Photo Essay – The Occupy Wall Street Zuccotti Park Eviction
About 4:00 am on the morning of November 15th I woke up to tweets about a Zuccotti park eviction. I got so riled up that I decided to take an early morning trip to Foley Square and join the movement to take back the park. This is my photo essay of that day’s events.
Later that night as is my habit I was watching The Rachel Maddow show and was surprised to see myself on TV marching with the people. You can see me at the 1:11 mark on the far left (no pun intended).
New Pop Vintage 2007 | Senator Barack Obama At Washington Square Park NYC
Today President Barack Obama files his papers to launch his 2012 campaign. That can only mean one thing, time to pull out the old New Pop Obama movies. This one comes from his 2007 campaign visit to Washington Square Park NYC to build support for his 2008 campaign. This was the first time I got to hear or see him in person. I started the video off with the cynical far left comment and ended with the idealistic pie in the sky byte that characterized his “Hope” 2008 campaign. In between I shot some portraits of the everyman. The kind of everyman that was totally ignored by Former President Bush.
As it stands now Obama has turned out to be a more pragmatic leader than many especially on the far left would have liked him to be. There are some concessions that he made that I am not happy with, specifically not letting the Bush tax breaks for the rich expire. But I do understand that he can’t just cater to the left if he wants to lead this diverse country and win re-election.
Obama has shown leadership with healthcare, and the economy. But what I think is most important for this audience is he gets the new economy. He realizes that this is where the new pioneers are being born, and it’s those new media pioneers that will push this country forward. He made that very clear in his State of The Union address. So lets start to slowly ramp up those new media skills to work for Obama in 2012.
TrVZ
The Well: Covering Capitol Hill
Here is a video by Chris Gregory that gives us an inside look at the press photographers that cover the United States Congress. I have done a couple of press gigs and am keenly aware of what a dog eat dog world it can be. Not only are you dealing with fighting with other photographers for position to get the best shot, but you are also working with a perpetual deadline due to the speed of the digital age and social media. As one photographer put it;
“This kind of pack journalism mentality, fast, fast, fast, got to have it yesterday, is ruining us…”
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Video that Started a Revolution.
They say that this video by Asmaa Mahfouz originally posted on Facebook started the Egyptian revolution. In it she states “As long as you say there is no hope, then there will be no hope, but if you go down and take a stance, then there will be hope.” The power of Social Media never ceases to amaze me. Has there been such a trans-formative and empowering invention as the Internet and social media since the Gutenberg printing press?
Here is a NY Times article on Asmaa Mahfouz and the accompanying video embed.
The Rally to Restore Sanity – Recap w/Jon Stewart Closing Speech video
The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was a refreshing breadth of fresh air. As a registered independent it felt like this was the first rally directed at people like me. Who would have thought that at a place where over 200,000 people huddled together en masse that the shouting between the far left and right would stop, if only for a moment.
The closing speech by Jon Stewart (embedded below) was brilliant. Using merging traffic as a testament to the fact that we can and do find a way to get along despite our differences was especially moving. The experiments conducted by The Mythbuster guys were amazing. First they created variations of what had to be the largest human wave ever, then they tried to create a seismic tremor by having everyone jump all at once. It worked, kinda. The duel between Flower Power artist Yusef and the Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne was really entertaining and kept the centrist theme alive. I thought this rally would just be more of the same rhetoric wrapped in sheep’s clothing, instead it was a moment to remind us that we can disagree without being disagreeable.
Enjoy
TrevZ
NYC Pride Overview: The fierce, the fab, the fantasy
Hey kids,
So I checked out NYC Pride the other day. My first time experiencing it was nothing short of incredible.
The only thing I did mind was the heat. I must have walked approximately five miles. I showered three times yesterday.
Things got started with the Pride parade, which was the most interesting mix of crazy, hot, sickly fierce and original fashion, politics, art, expression, and love.
Check out some of these pics from the festivities. Me and my friends got front row at the barricades!
My voice went hoarse from yelling “WORK!” to those deserving of such a catcall.
Candy Land Couture
This was during the Puerto Rican portion of the parade
Bubbles came out the back 
Navy uniforms, rainbow flags
I like that she posed when she saw cameras flashing. FIERCE!!
Sidenote, speaking of “workin’ it,” I loved the way the New Yorkers booed the new mayor when he was announced on the float. They keep it real all day, everyday.
PrideFest (the annual street fair of sorts) was next – over on Hudson. There was a slew of local and up-coming national performers, including headliner Antigone Rising. I only saw two acts. One’s name is fuzzy but his song /dance moves was hot.
The other was Lex Z. Check out her website at lexzoutloud.com. I’ll just leave it at that.
Anyway, after a wonderful $10 dinner at Cafe Tasia (appetizer, Merlot AND entree), I slept, showered and recharged before hitting up Phoenix on 13th and Ave A. It was like a hipster version of gay pride, if you will. There, I met up with Carolina and Jason, whom you will remember from The Scene’s Episode 3.
We watched as the band Little Victory revved up their guitars and cruised through sociopolitical songs bashing bitchy gays and homophobes.
They had a fabulous, radiant energy. The bar was dark and packed body to body, and surprisingly, it was cooler inside than it was outside! I only had room to sip my ($5!) Long Island.
After that, we went back to Carolina’s to get dolled up for Greenhouse Sundays, which is notable for its guests in costume.
Time for more sweat. The club was packed.
