Foo Conner (born September 8, 1985) is an American activist, entrepreneur, and journalist. He is known for his work on

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

Randyland Randyland is an art museum in the North Side section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is widely regarded as one of America's most colorful public art landmarks. Randy Gilson is the founder of this museum, which showcases found object art. Randy ...

, Social journalism, and as a YouTube personality.

Personal life

Foo Conner was born in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. He grew up on a small subsistence farm right outside of the city in Mink Shoals, West Virginia. His father was a photojournalist for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

and taught Foo the craft at an early age. Although he has been called ''Foo'' since childhood, Conner officially changed his name to Foo in 2018. Foo

squats Squat, squatter or squatting may refer to: Body position * Squatting position, a sitting position where one's knees are folded with heels touching one's buttocks or back of the thighs * Squat (exercise), a lower-body exercise in strength and co ...

an otherwise abandoned house to advocate for housing rights. Touring bands often play there. In February 2016, babies born in

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, state's second-most populous county, after Philadelp ...

were gifted prints of Foo's artwork. Conner is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

since 2020.

Career

Conner got his start producing free

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

festivals at Skatopia. The

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism. Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with anarchism, an ideology which entails opposing a ...

atmosphere of his events caught the attention of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

. Upon hearing the call to protest, he became a core organizer for

movement speaking out against Economic inequality. On the weekends he co-hosts the G3AR YouTube channel, where they build super hero gadgets and test them similar to the

Mythbusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

. The channel has amassed over 600,000 subscribers. In 2015, Conner became the co-director of

, an

outsider art Outsider art is Fine art, art made by Autodidacticism, self-taught individuals who are untrained and untutored in the traditional arts with typically little or no contact with the Convention (norm), conventions of the art worlds. The term ''ou ...

museum promoting happiness. Leaning on his skills as a photographer, he overhauled Randyland into a Selfie Museum. His curation was wildly applauded. The New York Times described it as, "an expression of joy and an extraordinary piece of public art." Conner left the museum in February 2020.

Occupy Wall Street

In 2011, Foo helped plan the Occupy movement online. He would move to Zucotti Park in the fall. Though a leaderless movement, Conner would be recognized as a core organizer and speak on behalf of the movement. During his time at Occupy, Conner played rolls in the social media strategy and coordinate street protests. Towards the end, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist

Chris Hedges Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, author, commentator and Presbyterian minister. In his early career, Hedges worked as a freelance war correspondent in Central America for ''The Christian Science Monit ...

told Conner, "a real activist would get into the news". Conner would use his experiences and that advice to go on to found Jekko, a news website covering current events and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

news.

Journalism

Foo is a prolific journalist covering upwards of five hundred events a year through social media. Conner's society photography is reminiscent of late American photographer Bill Cunningham who took candid photos and traveled to events by bicycle. The uniqueness of the style has led other society columns to occasionally mention if Conner attends an event. In 2016, he was nominated for Blogger of the Year at Style Week Pittsburgh. He is known for his

gonzo journalism Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to descri ...

"activistartist-journalist" style. His work aims for a neutral point of view. This applies to his technology commentary too, which he has been doing for over a decade.

Awards

* Mayor's Public Art Award of 2019. * April 1, 2022 was proclaimed April Foo's Day in Allegheny County.

References

External links

*
Muckrack profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Foo 1985 births 21st-century American journalists American activist journalists American bloggers American columnists American essayists American male bloggers American male journalists American media critics American online journalists American political journalists American reporters and correspondents American technology writers Living people Occupy movement in the United States Occupy Wall Street American YouTube vloggers People from Charleston, West Virginia YouTubers from West Virginia