(Update here.)

Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky…. Hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency.~ Rebecca Solnit

3:15 AM 9/18/2011, Protesters put out requests online for logistical support, including the delivery of a mobile generator to charge their cell phones, and to coordinate efforts to reinforce with goods they will need to remain on the scene.

3:45 AM Police have blocked off the area and are not letting new protesters join the crowd already on the scene; protesters on the scene urging more people to join them tonight, tomorrow, or as soon as possible.

Yesterday, some Americans and others around the world began a well planned effort to protest our governments’ ills by occupying the Wall Street area in New York City among other locations. Whether it is the first of many, or the only effort needed by the people – how successful they will be depends largely on those who join, support and share information about the progress and deterrents of their noble peaceful efforts.

“Even though estimates have varied from hundreds to as many as 50,000 – protesters flooded into Manhattan and others cities to take part in events around the country to, “nonviolently disrupt the disloyal, incompetent, and corrupt special interests which have usurped our nation’s civil and military power, spawning a host of threats to our liberty, lives and national security,” the three cable news networks have devoted no airtime to the story.”

As anticipated as the news blackout may have been by the planners of the movements, it is still disconcerting – or should be, to realize that the Wall Street “news” in the Wall Street segments of our mass media sources in America yesterday excluded all news of the protesting.

This morning, the coverage is scant, but will improve as the movement gains strength. As Daily Kos puts it, “The way these protests are portrayed by the mainstream media tends to send a negative image about the protests, sometimes in subtle ways, and other times in not so subtle ways.” Suggestions, as in this article, for improving the effectiveness of solidarity in peaceful protests will not come from the main streamed media, but from those whose efforts are rooted in helping the people.

The Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement serves to explain some of the nonviolent resistance actions that have been planned and the different demands made by the groups.

This Internet channel, globalrevolution, features live streaming from the protest revolution spreading across the globe, with the first broadcasts from the Wall Street Occupation in NYC. The channel also features live streaming from events in Spain, Greece, France, Belgium, Iceland and other places around the globe.

Internet links to information about current solidarity protesting tend to “time out” for whatever reason, and that isn’t surprising either, so be patient, don’t give up, and please be kind enough to share updated information with others. I notice that it has been stalled for now, but some updates, videos and pictures should be available soon, here.

This morning, Thinkprogress asks, “Given these facts, the question is not why more than a thousand people demonstrated on Wall Street yesterday. The question is, why aren’t even more people in the streets of the financial district in New York City?”

The answer to why Wall Street is being protested is simple: “Their Actions Impoverished More Than 60 Million People.” The answer to the second question is largely unknown by experts, though they blame it in part on the media and seem to believe Americans have become fearful of our government and those in power. But that is clearly something we need come to grips with if we want to have country, a world, worthy of passing on to our children. The power rests with the people, and we should not be resting this one out.

If there’s a fire in your belly, let’s see it. If not, Keith Ollberman’s speech from Current’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, broadcast Aug. 1, 2011, is a poignant reminder of why we need to do what we can, peacefully, to change the direction of neoliberal politics and the corruption it has seeded and fertilized in governments world-wide. Watch it to the end … get mad, and please help.

DCKennedy