Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Kanye West Visits Occupy Wall Street Protests


Kanye West paid a recent trip to the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City.

Just in case anyone might mistake him for being part of the non-wealthy "99 percent," when the rapper arrived he sported a designer shirt worth several hundred dollars, a pair of $1,000 jeans, and lots of bling to complement his gold and diamond crowned teeth.

West is one of numerous celebrities to have turned up at the anti-capitalist protests. Other famed figures who have appeared alongside the disgruntled group include Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, Russell Simmons, Penn Badgley, and Talib Kweli.

As Kanye approached the scene, activists were transformed into a kind of fan convention and proceeded to mob the star.

West was accompanied by hip-hop mogul and frequent protest visitor Simmons.

“This morning I applaud @kanyewest for using his celebrity to help others. His appearance yesterday mattered #occupywallstreet,” Simmons tweeted about the trip.

But Simmons also revealed that the two had to make a hasty exit due to the protestors having gotten a bit out of hand over Kanye's presence.

"It's tough being @kanyewest people were climbing on him. It was a huge security risk but he just kept shaking hands #occupywallstreet," Simmons wrote.

Adding some additional thoughts about the adventure on his own blog, Global Grind, Simmons wrote, “It was amazing to see how people loved seeing Kanye West at Occupy Wall Street. His music and his art has always been about the voice and the power of the people.”

“Kanye just wanted to come down and experience the growing movement that has opened the eyes of many around this country and around the world of the struggles of poor people. The energy at Liberty Plaza was electrifying and the momentum to get the money out of politics is growing quickly,” Simmons shared.

-James Hirsen 

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