Hero Vincent

“If anything, my family has been the epitome of struggle. Foreclosure, unemployment, tuition costs. My mother struggled to feed me and my little sister. Anything you can say, I can empathize with you, and I wanted to come out and empathize with all these people and stand in solidarity.”

Photo: Jim Kiernan

Hero Vincent was 21 and unemployed when he joined protesters at Occupy Wall Street, never planning to become one of the movement’s young leaders and its main live-stream broadcaster. His communication skills, spirited energy and performance flair were perfect for the role, and so as everything went within the movement, it sort of “just happened.”

Having experienced the ravages of foreclosure, student debt and unemployment first hand in his family, working jobs since he was 14 to help make ends meet, Vincent felt destined to join the movement.

Motivated to express himself on these themes and comfortable in front of a camera, he became one of OWS’s unofficial spokesmen and ‘news anchor’ of its live-streaming videos.

Like many of his fellow protesters, Hero Vincent was also arrested, incarcerated and experienced his share of police brutality.

Hero Vincent at Occupy Wall Street “Stories From the Front” (5 min)

Hero Vincent on CNN (3.5 min)