The co-creator of the Occupy Wall Street movement, is now using his platform as an activist to encourage people to stop protesting and start taking real action.
After the failure of the Occupy Wall Street movement, co-creator Micah White had a theory: that running for local office would produce better results than large-scale protesting. Last November, he tested that theory by running for mayor of Nehalem, Oregon, where he currently resides. He lost, but his campaign showed him exactly where in government things are going wrong.
The cornerstone of his campaign was making a more responsive local government. More people showed up to his community meetings than the city council meetings. Even after his loss, he continued to sit on the budget council, advocating for the community and drawing on his community action experiences to do so.
White told NPR that protesters should “put down the picket sign” and create progressive pockets of power by talking with those with whom you disagree. He added that citizens should figure out how they can “own, not occupy” city halls and use their small platforms as a stepping stone to impact their country for the better.
“We have to do this,” he said in an interview with NPR. “We could do protesting forever. And it would do nothing.”
Read the full story here (via NPR)
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