Gallery Guide for "Globalize THIS! International Graphics of Resistance"

              17 | P a g e
an attack on trade union rights in an attempt to stop opposition to a massive series of wage
cuts and cuts to the public sector. The response was a massive outpouring of trade union
protest, unseen in the U.S. in recent years, as protestors occupied the government building in
Madison for weeks and tens of thousands marched each week to protest the new laws. The
Wisconsin uprising became a beacon of resistance across the U.S. and across the world. The fist
is in the shape of Wisconsin.
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What Is Our One Demand?
Adbusters Media Foundation
Offset, 2011 / Vancouver, Canada
This poster is credited for starting the Occupy Wall Street [OWS] movement in the
U.S.
Early in June 2011, Canadian‐based Adbusters Media Foundation sent its subscribers an email
saying that “America needs its own Tahrir,” referring to Tahrir Square in Cairo, occupied by
hundreds of thousands of Egyptians from January 25 to February 11, 2011, when President
Mubarak resigned. In July 2011, Adbusters proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to
protest corporate influence on democracy, the lack of legal consequences for those who
brought about the global crisis of monetary insolvency, and an increasing disparity in wealth.
The protest was promoted with this poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street's iconic Charging
Bull statue, and was the centerfold in the September/October 2011 issue #97.* The internet
group, Anonymous, encouraged its readers to participate, and other groups also helped to
organize and promote the protest. The action itself began on September 17.
Immediate prototypes for OWS include the British student protests of 2010, Greece's and
Spain's anti‐austerity protests of the "indignados" (indignants), as well as the Arab Spring
protests. These antecedents have in common with OWS a reliance on social media and
electronic messaging to circumvent the authorities, as well as frustration and anger towards
financial institutions, corporations and the political elite. Occupy Wall Street, in turn, gave rise
to the Occupy movement in hundreds of cities in the U.S. and around the world.
In November and December 2011, police launched violent raids against the Occupy Movement,
and camps in many cities, including New York and Los Angeles, were dismantled, injuring and
arresting many people in the process. Evicted protesters vowed to continue the struggle, either
by setting up new camps or exploring new ways to engage communities.
*The November/December issue of Adbusters #98, included an apology to Rachel Cossar, the dancer
featured in this poster, whose image was used without her permission. She is a professional ballerina
with the Boston Ballet, is in no way associated with, nor does she endorse the #occupywallstreet
campaign.
60
The Day 99% Stood Up Nov 5
Artist Unknown
Digital Print, 2011 / Place Unknown
Image based on “The Day the Earth Stood Still” a classic 1951 sci‐fi film with an
anti‐war message. Remade in 2008
Saturday, November 5, 2011 was Move Your Money Day, a Facebook‐led protest started by
Kristen Christian from Los Angeles, who urged 500 friends to close their accounts at the
nation’s biggest banks and move their money to a local bank or credit union. Although not
started by the Occupy Movement, they supported and promoted it and the idea went viral.