Here is another post from my cousin Owen out in Oakland/San Francisco.  I’m sharing it because it is a great first person account of what peaceful demonstrators are facing on a daily basis in this country that is supposed to not only allow, but protect, the rights of free speech and assembly.  I am sharing this because I want to help remind all of us of the power that we the people, we the 99%, have.  Finally, I’m sharing this because another world is possible, and one way that we will achieve our visions for a better world is to enact and create those alternatives now.  We will exercise our rights.  We will stand up for ourselves and one another.  And we will use direct action, inclusive consensus decision making, courage and hope to be the change that we wish to see.

By Owen S. Andrews 12/7/11

           Tonight I received a mass text that Occupy SF would be retaking Justin Herman Plaza, where they had been evicted by a police raid the night before.  I got down there around 4:30 and saw lots of cops and lots of media, but no protesters, so I walked back up to the BART station.  There I found a group of less than 100, eating donated food and connecting with one another over a pretty sophisticated PA system.  Around 5:30 we decided to march in the middle of rush hour-clogged Market Street the two blocks to Justin Herman Plaza.  It was thrilling and unnerving because I had just seen dozens of police officers milling around the Plaza.

            Since no specific strategy had been laid out as to how we were going to retake the Plaza, a torrent of beautiful chaos spilled through the police lines, like water finding the fastest way downhill.  More people had joined us, bringing the total to over 300.  Facilitators from Occupy SF began to conduct a General Assembly, calling for report backs from working groups and committees.  A pup tent was erected within the crowd.  Then police began filing in, cutting the PA off from the center of the plaza.  Many people backed away toward the sidewalks, but a group of about 30 of us held our ground, linking arms and sitting in a crescent around the tent in the gravel of the bocci ball court.

            I was pretty scared and my legs were shaking.  The warmth of the arms and bodies I was linked to on either side felt strong and sure, anchoring me in place.  The old gray-haired man on my right turned to me and said, “This makes me proud to be an American again,” while the younger guy on my left introduced himself and gave me a reassuring smile.  Three or four dozen officers had formed a ring around us; at the same time a couple hundred protesters began forming an outer ring around the police.  As the dust settled, a few scuffles broke out along the outer ring.  Two protesters were tackled to the ground by SFPD, and it did not go unnoticed that in a majority white crowd, one of the men—who was beaten severely—was black and the other Latino.

            Three or four more protesters were handcuffed and arrested for silly things, like throwing a binder over the heads of the police.  We were then informed that everyone inside the circle of police was subject to arrest for violating a parks code, something about entering a “closed” park.  We looked at one another soberly, passing around water bottles and hand rolling cigarettes.  No one was being allowed in or out of the circle, but the crowd outside was growing bigger and bigger, with four people scaling the Muni (trolley) stop roof to wave banners.

            The man who had been beaten was still lying face down in the gravel, his hands cuffed behind his back.  He was shaking and sobbing in pain.  People were demanding he get medical attention, but a half-dozen beefy cops were standing around him, not letting anyone near.  Although 911 had been called immediately, the response time was suspiciously slow.  Finally the police allowed a trained medic on the inside of the circle to take his pulse, place some cardboard between his cheek and the gravel, and drape a blanket over his shivering body.  It was difficult to watch someone so close suffer so needlessly, and I had to walk away several times.

            Then after a half hour or so, the SF Fire Department paramedics arrived on the scene.  At first the cops wouldn’t let them through.  Everyone was booing the police and cheering the medics, dressed in full firefighter gear.  After some negotiating, four or five medics were allowed through.  They immediately started comforting the injured, cuffed man.  A gurney was brought in, and they loaded him on to it, strapping his head, arms and legs down and putting a neck brace on him.  As he was wheeled away, the crowed cheered.

            It became clear to me that the police had put themselves in a precarious situation, and I wondered whether it was accidental or if they were fishing for provocation to use greater force.  More police and more protesters continued to join their respective circles.

