The World Vs Wall Street

Dear friends,

Thousands of Americans have non-violently occupied Wall St -- an epicentre of global financial power and corruption. They are the latest ray of light in a new movement for social justice that is spreading like wildfire from Madrid to Jerusalem to 146 other cities and counting, but they need our help to succeed.

As working families pay the bill for a financial crisis caused by corrupt elites, the protesters are calling for real democracy, social justice and anti-corruption. But they are under severe pressure from authorities, and some media are dismissing them as fringe groups. If millions of us from across the world stand with them, we'll boost their resolve and show the media and leaders that the protests are part of a massive mainstream movement for change.

This year could be our century's 1968, but to succeed it must be a movement of all citizens, from every walk of life. Click to join the call for real democracy -- a giant live counter of every one of us who signs the petition will be erected in the centre of the occupation in New York, and live webcasted on the petition page:

These national threads are connected by a global narrative of determination to end the collusion of corrupt elites and politicians -- who have in many countries helped cause a damaging financial crisis and now want working families to pay the bill. The mass movement that is responding can not only ensure that the burden of recession doesn't fall on the most vulnerable, it can also help right the balance of power between democracy and corruption. Click to stand with the movement:

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION HERE

In every uprising, from Cairo to New York, the call for an accountable government that serves the people is clear, and our global community has backed that people power across the world wherever it has broken out. The time of politicians in the pocket of the corrupt few is ending, and in its place we are building real democracies, of, by, and for people.

With hope,

Ya

Money Talks, Killers Walk...

Last week on Oct. 3rd, Amanda Knox was set free by the Italian court. Knox, or "Foxy Knoxy" as the media had come to call her, had served 4 years in prison convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. In 2007 the Italian government arrested Knox, her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, & an associate of theirs, Rudy Guede. Though Knox and Sollecito were cleared of all charges against them after a court of appeals found problems with the evidence and investigation, Guede remained in prison - owning the blame of being the sole person responsible for taking Kercher's life.

Why is this a problem? Why is this so frustrating to me?

The day after Knox was freed & home in America, I was at chatting with a co-worker about the trial. My co-worker only knew of the trial from the Lifetime movie on Knox, I on the other hand followed the trial on every major news network I could. A customer overheard our conversation and decided to chip in his 2cents. His opinion?

"The Black kid did it. I believe he drugged Amanda Knox and had her kill that girl. I mean none of us really know, but why would she kill that girl?... It's obvious there's some foul play. And who's the obvious person behind that, you know what I'm saying?"

The Black Kid? The obvious person behind foul play and murder? I stood speechless, I felt myself tense up & it took all I had in me not to give this guy a piece of my mind.

Amanda Knox is a upper middle-class American White female from America. She was studying at the College for Foreigners in Italy. Rudy Guede is a Nigerian immigrant, who has a history of being a petty drug dealer & came from extreme childhood hardships. There's much less sympathy for Guede as he's still sitting in jail, serving 16 years for being an accomplice to murder - and now he's being held 100% responsible for murdering Meredith Kercher, when both Knox and her boyfriend were present at the scene of the crime. Supposedly the 4 of them were playing a sexual game that got "out of control too quickly for anyone to truly explain what happened that night".

There is quite a deal of favoritism towards Knox and Sollecito. There's this shade thrown onto Guede because of what we're not entirely sure. The color of his skin is not the only factor, albeit an important one, but even deeper is the relation of class in regards to personal responsibility for our actions. Could it be that it's more acceptable to jail someone from a lower class because their accessibility to legal help and publicity is highly improbable? Guede doesn't have the same benefits as Amanda Knox. He cannot afford a major law team to represent him in court. He doesn't have hundreds of people in 2 first world countries supporting him and pleading his innocence. His case is is not the same as front-page news Knox, a middle class white female, an American in all senses of the word. To many, even a customer at a retail store, Guede looks like the "obvious" killer.

Not to say that the Italian government is discriminatory, but the facts are the facts. The good looking, pretty, well-off, female American student is home in Seattle and the Black man is still in his cell, paying a debt to society because the cost of freedom was more than he could afford.