How Homemade Pics Boosted 'Occupy Wall St'

Suffering in this recession? A photo of you with a short description of your problems can be posted online—and might just inspire people to take action. So figured a New York activist who devised the Tumblr blog, "We Are the 99 Percent," to promote the first Occupy Wall Street protest last month. Now the activist—who calls himself Chris—is posting about 100 submitted photos a day with fellow curator Priscilla Grim. They sat down with Mother Jones:

• Chris: "I think [submitters] want to let others know that they're out there, that they exist, that their problems exist."
• Priscilla: "Suffice to say that I have read many long letters about medical and student debt, abusive families inside which people are trapped, and the hard choices that people have to face every day, choices that I am sure they thought they were the only ones making—until this Tumblr."
• Chris: "On the reader side, I think people look for connection, some escape from solipsism, to know that they're not the only ones scared for the future."
• Priscilla: "We post almost all of the submissions. It's really hard because so many of our fellow citizens have such remarkable stories, and they write more of a letter than a simple fact."
• Chris: "Right now, we only ask that you do your best to keep it concise, that the sign be hand-written, and that some part of your face be visible, though we'd still prefer whole faces."

Huffington Post looks at some of the most moving images on "We Are the 99 Percent." (More Occupy Wall Street stories.)