With more than 1,400 cities now organizing protests, or soon to be occupying, it is now impossible to overlook this ever-expanding movement. After ignoring the protests for weeks, the corporate media must cover them, and politicians have been forced to have an opinion about them.

Moreover, the movement is not just located on the coasts. These protests have spread to the Heartland and the South as well. Even better, Gov. Rick Perry’s Republic of Texas is filled with occupiers.

This past weekend, my husband and I took a trip to Austin to check out the occupy group there – they are staging their protests outside of City Hall.

While their camp sites are on the same road as City Hall — Caesar Chavez Road — it is miles away and in a rougher part of town. Since Austin is known for being a “liberal mecca” and a college town in a state that is considered to be overwhelmingly ultra-conservative and dominated by Evangelicals (we should not forget, however, that the late Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower hail from Texas), many of the protesters were what you’d expect at this sort of event: grungy hippies with dreadlocks and little clothing. But those weren’t the only folks there. Far from it. Many people were dressed casually, or quite spiffy. One man, for instance, was in a three-piece business suit. There were families there, too. I spoke briefly with one woman, who wore nice jeans and a casual top, and had her toddler in tow. The toddler’s stroller had a sign that read “I want my future back.” The little toddler had tight, darling curls and two big barrettes on both sides of her tiny head, and when she stumbled on her pudgy, short legs, it was clear, this little gal wanted a future!

The first organizer my husband and I met was 34-year-old Austin resident Peter Morales (@ArrestedAustin). He greeted us with a huge smile. He is married, runs a small business, and has four children. We connected via Twitter about a week before I headed to Austin. When I introduced myself to him, I also noticed out of the corner of my eye four children on the pavement next to me. I made a remark about them making protests signs with paint.

“They’re using the water-soluble kind,” Peter assured us, and then added, “those are my kids.”

When asked why his kids were there, he said he wanted his kids to be part of the protest. He also hopes that when people see children at the event that other families will join them. It seems Peter and other parents had already accomplished that goal. Indeed, there was no short supply of children. There were plenty of dogs present, too. In fact, one fluffy corgi was actively protesting and had anti-Wall Street signs tied to its squat, fat body. (You hear that 1%-ers? Even animals in the U.S. are on to you!)

While Peter’s children painted, he began to tell us why he was there. He said, “I’ve never been involved in anything like this before.” When I asked him what sort of people the protesters were like, he told me they were all different, but that most of them were either small business owners or employed. I later learned over the phone that Peter decided to drop out of college to join the efforts. His wife is also in school, and they both continue to oversee their small business and tend to their four children. Peter was on about three hours of sleep when I spoke to him Thursday, October 13th.

On that note, sleep deprivation is the name of the game for these activists. That’s because they are unable to sleep outside of City Hall. But two young organizers told me that they’re working on that issues. How? They are currently working on changing the ordinance laws and hope they will eventually be able to camp there.

We spoke with Peter for a few more minutes, and then he introduced me to a young woman who is at a two-year college. She said the same thing about the occupiers, i.e., that most of them were employed. In addition, if they weren’t employed, they were full-time students. This particular woman was in college full-time, had a part-time job, and was working around the clock for Austin’s occupy protests. Despite the fact that most of these folks were quite tired, there was a lot of energy in the air. You might expect the 99% to be pissed off, angry, sullen, whatever. Nope. Their moods were the opposite of that. Lots of people were smiling.  

While it is clear that they are voicing frustrations about the current system and how it is failing to support the majority of Americans, and they want things to change, collective anger — overall — was noticeably absent. For instance, one man had several bouquets of brightly colored carnations and daisies. He approached me, and sweetly asked, “Would you like a freedom flower?”

After I met the freedom flower guy, I was introduced to a spunky, smart young gal who is Occupy Austin’s “Non-profit Outreach Coordinator.” When I told her about my non-profit, All Education Matters (AEM), and handed out some fliers about my work (see here and here), she thanked me profusely for standing up for people struggling with student loan debt.

All in all, the mood was festive and upbeat.

The General Assembly was a bit tedious, but it seems obvious that they are doing everything right. After all, when democracy is operating properly, it is a slow, arduous process, and these folks are taking their time to ensure consensus on important matters. Reports from other cities reflect the slowness of the GA (see, for instance, Dustin Slaughter’s work about his time at Occupy Boston. Dustin has been covering the protests since day one in lower Manhattan. He’s also visited and participated with the occupy protests in D.C., and will be reporting about the protesters in Philadelphia as well.) Moods in these places sound similar to what I encountered in Austin. But don’t let that fool you about this group’s concerns about big issues.

While the occupiers in Austin were happy, open, friendly, they have clear concerns about the future of this country. When I spoke to Peter by phone to request further remarks from him on October 13th, he said, “if someone were to ask me what this is all about, I would say this: a lot of people are misinformed [about occupy]. We’re all here in solidarity for a lot of reasons. But one thing is bringing us all together: we’re tired of how things are running, and we want change.”

Stay tuned for my upcoming travels to meet with the folks who are working hard to Occupy Tulsa.

Cryn Johannsen is the founder and executive director of All Education Matters (AEM). She is currently writing a book about the student lending crisis and how this mess can be fixed. Read her full HyperVocal archive here, and make sure to follow her on The Twitter @cjohanns.

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