Occupy Wall St. and Ms. Ali

by fmhilton

The other day I asked Ms. Ali if she had heard about the ‘Occupy Wall St.’ movement.

“Oh, yeah, I have. I’ve been following it since I first heard about it.”

“What do you think about it? Do you think that it’ll work?”

“Depends on how long they want to keep doing it for. You know, the protests during the Vietnam War had to keep going on for a few years before someone noticed us.”

“Us? Don’t tell me that you were an anti-war protester!”

“Oh, yes, I was. I was in a few of them.”

“But why? You didn’t have anyone in your family go to Vietnam.”

“No I didn’t-but I saw a few neighbors go off. A few of my friends. A few of the guys I went to school with. Some of them didn’t come back.”

I was silent for a bit.

Then she quietly told me:

“I know now this one truth:

Stand up for what’s right, even if you’re standing alone.

I know those people who are protesting down in New York and other places understand that. We all should. Stand up for your beliefs, no matter if they affect you personally or not-because it will affect someone else.”