            The cops then informed us that if we agreed to leave the Plaza, they would let us off with a written citation.  As a sweetener, they said they would allow the four remaining handcuffed people to leave as well.  If we refused, we were all subject to arrest, and the handcuffed people were subject to more serious charges.  With this communication, we convened a makeshift huddle, using a bullhorn and the people’s mic.

            Through a straw poll, we learned that not all the folks who had remained in the center of the Plaza had been aware that they would be arrested if they stayed.  Others had tried to leave early on but had been cut off by the police.  These people were only a half dozen out of about forty of us, including a few people from a progressive Chinese-American community group.  After some discussion, we began to cobble together a counter-proposal.  It involved asking the police to allow us to continue our GA.  It seemed nebulous and weak, so I spoke con to it, saying that we didn’t need police permission to continue our GA because we were already doing just that, that we should encourage the people outside the police circle to have their own GA if the cops wouldn’t let them through, that we had no way of knowing the police would keep their word, and that we shouldn’t let them use the four handcuffed people as hostages because we were all facing arrest together.  Other people spoke pro or added friendly amendments, and the following emerged:

1)    Anyone who wanted to avoid arrest would leave immediately

2)    We would refuse the police proposal

3)    We would state the need to hold a GA

4)    We would encourage the people outside police lines to join our GA or hold their own GA on the south side of the Plaza which was not blocked off by police

     It’s almost unbelievable that we were able to conceive and consense on this at all, with cops standing feet away taking notes and people outside the circle yelling at us to communicate immediately with them as we went along.  The three or so people who facilitated, synthesized, and communicated (to the outside group) the proposal deserve immense credit.  Using the bullhorn and the people’s mic, we relayed our counterproposal to the PA system on the other side of the police line and they broadcast it across the Plaza.  Then a city councilman got on the PA to thank the police for being peaceful—he was shouted down by the crowd.  After him the Police Chief got on the mic and told us that the citation would be dropped against the people in the center if we left the park immediately.  As he finished his sentence, I yelled out, “Whose Park?” and the response of the crowd rang out loud and firm, “Our Park!”  “Whose Park?”

“Our Park!”

“Whose Park?”

“Our Park!”

            Everyone inside the circle started looking at each other with a new sense of hope.  Maybe we weren’t facing imminent arrest anymore.  Maybe the tide was turning.  We were patting each other on the back and telling one another that every second the standoff continued was a victory for us because it made the cops look powerless and unsure.  Just then the cops on the south side started filing out, and the whole ring of police snaked out in single file.  We were all cheering and hugging one another!

            We then resumed the GA, after what everyone agreed had been a very rude interruption.  Two or three tents started popping up, even as the pros and cons of putting up tents here and now were discussed.

            I stayed through the GA and open mic afterwards.  Then I wandered over to the 7-11 and bought a bunch of peanuts and bananas for the campers, and hot cocoa for myself.  After passing the food out and chatting for awhile, I hopped on BART around 11.  As I walked down Market, I saw dozens of cops inside the Hyatt lobby.  Apparently Hyatt management lets them stage all police actions against the camp in their underground parking garage.  Go figure.

            I was exhausted, but I feel good about what happened and my little part in it.  This is how to respond to overwhelming police repressions—with overwhelming expressions of civil rights and determination.

Check out this great video “Voices from the Oakland General Strike” by the LeftBay99 Media Team.

Police violence at Occupy demonstrations.

Trying to understand police violence at peaceful demonstrations around the country?  From Atlanta to Oakland and places in between, those who show up ready for violent confrontation are the ones initiating the violence.  The question now is who do they serve, who do they protect? Stay strong and nonviolent Occupy movement! We are the 99%!

Angela Davis, #OccupyWallStreet at Washington Sq. Park, New York City, Oct. 30, 2011. General Strike on November 2, 2011.

