What is We Are The 99 Percent?

It's an Occupy Wall Street catchphrase and a Tumblr photo blog of the same name, where users posted pictures of themselves holding handwritten signs about their financial struggles.

Where did We Are The 99 Percent come from?

The '99 percent' framing came from a General Assembly poster shared on the Occupy Wall Street site in early August 2011, and a New York activist named Chris launched the Tumblr on August 23rd, 2011 to put faces to the number.

What does We Are The 99 Percent mean?

It contrasts ordinary Americans with the richest 1%, who controlled roughly half of U.S. wealth, framing the Occupy movement around that gap.

How do you use We Are The 99 Percent?

The classic submission format was a handwritten sign held up to the camera listing a personal financial hardship, often with the writer's face partially hidden and the URL 'occupywallst.org' at the bottom.

Is We Are The 99 Percent still popular?

It's a classic of 2011 internet culture, named top meme of 2011 by TIME, and the Tumblr was still active in September 2012 at a much smaller volume.

We Are The 99 Percent

2011catchphraseclassic

Published October 5, 2026

'We Are The 99 Percent' is the Occupy Wall Street rallying cry that spread via a Tumblr photo blog started by a 28-year-old New York activist named Chris on August 23rd, 2011. The project turned anonymous economic hardship into a flood of face-and-sign confessionals, and TIME later tagged it the top meme of 2011.

protest memes economic anxiety memes snowclone memes tumblr memes social justice memes

Overview

The phrase works as a numeric shorthand: '1%' is the richest Americans holding roughly half the country's wealth, and '99%' is everyone else1. The Tumblr format locked in the visual grammar. People wrote their financial story by hand on a sheet of paper, held it up to the camera with their face often partly covered, and signed off with 'occupywallst.org'2. Submissions ranged from a 61-year-old who lost her job and moved in with her kids to a couple surviving on tossed-out KFC1.

The sign-held-to-camera template jumped off Tumblr fast. Protesters carried the slogan on placards at Occupy encampments around the country, and it hit Cafepress and Zazzle merchandise within weeks2. Parody blogs then flipped the format, with people writing their own 'We Are The X Percent' signs for everything from left-handedness to red hair2. The format's power was its blankness: anybody with paper, a Sharpie and a webcam could file a testimonial.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Occupy Wall Street poster / Tumblr (viral spread)

Key People

Chris with co-curator Priscilla Grim

Date

2011

The '99 percent' framing came from a General Assembly poster circulated on the official Occupy Wall Street site in early August 20112. A 28-year-old New York activist going by Chris (he kept his last name private because he worked for a small media outlet) launched the wearethe99percent.tumblr.com blog on August 23rd, 2011 to put faces to the number, and started publishing submissions on September 8th1. The first day drew five posts1.

Chris had been running food-drive logistics for the Zuccotti Park occupation, so around late September 2011 he brought in Brooklyn nonprofit worker Priscilla Grim to help curate the flood of submissions1. Grim had submitted one of the earliest photos herself, with her face obscured1.

How It Spread

Submissions scaled fast. By October the blog was publishing close to 100 photos a day1, and the project started getting written up as the human face of Occupy Wall Street. Mother Jones tracked down the two anonymous curators that month1, Buzzfeed ran a round-up of submissions headlined as reasons people were occupying Wall Street3, and Business Insider, Huffington Post, Psychology Today, The Economist and Forbes all filed pieces before the end of 20114. TIME Magazine named it the top meme of 2011 that December5.

The counter-memes started early. On October 3rd, 2011, conservative blogger Erick Erickson launched 'We Are The 53 Percent' as a rebuttal, built around a 2009 Tax Policy Center figure that 47 percent of Americans paid no net federal income tax4. On October 10th, a Reddit post titled 'I am the 9%' flipped the format for left-handed people6, and on October 12th a 'We Are The 1 Percent' Tumblr launched showing wealthy signatories backing the Occupy demands4. The Washington Post covered the spinoff wave the next day7. The 53% blog went quiet in February 2012; the 1% blog followed in July 20124.

Timeline

2011-08

A General Assembly poster using '99 percent' framing circulates on the official Occupy Wall Street site.

2011-08-23

Chris launches wearethe99percent.tumblr.com and asks readers to submit photos with handwritten signs.

2011-09-08

The blog publishes its first batch of five submissions.

2011-09-17

Occupy Wall Street begins in Zuccotti Park, and the slogan starts appearing on placards.

2011-10-03

Erick Erickson launches 'We Are The 53 Percent' as a conservative rebuttal.

2011-10-10

A left-handed parody 'I am the 9%' is posted to r/funny on Reddit.

2011-10-12

'We Are The 1 Percent' Tumblr launches, featuring wealthy supporters backing Occupy's demands.

2011-12

TIME Magazine names 'We Are The 99 Percent' the top meme of 2011.

2012-02

The '53 Percent' response blog stops posting.

2012-07

The 'We Are The 1 Percent' blog stops posting.

We Are The 99 Percent

Overview

Gallery

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (8)