ABSTRACT
In this interlude, art as a mode of dissent is examined in the context of the Occupy Wall Street Movement’s (OWS) use of poetry. The poetry the members of the OWS wrote was collected in the Occupy Wall Street Poetry Anthology, which remains stored online. The anthology was added to over time with little editing oversight and became a subtle means of dissent as it captured the participants’ emotional response to the Occupy Wall Street protests. Though the poetry is of mixed quality, just as the poetry in the underground press of the Sixties was, it does reflect the sentiment of Walt Whitman’s vision, a vision of poetry as a means of expressing the unique American identity.