Here is another post from my cousin Owen Andrews written on 10/29/2011.  Owen is involved with Occupy Oakland.  Yesterday I also had a conversation with my friend Suzie who is involved with Occupy Pittsburgh.  She also talked about the importance of evolving people with all sorts of different ideas in the conversation.  I make it down to Occupy Wall Street about once a week.  I agree with both Owen and Suzie that one of the most important parts of the Occupy movement is to have open, thoughtful and challenging conversations.

The word myth appears in quotes here because the people who I have heard saying these things offer little verifiable evidence to support their claims, while what I have seen, and common sense, strongly suggest otherwise.  More than anything, I hope whoever reads this will use this list as food for thought, as well as conversation topics to have with their peers, especially people with whom they disagree.  When we surround ourselves with like-minded individuals, our ideas become incestuous progeny.  Seek out people with opinions different than your own and speak with them calmly.  You may be startled by the changes in their ideas and yours that evolve out of a simple conversation.  If you can’t always think of what you want to say on the spot, write them a respectful letter, or try something like this.

“Myth” #1

The Occupy Movement creates or exacerbates the risks of homelessness by packing public spaces with the destitute poor, transients, and “hippy kids” who are unsanitary.

Drawing attention to a problem is not to be confused with creating a problem.  While Occupy movements across the globe have indeed attracted a number of marginalized people to the camps, these people were in very bad shape to begin with.  Not only has the Occupy movement drawn attention to the results of economic inequality—such as homelessness—some camps (like Occupy Oakland) are providing these folks with food, medical attention, toilets, and safety in numbers.  In her official apology letter,Oakland Mayor Jean Quan gave “the rationale of public health and safety” as the justification for dismantling the Ogawa Plaza Camp on 10/24. Poverty, not direct democratic action, is the public health and safety risk this country must face.

“Myth” #2

The Occupy Movement is made up in large part by people who aren’t from the city they are occupying.

Not being from a given place has never stopped the U.S. government/military from acting, as current involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya demonstrates clearly.  Conservatives who claim the above myth as truth should be reminded of the foreign policies of the people they vote for and support.  Liberals who use the above myth to invalidate tactics, strategy, or message should be reminded that Che was not from Cuba, Cesar Chavez was not from Delano, and the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement were not from the Deep South.  Passivity is not tolerance; inaction is not restraint; and where you were born or currently reside does not lessen your obligation to your fellow citizens.

“Myth” #3

The Occupy Movement is bad for local businesses.

What’s bad for local businesses are multi-national corporations that use their size to lower the price of consumer goods by exploiting labor wherever it is cheapest and least organized.  What’s bad for local businesses are banks that make irresponsible loans that lead to foreclosures, banks that siphon off local resources by enacting late fees, transaction fees, and overdraw fees.  It seems more likely that a movement that draws people into a designated central location cannot but help nearby businesses as people must eat and that food must be bought somewhere.  I’m sure tent sales are through the roof lately.

“Myth” #4

The Occupy Movement is undermining already cash-strapped municipalities by pressuring them to enact reforms and saddling cities with expensive policing and clean-up efforts.

Things are bad and getting worse for cities as real estate prices continue to stagnate (property taxes are one of the few ways cities are legally allowed to raise funds).  Inaction in the face of school closures, teacher (and yes) police layoffs, and public services cuts will not solve the problem.  The Occupy Movement is not “picking” on poor cities like Oakland.  The Occupy Movement is pressuring every level of government, business, and society to create a system that serves the majority of people who keep it running every day.  Neither can Occupy be blamed for costs related to oppressive police crack downs on the exercise of free speech; this accusation is almost too ridiculous to mention.  Finally, the more stable and organized occupations of public space become, the more sanitary they will be, as the installation of ten portable toilets at Oakland’s Ogawa Plaza on the 10/28 demonstrates.

“Myth” #5

Things might be bad here, but it could be worse, like in Egypt, so stop whining about it.

