Kali Cichon
Age: 25
Occupation: on disability
Why are you here at Occupy Charlottesville?
I have had problems with anxiety in the past and I felt that my disabilities were preventing me from helping other people, but when I came here and I helped people I was really excited about it. Maybe I am not changing the world, but I am making somebody’s day better and that’s cool. I have been really interested in homeless outreach since I have been here, I met some pretty amazing guys.
We run completely on donations, we have not been asking for any sort of cash donations, a couple of people will pitch in their own money. We have some people who are here who are homeless and we have extra food, so we are willing to share, we have some people here who are just here for the Occupy movement and we are offering them food as well.
One of the interesting things about this movement is that we have all decided that while we identify as a group, we are autonomous. We do have people who are involved in a variety of local issues. It’s funny because a lot of us don’t really agree politically. A problem and great thing about a movement that encompasses 99 percent of the population is that we don’t have one special interest. We are not here to save the polar bears or reduce carbon emissions. The financial crisis is a big part of it, because it has affected everybody, but we are also here knowing that even if we all have individual interests, we are here to make society better for everybody. We are here to make government and the system suit out needs and that means something different from anybody here.
It’s kind of scary to say that I come here to change the world, I don’t even know how to do that. The way that I try to make myself useful is by focusing on the pragmatic, small details: Somebody needs to do dishes, somebody needs to make coffee, somebody needs to clean up the area. It has been amazing how much the community is helping us. I have been disappointed, though. Charlottesville likes to paint itself as an activist town, but I haven’t seen that many people show up and I want people to know that you don’t have to commit your entire life to this movement, if you just stop by for half and hour and show your support. You don’t have to be a martyr for this cause to be part of it.
Brent Palmer
Age: 31
Occupation: unemployed farmer
The biggest thing is to break the grip of big corporations, corporate powers have on politics and right now they fund most of the political campaigns, which means that Congress owes most of their careers to the 1 percent and not to the people who actually vote for them. We just need to get corporate money completely out of politics. Locally, the big reason I am here is to raise awareness of the national issues, but at the same time, we are able to do a lot for the homeless, we are able to call attention to some issues with the parks, really get people thinking about their community.
We actually have a lot of homeless people who have joined our movement and a lot of them are employed and struggling to get ahead and make a better live for themselves with the current state of the economy is impossible.
The big thing is that homeless people aren’t allowed to sleep in the parks. Right now, the ones who are part of the movement have kind of a lucky break, a lot of others can’t because they are not interested in this sort of thing and don’t know about it. They just want to find a place to sleep and that’s a crime. I have heard that there is a lot of talk going around about stopping them from going to the park and panhandle for money, which for many of them is their livelihood. In a time when the economy is this bad, the most important thing that we can do on a local level is take care of the people who are the most affected by it.
Right now you have a lot of people talking about budget cuts, but budget cuts get rid of services that we all need and they destroy jobs. It’s a double hit to the economy. What we need is things that will create jobs and so that way people do have money to buy things like locally farmed goods. As long as people are employed, it’s better for everyone.
For more profiles of Occupy Charlottesville members check out next week’s C-VILLE on newstands Tuesday, November 1. Photos by Chiara Canzi.