"Be the Crisis": The Street Art of Occupy's General Strike

Check out the graffiti and digital art Occupy Wall Street is using to publicize their May Day General Strike!

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blogger.com / Via urbaninfidel.blogspot.com

A promotional mural for the Cartoon Network show Delocated in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, got tagged with anarchy symbols and a call to "Be the Crisis." This photo was taken by Urban Infidel, a conservative Williamsburg blogger who tracks the activities of "the local OWS jerks." (Bedford Avenue and N 6th St)

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The sprawling New York subway system is a prime location for OWS graffiti

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Some strikers appear to have somewhat...unrealistic expectations for May Day. On the other hand, the T-Rex is notoriously immune to pepper spray.

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This "Sabotage" piece was done by an unknown artist at an unknown location. How's that for mysterious?

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wagingnonviolence.org

This poster features a slightly altered take on Occupy Wall Street's call for a General Strike. The official version: "*No Work *No School *No Housework *No Shopping *No Banking TAKE THE STREETS!!!!!"

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Occupy Williamsburg dropped this banner above a currently closed Salvation Army thrift store. No word on how difficult it was to climb the building in skinny jeans. (Bedford Ave and N 7th St)

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This poster is an interesting take on traditional gender roles; presumably the woman is waiting for the man to say "I love you," a punch line which only makes sense in our current cultural context. I'm a sociology major, sorry.

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Trash strikes are a surprisingly common occurrence, although not in the United States.The city of Naples in Italy went almost a year without garbage collection in 2008, as literally thousands of tons of trash clogged the streets.

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occupymay1st.org

This poster links the 20th century labor struggle for a minimum wage with a call for a 'living wage', which the New York Times describes as the idea that "that no one who works full time should have to live in poverty." Fun fact: the original minimum wage, set in 1933, was $.25/hour.

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"Get off your hamster wheel," the poster says. In a country with 36% obesity, maybe we should stay on for a just a few more minutes.