Recent opinion polls suggest few Americans believe the economy is getting better.  Yet the biggest corporations continue to reap huge profits without hiring new workers.  Clearly things are bad here, and not looking to get any.  And yes, we do have many privileges in this country the envy of the world over, like the rights to free speech and demonstration.  We must take full advantage of all of the benefits of being U.S. citizens if we are to create a system that works for the majority, as well as a system that does not invade and destabilize those less fortunate nations around the globe.  Unless you are the 1% of Americans who are content with the status quo, the best solution to changing the tone of the Occupy movement to better represent your concerns is to add your voice to the mix. 

Those who subscribe to these myths, more often than not, mistake the effect for the cause.  If there was more affordable housing, there would be less people living on the streets.  If there weren’t problems in cities like Oakland, people from other places wouldn’t be showing up every day to protest those problems.  If small businesses were not in trouble to begin with, no one would worry that people camping in tents nearby would be disruptive.  Finally, if cities (and all levels of government) were providing the services that people need, no one would accuse them of serving first and foremost the billionaires, corporations and banks. 

If your friends are sick, you don’t tell them to stop having a sore throat.  If it’s the system that is sick, do not blame those who are working diligently to nurture a recovery.  Join them and work to shape that recovery.

The following is a first person account of the events at Occupy Oakland over the last few days.  A few short words about the author, this piece, and why I am choosing to pass it on:

1.     I am posting this here with the author’s permission.

2.     This piece was e-mailed to me and many other people, unsolicited, by the author simply because he wanted to provide his perspective of what he is experiencing to his friends and family.

3.     The author of this piece is my cousin Owen, and while he and I do use cousin as a term of endearment, I just want to make clear that his mom and my mom are sisters and he and I share a set of grandparents.

4.     I love Owen very much and have had a special connection with him from the time that he was a toddler and I was in elementary school; a connection that has only deepened as we have both traveled abroad and studied international relations.  Owen is one of the smartest people that I know, and that is not just familial pride speaking.

5.     I am so proud, as a New Yorker participating in Occupy Wall Street, to stand in solidarity with the folks in Oakland who are participating in the Occupy movement in their city.  I am specifically proud to stand in solidarity with Owen, whose participation in this movement and insights into politics are a credit to all of us.  I am proud that on opposite sides of the country my cousin and I can both be working to help make our country and the world and more just place.

6.     Part of what the Occupy movement is doing is calling out and naming the things that are not working in this country, and for that reason we all have to call out and name the events that have transpired in Oakland.  First person accounts of those events may vary a bit, but it needs to be made clear that the police, and not the protestors, were the aggressors in this case.  For that reason I felt the need to share Owen’s story with a wider audience.

10/25

Last night I went down to Ogawa Plaza.  That afternoon the cops had kicked out the people who had occupied the park.  The police had the whole area blocked off and were standing there shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear, tightly gripping their nightsticks.  There weren’t that many people when I first got there around 6:30, but around 7:30 a whole swarm, taking up all of Broadway from sidewalk to sidewalk, came marching in from the north.  We were all chanting slogans (“Whose streets?  Our streets!”), and people had bullhorns and banners.

            One of the cops got on the public address system and said we were an unlawful assembly, and that chemical agents would be used if we didn’t disperse.  A few minutes later they started shooting tear gas canisters into the crowd.  As far as I can tell no one provoked the cops physically (although people later threw eggs, rocks, and bottles). 

            I saw someone on the ground at one point, but I can’t be sure if it was the man who got hit in the head with a canister and fractured his skull.  I tried to follow my co-worker and his girlfriend—her dyed pink hair helped—north up Broadway, but pretty soon my nose, mouth and eyes started burning.  I couldn’t see anything and my eyes were tearing.  It hurt, but not terribly, probably because it was so exhilarating that the adrenaline masked the effects of the tear gas.

