One thing that should be done with any project, in my opinion, is to give yourself time to walk away from it, think about it, so you will know if it is your best work or if you are just working for the paycheck. The same thing, for me, goes with reporting a story. In the heat of the moment, I can get caught up in the emotions of the story. There needs to be time to step back, to assess what is fact, what is speculation and what is propaganda.

Yesterday I went back to #OccupyPhoenix, but before I did, I spent time talking with an older gentleman who was looking to make a historical record of his family stories. It felt really good talking to him and giving him advice. In a sense I was trying to prepare myself for #OccupyPhoenix because in the past few weeks things seemed to be not too good for them in my eyes. I documented a lot of what I saw and I got stories from other people who had met with less than accepting arms.

Yesterday was different. I got an enlightening interview with one person here (click for video). An interview with another person turned into an impromptu meeting discussing some of the problems the #OccupyPhoenix participants had encountered (click for video 1) (click for video 2) (click for video 3) (click for video 4). Both were eye opening and gave me a sense that while things might have been shaky, there was at least an acknowledgment things were wrong and needed improvement. In the presence of the people there I was sure things would change.

From the two videos I cut together, this is what I realized; when we think about a revolution, a change in the status quo, we think about the highlights and the end results, not the messy start or the foggy middle. If you think about the war in Iraq, that went on for ten years, lots of lives lost, and while a lot of people think the war was wrong, have they protested all those ten years? How about five years? Can anyone even remember Cindy Sheehan or where she is now? Do you remember when we hit 1000 deaths in Iraq? I think what as surprised a lot of people has been that the war is still going on and it has been 10 years.

As was brought up in the discussion I recorded, the whole Occupy movement is under six months old, has been activated in New York for less than three month and #OccupyPhoenix is not even a month old. Because of our quick fix society many expect things to magically change within days or weeks. Women's rights took 30 years to take hold. If you just count Martin Luther King's involvement in the Civil Right Movement, that was less than 10 years, but the movement, for all practical purposes, started at the end of the Civil War. This month marks the 20th anniversary of Magic Johnson announcing he had HIV. Many at the time predicted he wouldn't live another three years yet he is still going strong but there isn't a cure for AIDS. On the one hand, hope with his survival that many can get help with the disease yet in all this time no real progress has been made in curing the disease.

What I'm trying to point out is this movement is young. I lost sight of the fact that it is young, like most people I would suspect. Another month, even a year or two from now things may be quite different, but it is a movement that speak to us, the vast majority of us. I think it's important to have constructive criticism of actions taken by #OccupyPhoenix, but it is also important to help where you can. In some cases you may have to help even if they don't want it. It sounds crazy but sometimes they are stymied by rules and regulations and other times by internal politics.

Here's an example of being stymied by rules and regulations. They need people to help in preparing and distributing food, but to legally do this you need a license. Literally if I wanted to help them scoop up food and put it on a plate, or to cook up some beans on a donated site, I can't do it because I don't have a $15 food license. Now, I can clean up afterwards and I did get assurances from someone in charge of this part of the operation that #OccupyPhoenix is willing to pay for people to take the class to earn a license. Remember that the barrier between handling the trash to preparing and serving the food is $15. That's a reason why they have to turn people away who might want to help. Sometimes that isn't explained well, or someone who knows the procedure isn't around to explain it. Like I said, they are going through growing pains so trying to clarify and getting their message out can be hard.

Don't think this movement is just about the young, or just about some 'damn hippies and freeloaders.' I'm going to do what I can to get their message out the best way I can. If you can support them with money, time, good and services, don't hesitate and help them out.