Me and the crew got on top of a booth adjacent to the DJ booth and danced like it was 1999. We had a great time, but my camera died in the midst of grinding and droppin’ it like it was hot (because it was hot, in the club, I mean). 
So no pictures from that…
But check these out:
Little Victory score big win with crowd @ Phoenix
From left: Jessie (KITE!) and Jason (CAPE!) before the Greenhouse sweatshow.
Getcha stunna shades on
Overall, NYC Pride gets an A+ for being the most diverse, intense, saturated, and expressionist event I’ve seen since I’ve been here. Can’t wait for next year.
XO,
M
Jon Stewart Rips Arizona
Jon Stewart on Arizona’s racists new immigration law. Very funny.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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What Change Looks Like
The day I decided to support Back Obama in his run for the Oval Office it was not because he was African American as I am. It was because he was the best candidate and smartest man in the room. When he decided to make health-care reform his number one domestic issue I was sold. I believed if anyone could reform Health-care it would be him.
During the course of my life there have been many important issues that have come and gone with the changing social and political landscape, but for me and many Americans there is one constant… health-care. The late Ted Kennedy called it “that great unfinished business of our society.” Like many of my artist and entrepreneurial friends I never held a 9 – 5 job and can’t afford health-care. In addition as a kid I had severe asthma and often had to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night barely able to breath. This pre-existing condition makes it all the more complicated for me to find anyone willing to cover me. So I go on hoping that nothing happens to me. And I am one of the Lucky ones. Every day people lose everything they have or worse lose their lives because of this broken health-care system. For the past year Obama has taken up this unpopular and highly polarizing cause to do what is right. Yesterday it paid off as House members put their seats at risk to do the right thing and pass this historic and landmark bill. There were times when it seemed like this day would never come. When we lost the Super Majority in the Senate to Scott Brown it would have been easy for Obama to pack things up and say he gave it his best shot. After all for over 100 years every President who has tried to pass major health-care reform has failed. It is a testament to his character that he, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of his party went on to implement this historic bill instead of taking the politically safe route. As Obama stated in his speech last night “This is what change looks like.” I couldn’t agree more.
I attached a snapshot of the historic moment.
PS: As I mentioned because of this decision many mid-term Democratic seats are in jeopardy. If we want to continue seeing progressive legislation enacted we will need to rally support for these seats the way we rallied for Obama in his run for Presidency. Moveon.org is a good place to start. Join their mailing list for very informative updates and ways to donate money. Money and votes are the best way to support any candidate.
TrevzNewPop
Scott Brown skit on SNL
I have been tuning into SNL since the days of Eddie Murphy. Easily its the most loyal I have been to any show in my lifetime. If I am home on a Saturday night, you can be sure I will be dialing in SNL at 11:30. As you can imagine a show with such a long history will have it’s lulls and its high points. 2008-2009 was one of SNL’s best years on record mostly due to the election. But since then it has been a major bore. last night I fell asleep watching SNL. Today I saw a blog post about a Scott Brown piece that aired as I lay sleeping. It featured Jon Hamm as Scott Brown and is one of the funniest I have seen in a long time. Wish I caught it Live. Anyway here it is.
Also check out the interview Texas and I did for URB Mag with SNL featured player Fred Armisen (who is also in the piece above playing Congressman Barney Frank). Fred Armisen was one of my favorite interviews.
TrevzNewPop
One Year Ago Obama. Today Brown.
Yesterday’s stunning upset in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts of Democrat Martha Coakle by Republican Scott Brown ends the Democrats 60-seat filibuster-proof “supermajority” in the Senate, and may mean the end of the Health Care Bill and any chance of significant Healthcare reform. Suddenly everyone is looking to lay blame at someone else’s feet. Understandably people are upset, but the problem isn’t campaign mismanagement. It runs far deeper. Ironically the seat lost was occupied for 47 years by the Late Ted Kennedy, healthcare’s most visible supporter.
One year ago today it seemed like the world had changed. I was there. I was in Washington when Obama was inaugurated. I slept in the street and stood in the cold with tens of thousands to welcome in change. We had spoken and our voices were heard, this was our day. One year later Obama’s approval rating is down 20%, and those same voices demanding change have seemingly gone on with their lives. We treated Obama’s election as the end and not the beginning of a long struggle. Somehow we missed the point that Obama is a representative for the people, he is our voice. Who can forget this Obama quote “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” We embraced that mantra and moved like a tidal wave over a nation fed up with the Bush regime and centuries of oppression. We washed away old ways providing fertile ground for change. We had arrived.
One year later it appears that the fertile ground for change we sowed is being reaped by another group. A new movement is saying to our President that the Democrats are getting a little ahead of themselves. NJ, Virginia, said it loud and clear, and now Massachusetts is saying it again. This is how our political system works. The loudest voices will be heard. It’s not about racism, or sexism, or anything else. Its about vocalizing your concerns and getting out to vote. That is the only voice that matters. It is unfortunate that this lesson may have to come at the expense of Healthcare reform, but if we learn from our inaction now, maybe it won’t mean learning this lesson when the November 2010 elections or the 2012 Presidential elections come around. If you disagree about what is happening now make your voice heard. There are no excuses. One year ago today, we showed the world that we can bring on change in the face of overwhelming odds. We proved the system worked. One year later, It is the same system.
I posted a video of my trip to Washington for the inauguration one year ago. It’s an intimate reminder of where we were one year ago. Check it out. And listen to the wise words at the end stated by Andrea. Listen and ask yourself what are you doing?
Trev