Sarah van Gelder - This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement

OCCUPY WALL STREET
and the 99% MOVEMENT

Edited by Sarah van Gelder
and the staff of YES! Magazine

This Changes Everything

Copyright 2011 by The Positive Futures Network
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-60994-587-9
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60994-588-6
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60994-589-3

2011-2

Cover design by Kelly Shea, assisted by Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn; interior design by Kelly Shea, based on a template by Valerie Brewster; copyediting on selected articles by James Trimarco; proofreading by Samantha Schuller; cover photo by Kurt Christensen; part I photo () by Brett Casper

This book is dedicated to the occupiers of Zuccotti Park, who challenged the Wall Street system on behalf of all of us, and to the thousands of people in other Occupy sites across the United States and the world. Your commitment to nonviolence, solidarity, justice, and a better world for the 99% has truly changed everything.

the staff members of YES! Magazine
and Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Royalties from the sale of this book will go to support the Occupy Wall Street/99% movement; five hundred copies of the book will be distributed at no charge to Occupy sites.

FRAN KORTEN

Late on Friday, October 7, 2011, I received an e-mail that set me on fire. It was from Steve Piersanti, president of Berrett-Koehler Publishers. He asked if YES! Magazine would be interested in publishing an instant book on Occupy Wall Street.

Since our founding in 1996, YES! Magazine has explored alternatives to corporate domination. Weve covered efforts to create food justice, reform health care, build local economies, and solve the climate crisis. Our board chair (my husband), David Korten, has inspired us with deep insights on how to transform our economy. But time and again weve seen powerful interests associated with the 1% stop the needed changes.

So when a small group of activists began camping out in a park just blocks from Wall Street, we took notice. YES! editors Brooke Jarvis and Christa Hillstrom started posting articles on the movement. Steve commented that our coverage was the most thoughtful he had seen.

We were immediately taken with Steves idea of doing a bookand producing it fast. We found most media reports on the Occupy movement confusing or dismissive. By producing a book now we felt we could help the growing number of people interested in this movement understand its import. Staff at Berrett-Koehler, which has published many books on themes related to the movement, felt the same way.

Sarah van Gelder, executive editor of YES!, quickly assembled articles to 1) feature voices from inside and outside the movement, 2) spotlight changes capable of shifting our societys wealth back to the 99%, and 3) show the power of social movements to bring about change. And then the production marathon began.

We decided to write in a voice that recognized that we, too, are part of the 99%. Staff members were spending time at Occupy Seattle. Susan Gleason and Sara Kirk were shipping copies of the New Livelihoods issue of YES! to Occupy groups. Sarah van Gelder was interviewed about the movement on PBS NewsHour. Staff were eager to donate book royalties to the movement. Berrett-Koehler offered five hundred copies of the book to distribute to Occupy sites.

We are grateful to the authors and photographers for their quick responses. At YES! Kelly Shea with help from Tracy Dunn designed the book. James Trimarco (who was on the ground in Zuccotti Park) provided valuable edits. Jessica Lind-Diamond, Christa Hillstrom, Derek Hoshiko, Rebecca Nyamidie, Ayla Harbin, Idil Levitas, Jennifer Kaye, Kate Malongowski, Dee Axelrod, Melinda Monroe, Connie Walton, Julie Katana, and Doug Pibel edited content and assured its accuracy. Samantha Schuller did final proofreading. Sharon Booth produced marketing copy. The YES! Magazine editorial teamDoug Pibel, Madeline Ostrander, Valerie Schloredt, and Tracy Dunnproduced our fifteenth anniversary edition on schedule despite the extra demands of this book. All the while, YES! staff and interns kept our programs running, including Rod Arakaki, Audrey Watson, Gretchen Wolf, Jing Fong, Michael Winter, Paula Murphy, Bridget McCarthy, and Neil Cresswell.

At Berrett-Koehler, Steve Piersanti provided wise guidance and unflagging enthusiasm on a daily basis. His colleagues were a dream to work with. Mike Crowley, Dianne Platner, Rick Wilson, Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Kristen Frantz, Katie Sheehan, Cynthia Shannon, Marina Cook, Zoe Mackey, Courtney Schonfeld, David Marshall, Bonnie Kaufman, Johanna Vondeling, and other BK staff supported the design and production work, helped prepare and disseminate marketing materials, and arranged distribution through many different channels.

I am deeply grateful for the millions who are dedicated to transforming our societies to benefit the 99%. And I feel blessed to work with a remarkable team so ready to bring forth a positive vision of the possibilities that lie ahead.

Bainbridge Island, Washington
October 31, 2011

Fran Korten is the publisher of YES! Magazine.

SARAH VAN GELDER

We fail to understand why we should have to pay the costs of the crisis, while its instigators continue to post record profits. Were sick and tired of one injustice after another. We want human dignity back again.

This isnt the kind of world we want to live in, and its we who have to decide what world we do want. We know we can change it, and were having a great time going about it.