Nairobi has the tools to create real change Spurred on by “Occupy Wall Streetover the past several months, the global “Occupy Movement” has spread like planetary wildfire. Ignited by neo-liberal thought leaders (see www.adbusters.org and www.naomiklein.org) and the Internet generation, it bundles together a bandwagon of worldly frustrations over bad leadership, economic inequity, unfettered capitalism and environmental degradation. There’s something in there for everyone — a real mixed bag of crucial issues that cross race, nationality,politics, religion and gender.

The Occupy Movement is next in a long chain of global protests in recent years (G8 Summit riots, the rise of environmental terrorist groups and the Arab Spring, to name a few). They build on top of each other, one boiling point after another. While the world mainstream press has criticized Occupy as being headless and directionless, they miss the point. At the heart of the protest is a very simple message that says: “The old ways of doing things are over. Get ready… there is a force greater than runaway corporate greed.”

Moreover, Occupy also signals how vastly wired we truly are. In Internet time, we are witnessing a high-tech, global synchronization of thought and action. This picture of spontaneous human unity resembles a synapse firing across an ethereal nervous system of wireless connectivity. Occupy is a protest of the real New World Order in Real Time — a world where the underbelly of global emotion can be tapped with a single blog post. Revolution 3.0 is here. It carries the messages of the undeniable social and economic change we are facing today.

It’s a wonder that Occupy Nairobi hasn’t already arrived. The themes are perfect and the time is right. We also have the tools. Remember Ushahidi? As we enter 2012, the fight against economic disparity, injustice and corruption just needs a kick in the rear. Is Occupy an answer? Who will take the first step?

Maybe we’re not ready for such radicalism. Maybe it confuses us that there is no leader of the Occupy concept, that there is no party that handles and approves the propaganda. (Oh, and did I mention there’s no money in it?) And where is the local mainstream press on this? Nil. Silence. Blank. Kenya is seemingly too engaged with a war on terror, the rising cost of living, election-year jockeying and its real estate development bonanza to worry about social and economic injustice, or the best use of public space.

And maybe that’s fair.

On the other hand, there are few excuses. We were born revolutionaries. Is this the Republic you had envisioned? If there were any New Year’s resolutions to champion as the voice of UP, it would be this. Occupy something in your life that is meaningful. Share your activism with the world. You never know, your one Tweet could change the world.

Thankfully, Nairobi is already in the game, and in this issue we show what our favorite hero of love is doing to reclaim public space in Kibera. We also take a look back at where we’ve been and share the highlights of our first year as UP in the free, newsprint format. The best is yet to come, we assure you. Keep the comments coming and have a wonderful New Year. See you in February.