As some of you know, I've been reading Laura Anne Gilman's Vineart fantasy trilogy, about a world where magic is based on wine.
I've been enjoying the first two books quite a bit; I started the first one during the October Surprise blackout at the beginning of the month, when the best thing to do after dark was light a candle and settle into bed with a good book, and am loving every word. Her work is thoughtful, intelligent, and lucid, and I'm very glad to have found her writing.
And then today I found her blog, Practical Meerkat, wherein she discusses her experience joining yesterday's Occupy Wall Street march.
Here's how Gilman's account begins:
As y’all know, I’ve been a supporter of the OccupyWallStreet movement for some time, for the very fact that it existed, that there were people willing to inconvenience themselves in order to be heard, protesting the occupation of our government by Wall Street. That there were people who got the hell off their sofa, gave up their comforts, and didn’t say ‘well, someone else will do it.”
And I did a lot of that supporting… from my sofa. I had my reasons – there was no way I could camp and hit deadlines, plus I had animals who needed me to take care of them – but the truth was that I’d only been to Zuccotti Park three or four times, helping out when it was convenient for me.
And then Bloomberg evicted the camp, and did it not with a civilized, orderly removal in daylight, but with jackboots in the dark, and the needless destruction of property, including medical supplies, food, and books.
The rest of it is a detailed, heartfelt, beautifully written account of what it's like to an ordinary citizen participating in OWS, written by a New Yorker who's part of the the 99% and knows very well what is at stake in New York, and Portland, and Buffalo, and even in Northampton, which is so earthy-crunchy that the local occupiers have been given lawn space and bathrooms at the Unitarian Society. If you read nothing else about the Occupy movement today, or if you're felt guilty because you have commitments that keep you from camping out, you owe it to yourself to read Gilman's story.
And if you doubt that only joining one or two marches, or sending a box of cookies or a couple of books to an encampment, or just defending OWS in public, is doing any good...or if you wonder if this seemingly leadership movement can really change anything...or if you fear that this is going to be yet another flash in the pan that ultimately accomplishes nothing...
...Protests do not change a system – but protests raise awareness. Protests bring people together, and get them talking. And thinking. And doing.
If we get off our damn sofas, and stop giving them power over our fears – we can fix the system. We can take the laws away from the corporate policy-buyers, and make the USA work for [and by] the people again. Make the country strong again.
That’s what we want. Don’t you?
Laura Anne Gilman, "Being One Woman’s Report of Her Experiences on November 17th 2011 in NYC," November 18, 2011
&&&&&
And for those of you in New York...Gilman is having a book signing tomorrow from 4-6:00 pm at Posman's Books in Grand Central Station. Drop by and give her some love!
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM (intermittent) |
The Magic Theater |
ArkDem14 |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
7:00 PM |
Monday Murder Mystery |
Susan from 29 |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00 PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
FRI |
10:00 PM (first of month) |
Monthly Bookposts |
AdmiralNaismith |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |