Occupy the mic

I want to talk a lot about the politics of choice. In a society like the United States, where we place so much emphasis on the individual – the individual’s abilities, capabilities, the ‘you can do whatever you want to do’ mentality – I’d like to use the idea of a choice when talking about things.

Our privacy’s been cooked, our faces have been booked, our right are overlooked, my space has been took.

The danger is that we start using the word “we” in slogans without having done the work to create this “we.” We have spent so much of our lives treating so many of our problems as personal, as our own, that the myth that we are all alone with our problems has become something of a reality.

On Sundays, my mother’s commitment was to us and the sauce and nothing else. On Sundays, we were a family without financial struggles, a family that could sit down to eat, no questions asked.

All of the photos of the student and faculty speakers from LIPS’ Occupy the Mic event.

Last week, I heard stories about the challenges of acquiring student loans, the myths of the glamour of private education, and the crushing realities of an overpriced educational system.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity is looking to address the issue of student debt and loans with Occupy the Mic, a speak-out event and discussion.