Before AOC Wore It On A Dress, Occupy Wall Street Called To "Tax The Rich"
Ten years after thousands gathered to protest capitalism, the message and mission of Occupy Wall Street still feels relevant.
This week, social media has been abuzz with critiques over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax the Rich” dress, yet the sentiment is nothing new to those who witnessed the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. Some may even argue that if not for the Occupy movement, a candidate like Ocasio-Cortez would not have been elected.
Since the organizing of Occupy Wall Street, America has aged 10 years and witnessed remarkable mass movements, including #MeToo, March for Our Lives, and Black Lives Matter. Occupy Wall Street was started in a time of recession and corporate bailouts for financial services, and the main messaging was centered around the divide between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. It was on Sept. 17, 2011, that a group of protesters launched the two-month-long rebellion calling for economic inequality reform. Hundreds of people set up camp in downtown Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, and thousands joined in daily protests until being forced to vacate the area in November 2011. Versions of the protest popped up across the nation; according to the Guardian, over 600 communities in the United States and 70 major cities saw OWS initiatives.
Occupy Wall Street sparked conversations and demands for a higher minimum wage and encouraged everyday people to question the status quo. Reading the messages scrawled across the signs in these photos gives us the opportunity to reflect on where our country stands today and how much further we have to go
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Demonstrators rally outside One Police Plaza during an Occupy Wall Street march on Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.
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A protester at the start of a march by demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street, Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.
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Protesters shout slogans while holding Occupy Wall Street banners on Oct. 3, 2011, in Los Angeles.
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A man signs a huge banner during "Occupy DC" at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, on Oct. 10, 2011.
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Protest signs are left on the ground in Zuccotti Park where protesters demonstrated against the economic system in Lower Manhattan, Sept. 19, 2011.
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Demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street march on Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.
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A protester holds up a sign during the Occupy Wall Street march on Oct. 3, 2011, in Los Angeles.
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Occupy Wall Street demonstrators continue their protest at Zuccotti Park in New York on Oct. 20, 2011.
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People protesting the economic system flood sidewalks in the Financial District as office workers head to work on Sept. 19, 2011, in New York City.
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A protester with the Occupy Las Vegas movement takes part in a march on the Las Vegas Strip, Oct. 6, 2011.
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A protester demonstrates against the economic system near the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 19, 2011, in New York City.
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A sign at a gathering of demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District on Sept. 30, 2011.
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Protesters march with a golden calf around the Occupy Wall Street protest encampment in Zuccotti Park.
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People demonstrating around Wall Street attempt to disrupt the pedestrian flow for financial workers who are going to work in New York City, on Sept. 19, 2011.
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Granny Peace Brigade demonstrators affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement march through downtown Manhattan on Sept. 30, 2011.
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A protester holds a placard during a late afternoon march through downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 3, 2011, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City.
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Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement rally in Foley Square before marching through Lower Manhattan on Oct. 5, 2011, in New York City.
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A protester in Freedom Plaza, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, on Oct. 6, 2011, in Washington, DC.
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Demonstrators with Occupy Chicago protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Oct. 3, 2011.
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Demonstrators march to One Police Plaza, headquarters of the New York Police Department, on Sept. 30, 2011.
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A man chats with police near a sign where protesters were staying overnight in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 4, 2011.
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A protester at Zuccotti Park where hundreds of demonstrators camped out in Lower Manhattan for 14 days, Sept. 30, 2011.
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Thousands of Wall Street protesters are joined by union members during an afternoon protest on Oct. 5, 2011, in New York City.
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A sign is planted in the ground in Dewey Square in Boston on Oct. 2, 2011, as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
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The protest is in solidarity with movements across the country that began on Wall Street in New York City on Sept. 17, 2011.
Contact Kirsten Chilstrom at kirsten.chilstrom@buzzfeed.com.
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