"The young revolutionary movement Occupy Wall Street needs to be pushed forward to evolve into a working force that can influence US domestic affairs," believes Immortal Technique, a hip-hop star who has backed the group from the start.
As the demonstrations against the Wall Street corporations enter their fourth week in New York, elsewhere they have grown into a nationwide protest with 45 states and nearly 200 cities now involved in the rally. "The recent movement is the biggest expression of democracy in the past few decades here in America," states Immortal Technique, who has become one of the spokespersons for the movement.
What started out as a peaceful movement has now been plagued by unrest in the Big Apple, where confrontations between demonstrators and police are only becoming tenser. Police brutality has become a tripping point for the escalation of people's anger, the rapper believes. When the pictures hit the internet, they went viral.
"We saw a bunch of defenseless people simply expressing their freedom -- and they were penned off, they were sprayed down, being obviously not in danger of harming any police officers. And 'white shirts' did not seem to be held responsible for it, as if they were almost above the law," the artist explains.
The reaction from the city authorities is biased and aimed at intensifying the protests, so they can portray them in a dishonest manner in the media, argues Immortal Technique. [source RT]
Debate Magazine
