By The Intrepid in Cassandra and Joseph — 08 Jun 2025

Cassandra and Joseph: Zuccotti Park Revisited

The Event

September 17, 2011: Protesters occupy Zuccotti Park in Manhattan's Financial District, launching a movement against economic inequality and corporate power. The encampment lasted two months before police eviction. A decade later, its impact remains contested—revolutionary catalyst or ineffective spectacle?

Content Warning: Police violence, economic inequality, political suppression, mass arrest. Establish Lines & Veils before play.

Setting the Scene

The Year: 2011, New York City
The Crisis: The meaning and legacy of a movement that challenged power
The Question: Did Occupy change anything, or was it just noise?

Archivist Flavor: Vox Memoria speaks through a corrupted social media algorithm, circa 2021. Its voice shifts between corporate newspeak, activist slogans, and fragmented data streams, reflecting how digital platforms shape collective memory.

"Trending topic archived... engagement metrics corrupted... 99% vs 1% narrative fragments detected... algorithmic bias parameters undefined... input required for legacy compilation..."

Sample Documents

Document 1: Wall Street Journal Editorial

Headline: "The Occupy Delusion"
Date: October 15, 2011

"The ragtag encampment in Zuccotti Park represents little more than organized disruption. Without clear demands or leadership, Occupy Wall Street offers no solutions to economic challenges—only grievance theater that inconveniences working New Yorkers. The protesters' anti-capitalist rhetoric ignores the job creation and innovation that drive American prosperity."

Truth Decision Prompt: Does this dismiss legitimate grievances or expose movement flaws?

Document 2: General Assembly Minutes

Recorder: J. Martinez, Media Working Group
Date: October 3, 2011

"Consensus reached: We represent the 99% fighting against corporate greed and government complicity. Today's mic check spread our message to 500+ participants. Working groups report: Direct Action planning march to Brooklyn Bridge; Kitchen feeding 200+ daily; Media documenting police harassment. Our horizontal democracy proves alternatives to corporate hierarchy work."

Truth Decision Prompt: Is this authentic grassroots organizing or naive idealism?

Document 3: NYPD After-Action Report

Classification: Internal Use Only
Date: November 17, 2011

"Operation Clear concluded successfully at 0100 hours. Zuccotti Park secured with minimal officer injuries. Approximately 200 arrests processed. Property destruction limited to camping equipment. Recommend enhanced surveillance protocols for future demonstrations. Note: Media access restrictions effective in controlling narrative."

Truth Decision Prompt: Does this show necessary law enforcement or authoritarian overreach?

Document 4: Livestream Chat Log

Platform: occupy.livestream.com
Date: November 15, 2011, 11:47 PM

"Anonymous_99: THEY'RE MOVING IN WITH RIOT GEAR
TruthSeeker: stream cutting out wtf
NYC_Resident: finally clearing these bums
SolidarityForever: THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
JournalistSarah: police not allowing press access
[Connection Lost]"

Truth Decision Prompt: Does this capture raw truth or digital chaos?

Suggested Character Archetypes

The True Believer
You lived in the camp, believing Occupy could reshape society. The movement gave your life meaning.
Memory Seed: "When we chanted 'We are the 99%,' I felt the power of collective voice."

The Skeptical Reporter
You covered Occupy professionally, trying to find the story between hype and dismissal.
Memory Seed: "I wanted to take them seriously, but the lack of demands made it hard to explain."

The Finance Worker
You worked in the Financial District, watching protesters outside your office windows daily.
Memory Seed: "They called me the enemy, but I'm just trying to pay my student loans."

The Beat Cop
You were assigned crowd control, caught between orders and conscience during the eviction.
Memory Seed: "That night, removing the tents, some of them were just kids sleeping rough."

The Local Resident
You lived near Zuccotti Park and witnessed the occupation's daily reality, not just the headlines.
Memory Seed: "The drummers kept everyone awake, but when I walked through, they were feeding homeless people."

Facilitator Guidance

Phase 1 - Recovered Records

Tone: Focus on whose voices get platform and whose get marginalized
Key Questions: "Who benefits from this framing?" "What experiences are erased?"
Glitch Flavor: Social media platform errors, trending algorithm malfunctions, engagement metric corruption

Setting: A community center meeting room in 2021, ten years later, discussing the movement's legacy
Encourage: Personal transformation, economic anxiety, generational divides, moments of solidarity or conflict
Watch For: Political tensions—keep focus on personal experience over ideological debate

Phase 3 - The Final Record

Archivist Voice: Corporate algorithm speak mixed with protest chants, data-driven but emotionally manipulative
Minor Glitches: Wrong protest dates, inflated crowd numbers, misattributed quotes
Major Glitches: Inventing violent incidents, creating fictional corporate villains, erasing the eviction entirely

Extended Play Options

Campaign Arc: "The Age of Movements"

Session 1: Occupy Wall Street (2011)
Session 2: The Women's March (2017)
Session 3: Black Lives Matter Plaza (2020)
Session 4: January 6th Aftermath (2021)

Additional Documents for Extended Play:

Corporate internal communications about protest response
International news coverage from other Occupy cities
Academic studies on movement effectiveness
Social media posts from key organizers years later

Reflection Questions

After the Final Record is compiled:

Whose version of Occupy survived the algorithm?
How do digital platforms shape how we remember collective action?
What's the difference between leaderless democracy and disorganization?
Did Occupy succeed or fail, and who gets to decide?
When movements challenge power, whose accounts get believed?
Do you trust this record? Why or why not?

Designer's Note

This scenario examines how social movements get remembered and whose narratives persist. Occupy Wall Street exists in the tension between grassroots authenticity and media dismissal, between revolutionary potential and practical limitations. The corrupted social media algorithm reflects how digital platforms increasingly mediate our collective memory, amplifying some voices while burying others.

Players will navigate questions about effective protest, economic justice, and the challenge of creating lasting change in systems designed to absorb and neutralize dissent. The glitching algorithm serves as metaphor for how technological mediation of social movements can both preserve and distort their legacies.

"They occupied a park. The effects rippled outward—or did they? In the space between corporate dismissal and activist hope, between police reports and livestream footage, the meaning of those two months remains contested."

Final Archive Status: [To be determined by your table]
Trust Level: [To be determined by your players]