Gratitude for the Rad Women of OWS

Posted by CODEPINK Staff

I don’t eat turkey. Even if I did, few things would put me off my appetite more than celebrating the colonization of Indigenous people.

So after considering a few generous invitations from friends, my partner and I decided to spend Thanksgiving Day with our extended family at Occupy Wall Street, honoring Indigenous leaders, distributing food to anyone who was hungry, and reclaiming the holiday in the name of community and social and economic justice.

Apparently Amy Goodman had a similar idea:



The celebrations continued throughout the day. We square-danced, played music, decorated the trees with wishes, and lay down together in defiance of the NYPD’s new restrictions on activities in the park. The most inspirational moment, however, was when a group of young women spontaneously led the crowd in a round of “This Old Freedom Train.”



Exorcising the despair that had lingered in the park since it was violently raided just a week earlier, their song brought me back to the heart of what this movement is about – beauty, love, and hope.

I went home full of vegan home-cooked goodness and gratitude for the radical women keeping Liberty Square alive.