What Do You Really Know President Obama

Dear President Obama,

Hi my name is ShaAsia. I’m a 16 year old who lives and goes to school in the South Bronx. I attend Bronx Early College Academy and I am a junior there. I was able to watch your interview on Night Line concerning Occupy Wall Street. My IB Theory of Knowledge class has been following the events of Occupy Wall Street. I know you haven’t been able to visit Zuccotti Park or the other places that this protest is taking place over the United States. Until a few weeks ago I was just like you I only knew what was going on at Zuccotti Park from what the news and trusted sources told me. From these sources I learned that there were protestors in a park, which I assumed was larger then what it is, that were protesting about the ninety nine percent against the one percent. Also I learned that they were out of control, doing drugs and they were a bunch of thugs. However when I visit I knew that I could not completely trust everything a secondary sources tells me. I had to go myself and use my senses so that I can completely understand and gain my own personal opinion and perspective of the even taken place in Zuccotti Park. Using my sense has been a window on the world.

When I visited Zuccotti Park I quickly learned that it was not like anything I read or heard. When I used my sense of sight and hearing I knew that the protesters where lively and passionate people. When I interviewed many of the protesters they did not seem thuggish, but like everyday people that truly want to see a change. President Obama, you cannot truly know what these people are fighting for if you don’t get to have your experience in which you use every single sense you have. While I was there my eyes were open to whole other world. Just by using senses I was able to understand and relate to most of them. I knew that were all the ninety nine percent and they were barely making it like most because of the one percent. Others were taking place in the protest because of the armed forces and others were there because of you. They were tired of the amounts of money that was being spent on a war that was not called for and because you promised that the troops would be home a while ago. However that’s not what really shocked and amazed me, it was that they were very organized and worked together. They had come to build their way of solving problems and planning without having someone in control of everything and making all the decisions. I believe that we could learn a lot from these individuals because they had a family atmosphere, but hardly any of them knew one another before coming together to fight on a topic they all seem to agree.

As much as I enjoyed my time at Zuccotti Park and using my senses, I did not like what I discovered with my sense of smell. While there the aroma of the park was not pleasing. I cannot completely blame the folks there, but it was still disturbing. I can blame them for the smoking of cigarettes; however I must say they were very creative with the cigarettes. Instead of buying them and supporting the same business they are protesting against, they made their own for the people who did smoke. Another clever thing they did was they had bikes to run their electricity and everyone took turns doing everything.

President Obama I must ask what do you really know about Occupy Wall Street? How can you agree and support them if you don’t know what’s really going on? The last I read you were supporting a bunch of thugs, and encourage their “gangish” activity and those people who live in that park are from it. I’ve learned that I have to experience and be active in something to get the truth that I want and can trust, and be told to me by some reporter. So I ask again, what do you really know about Occupy Wall Street and those people?