few weeks ago but I did not connect any readings to my visit so I will do that now. When I realized I had to make this connection to two of the readings, two immediately came to mind: Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Roles of Allies as Agents of Change by Andrea Ayvazian and Allan Johnson's article, Privilege, Power, and Difference. Ayvazian discusses being an agent of change from a dominant group. The people camping out at Occupy Providence were mainly men and a majority that I saw were white. Because these white men are fighting for financial equality, Ayvazian would classify them as allies. Johnson would claim these men have privilege and that people with privilege are the only people who can change the system. These white men are working side by side with people of color and women for equality. This would make Johnson and Ayvazian proud.
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veryyyyy goood point! i am going to mention this in my blog post.. :)
ReplyDeleteYou make a valid point Mike. But I used Johnson's text to say the opposite. I felt as though since the institution they were fighting against was the 1%, I failed to see any people from 'that' demographic present there.As far as a racial connection, yes there were Caucasian people there, and yes the 1% that own more than 70% of the wealth are Caucasian. But, I don't think I saw a person from the 1% demographic there saying," yes, our economic system is unfair and unbalanced." Do you know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteJose I definitely see your point. But I think Johnson talks more about race than social class which is what I think you are getting at.
ReplyDeleteprops to the privaleged people fighting for change!
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