Sit-in

A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change.

Process

Protesters usually seat themselves at a strategic location (inside a restaurant, in a street to block it, in a government or corporate office, and so on). They remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met. Sit-ins have historically been a highly successful form of protest because they cause disruption that draws attention to the protest and, by proxy, the protesters' cause. They are a non-violent way to effectually shut down an area or business. The forced removal of protesters, and sometimes the use of violence against them, often arouses sympathy from the public, increasing the chances of the demonstrators reaching their audience.

United States

Civil rights movement

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) conducted sit-ins as early as the 1940s. Ernest Calloway refers to Bernice Fisher as "Godmother of the restaurant 'sit-in' technique." In August 1939, African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Virginia, library.Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor delegates had a brief, spontaneous lunch counter sit-in during their 1947 Columbus, Ohio, convention.

Sitting

Sitting is a rest position supported in humans by the buttocks or thighs where the torso is more or less upright. Sitting for much of the day may pose significant health risks, and people who sit regularly for prolonged periods have higher mortality rates than those who do not.

Role and evolution

Although chairs with backrests have only been common in Europe since the 16th century and office workers sitting at work was uncommon even in the early 20th century, the British Chiropractic Association said in 2006 that 32% of the British population spent more than ten hours per day sitting down.

Positions

On the floor

The most common ways of sitting on the floor involve bending the knees. One can also sit with the legs unbent, using something solid as support for the back or leaning on one's arms. Sitting with bent legs can be done with the legs mostly parallel or by crossing them over each other.

A common cross-legged position is with the lower part of both legs folded towards the body, crossing each other at the ankle or calf, with both ankles on the floor, sometimes with the feet tucked under the knees or thighs. The position is known in several European languages as tailor style, from the traditional working posture of tailors; compare tailor's bunion. It is also named after various plains-dwelling nomads: in American English Indian style, in many European languages "Turkish style", and in Japanese agura (胡座, The sitting style of non-Han ethnics (particularly Turks, Mongols and other Central Asians.)). In yoga it is known as sukhasana.

Paul Ryan

Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is the 54th and current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ryan is a member of the Republican Party, who has served as the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district since 1999. Ryan previously served as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, from January 3 to October 29, 2015, and, before that, as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 2011 to 2015. He was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States, running alongside Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Ryan, together with Democratic Senator Patty Murray, negotiated the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

On October 29, 2015, Ryan was elected to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and named John David Hoppe as his Chief of Staff. He is the first person from Wisconsin to hold this position.

Early life and education

Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest of four children of Elizabeth A. "Betty" (née Hutter) and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer. A fifth-generation Wisconsinite, his father was of Irish ancestry and his mother is of German and English ancestry. One of Ryan's paternal ancestors settled in Wisconsin prior to the Civil War. His great-grandfather, Patrick William Ryan (1858–1917), founded an earthmoving company in 1884, which later became P. W. Ryan and Sons and is now known as Ryan Incorporated Central. Ryan's grandfather, Stanley M. Ryan, was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.