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Occupy Archive Digital Exhibits: Spring 2020 CWRU Grievances of the 99% At its roots, the Occupy Wall Street Movement was an anti-capitalist, anti-corporation movement composed of people angered by the selfish and greedy financial practices of the country’s upper class. Proponents of Occupy thought the American Dream was no longer possible and protested the stifling lack of opportunity available to non-privileged citizens. As a result of the Great Recession beginning in 2008, the 99%, the people paying the price for the actions of the country's elites, advocated for regulation and oversight of this corrupt 1%. The Occupy Movement rooted their activism in an understanding that an economic system exclusively benefiting the top 1% at the expense of everyone else is unsustainable and antithetical to the idea of democracy.

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Economic Inequalities faced by the 99% by Julia Barnett
This comic strip was based off of a Tumblr page bearing the same name. The people and anecdotes featured in the drawings are real people who shared their stories online. The nature of this online blog allowed anyone to share personal experiences.
The phrase “We are the 99 percent” refers to a slogan that was widely used during the Occupy movement, in order to raise awareness for the large financial gap between the majority of Americans and the wealthiest people. These people held forty percent of the wealth in the United States, while many were living paycheck to paycheck (Gautney). In order to combat the disproportionate distribution of wealth, activism was targeted toward corporations and the United States financial district, located in New York City. As the activism spread, protests were held, not only on Wall Street, but in larger cities across the country as well as colleges.
With the new presence of social media, activists were able to organize in ways other than in person. The online activism allowed both men and women to participate in the movement. This was important because much of the activism done during the Occupy Movement was led by men. Due to gender inequalities women were often pushed away from leadership positions “using harassment, male-dominance, and by developing a hostile culture” (Hurwitz). The use of social media allowed women to spread their message, as well as unite with other women experiencing similar discrimination. Social media, however, was not a completely safe place for women to mobilize, "Sparrow, a white woman from a city in the South, described how harassment affected her ability to play a major role in protests… [she] limited her participation because of the troll’s harassment, which she likened to being followed threateningly online” (Hurwitz).