Montgomery County School Board member Penny Franklin speaks to protestors at Occupy Blacksburg.
Share
For the second time in less than a week, Blacksburg was occupied.
Occupy Blacksburg held a protest Saturday, Oct. 15, to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Waving signs and carrying banners, members of the community gathered in front of The Cellar Restaurant and listened to speakers before they marched through downtown Blacksburg.
The Occupy Virginia Tech group held a similar protest at the War Memorial Pylons last Thursday.
While that protest was populated predominately by students, Saturday’s saw a more diverse crowd.
“Occupy Virginia Tech was mainly students where people came out for job security and student debt,” said Kyle Gardiner, a senior political science major. “Occupy Blacksburg had a much larger age variety and reflected more general concerns about a government that is no longer serving the people.”
Gardiner spoke at Occupy Blacksburg but did not at the Tech protest. He said he didn’t feel comfortable protesting amid the memorials to American soldiers, since Occupy Virginia Tech was held near the War Memorial Chapel.
Protestors at Occupy Blacksburg offered many different reasons for why they came out Saturday and gave their opinions about the movement’s purpose.
“It’s about the 99 percent that don’t control all the wealth in the country standing up and taking back what is theirs,” said Abby Hays, a junior political science major.
Others said they were dissatisfied with the state of the job market in the U.S.
“I know people here are concerned with the fact that there are no jobs for them after college, and they are burdened with a lot of debt,” said Robert Fentress, the senior instructional designer and developer for the Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning at Tech. “(It’s a) similar thing for the staff, as their salaries haven’t increased, while some people at the top of the university are making a lot of money.”
Margaret Breslau, one of the organizers of Occupy Blacksburg, said Wall Street hasn’t felt the same economic woes that have afflicted the rest of the population.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 18 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 20 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
I would like to thank Gardiner for the fact that he didn't attend the occupy Virginia Tech protest that was held at War Memorial. I think it is absolutely disgusting to hold a protest on a memorial to those who have fought for our country. And to those of you who did attend occupy Virginia Tech, maybe you should consider what those men have done for this country, before you hold some protest on their memorial.
Reply to this Top
exactly...they fought for our right to be "free" in America. The right to free speech :) Get over yourself
Reply to this Top
If you are under the influence that the first ammendment is the only freedom Americans should be able to enjoy, you are incorrect. There is alot more freedom that we have beyond speech that is taken away from us in many places, such as the freedom to keep and bear arms, or the freedom from unreasonable search and seizure...also freedom of enterprise (capitalism) which Blacksburg doesn't support. Eminent domain is also being taken advantage of every day by enviromentalists. I am not a fan of the "occupy wall st." movement, but THE WAR MEMORIAL IS A GREAT PLACE TO HAVE A PROTEST PERTAINING TO FREEDOM, BECAUSE THE SOLDIERS ARE THE ONES WHO FOUGHT FOR IT!
Top
You might take a moment today to refresh yourself on the bill of rights and consider that this is what those brave men and women were fighting to defend and uphold.
Reply to this Top
"this is what those brave men and women were fighting to defend and uphold."
Umm.. could you please point me to where in history a nation or a state attacked the US solely for its "freedom"? Please?
Top
@Logic:
""this is what those brave men and women were fighting to defend and uphold."
Umm.. could you please point me to where in history a nation or a state attacked the US solely for its "freedom"? Please?"
Youre question is irrelevant, what does it matter if it's a state trying to take away our freedom, or an international organization like al-quaeda? 9-11 was an attack on our freedom, I guess you could say any terrorist attack is an attack on our freedom, but not by a state, because if a state ever tried to do such a thing, their soveirgnty would be revoked so fast and the US and NATO would turn that state into a crater in the ground....courtesy of the Red White and Blue. To say that soldiers don't defend our freedom is an outlandish statement. That's what the cold war was all about, our military actively defending attacks on our country just by existing, they don't even have to attack or defend with weapons to be defending our freedom! If you're going to have an opinion at least be well informed.
Top
You're kidding, right? So the veteran who spoke at the event at the memorial hates America, I suppose.
Reply to this Top
For a protest to work effectively-a singular goal must be isolated with resources allocated towards both the understanding of the problem AND the provision of a solution. Is the underlying problem a market-based system which allows the accumulation of wealth or is the problem the representative democracy? Per the article-one participant cites problems inherent with governing a large body of diverse people while another indicates “It’s about the 99 percent that don’t control all the wealth in the country standing up and taking back what is theirs," which is a very socialistic concept. Collect your thoughts and try again, Occupy Blacksburg.
Reply to this Top
The whole point of Occupy is not to have a single concern; there are too many to count. The point of Occupy is for the American people to grab the attention of a gridlocked Congress and demand that Congress work for them, not corporations, and not themselves.
Reply to this Top
I agree that the political gridlock has caused issues which need attention. Therein lies the problem with "movements"...without a stable platform from which a solution may be suggested, the movement merely represents an aggregation of individuals whose mere commonality is discontent with the system. Absent a unified front, the occupy movement will quickly lose traction.
Top
In life there are winners and whiners...get used to it.
Reply to this Top
They should be protesting Obama's policies which are anti business and job growth. Things will not get better until he is out of office.
Reply to this Top
If anything, Obama has been going back on his campaign promises and supporting corporations over people. Corporations (for the most part) are concerned about their personal profits and not the profits of their employees. This global meltdown did not occur when Obama stepped in office; this has been in the works since the end of the Clinton administration.
Reply to this Top
They should be protesting Obama's policies which are anti business and job growth. Things will not get better until he is out of office.
I second that motion.
Reply to this Top
Instead of protesting why don't these people get a job, start spending money, and pay taxes to help out the economy? I am sick of hearing how there are NO jobs...there are always jobs available they might not be what people want, lower than their level of education, not the ideal job, etc. but there are ALWAYS jobs available especially in VA. Quit complaining/protesting and get to work you are accomplishing nothing with this.
Reply to this Top
Protest was on a Saturday, Mr. Annoyed, so there's a pretty damn good chance a lot of those people have jobs and/or are students. I have a great paying job. I also pay my taxes and spend my money, just like you requested! However, the income inequality in this country is absurd, and the financial industry has taken advantage of too many people in this country. That's why I support this movement.
Reply to this Top
Mr. Anonymous, I am not just talking about the small protest that took place in Blacksburg (that had probably ZERO significance), rather I am talking about all the protests that have been taking place. Not all the protests have been taking place on the weekend...the majority in the country have been taking place during the working hours.
Top
Perhaps, Mr. Annoyed, you should have strategically placed your comment below one of the other ~5 articles about protests in other places in the world. The title is "Blacksburg occupied," not NYC, London, LA, etc.
Top
where is the law mandating that there is an acceptable margin for income between people and why would you even want something like that anyways????
Top
additionally, i think america is the land of opportunity (which yes, you have the opportunity to be the "1%", you just may not genetically and developmentally be able to accomplish that), not the land of guarantee.
Top