The portrayal of OWS in the news has largely been that of a disorganized cluster of disgruntled leftists without any specific purpose or goal making a spectacle of themselves. Walking through Zuccotti Park Wednesday afternoon was therefore, an eye-opening experience for me. Recruiters are posted at marked tables at either end of the park alongside dozens of protesters holding signs, playing music, chanting, and dancing to call attention from passersby. Beyond the borders, however, is a different scene entirely. Hundreds of sleeping bags, air mattresses, and beach chairs in a sea of blue tarpaulin form long rows of adjoining bunks running the length of the pink granite pavilion. At its center sits a cafeteria – al fresco style – where food is stored, meals are served, and dishes are washed in an unexpectedly efficient manner. The South wall is lined with tents sheltering a meager supply of donations – everything from bakery bread to political nonfiction – while a huddle of sign makers sit in a pile of cardboard, wood, and markers on the North end. With no designated leader or the allowance of bull horns the group has cleverly adopted a system of repeat-after-me “Mic Check’s” in order to communicate messages in large groups – like organizing the crowd into a march on City Hall in a matter of minutes – during which time the loudest ‘mic checkers’ wear a perpetual look of strained patience and masked frustration on their faces. Spend an hour with Zuccotti Park’s residents and you see that they are in fact a group of angry people with no specific demands or solutions to the country’s economic problems, but they are also an assembly of citizens making their voices heard by their elected leaders. OWS at its core is an expression of pure democracy. And that’s the point the news is missing. 

Click here to see more of my photo coverage on the Occupy movement.