            We marched up Broadway to 19^th St., then over to San Pablo Ave., then down to Broadway and 14^th St. again (the intersection opposite Ogawa Plaza and City Hall).  We were all chanting, “You are the 99%, too!” at the cops with the hopes that they would let us reoccupy the Plaza.  After sometime, someone in the back threw a bottle at the cops, and they answered back with the gas.  We did our loop again. 

            When we got back, they shot a man with some kind of rubber bullets because he tried to plant a big stick in a traffic cone near the police barricade.  Again someone threw something, and again they shot the gas after telling us we were an illegal assembly.

            This time I just went down into the lower level of the City Center Mall, although the tunnel to the 12 St. BART had been closed down hours before.  I was choking on the gas, but less than before.  The only way out was back through the gas, so we waited until it cleared and went back up.

            This time I just sat down on a bench about five feet from the police barricade.  I had been up since 4 am for work on a few hours sleep.  When it became clear that nothing else was really going to happen that night, I walked home.  The crowd had thinned some by then, although new people kept showing up by bike, foot, and car.

*          *          *          *          *

10/26

            Today I went down there again to a totally different scene.  The cops had cleared out and the Plaza had been reoccupied.  A public address system had been set up, this time by a group of four or five organizers.  They were taking questions on a proposal which I found out later was for a general strike and march on the Plaza November 2^nd.

            We were asked to break into groups of 20 to discuss the proposal.  Everyone in my group was generally for it, although some people who owned small businesses or had young kids said they might have to work a part day.  A single mom was worried about loosing her job and not being able to feed her kids if she struck.  A man draped in the American flag didn’t want to loose customers to Home Depot if he shut the doors of his hardware store.  I asked the group how open we had to be about why we weren’t attending work that day (with co-workers and bosses) in order for the strike to be effective, and didn’t get a definite answer, although it did provoke more conversation.  Then the group broke up and anyone with concerns got to voice them on the PA.

            Most of the concerns were about student and labor involvement, people asking for more time, fears about losing corporate jobs or hurting local businesses.  Some people wanted clarifications on the intent of the march on downtown businesses that refused to close their doors (banks and corporations had been mentioned in the original proposal).  Some people wanted a statement about what we were for, not just what we were against.

            Then we were asked to reform groups of 20 to vote on the proposal.  The format for the vote was given as follows: 90% approval (with abstentions excluded from the total) was needed to approve the vote.  Failing 90%, the proposal would be opened up for revisions and amendments.  Votes would be given by a thumbs up for in favor, a sideways thumb for abstain/bow out, and a thumbs down for against.  Votes would be tallied by one person in each group and brought to one of five organizers, one for each fifth of the crowd surrounding the amphitheater.   

            Since many of my last group had left or moved, I joined a much younger group.  We voted 17-0-0 in favor of the strike very quickly with very little discussion.  When all the votes were counted, more than 1,000 had voted in favor, 60-something abstained, and 40-something against.  The proposal for a general strike was carried with 96.9% in favor.

            Then people were asked to come up to the mike to speak for their group, and many of the same concerns were raised as in the first round.

            The organizers told us about support from the NYC movement (who had apparently marched earlier that day chanting: “Oakland!  Oakland!  End Police Brutality!”  An activist in Cairo had reached out to say they would march on Tarir Square chanting “Oakland-Cairo- We are one hand!”  And someone born in Greece got up and spoke about unity with the protesters there.  We were then told that the struggling SF movement was being dispersed by police, and would we go help there.  Another assembly was called for the next day at 5pm to discuss the logistics of the strike.

            Since BART stops running at midnight, I walked home, popping in for decaf and desert at Plum.

            I had been texting with a co-worker, trying to get him to come to the Plaza, and told him about the result of the vote.  Not sure how this will impact my choice about the 2^nd, although I am leaning strongly toward striking, even if that means calling out from work for personal reasons to lessen my chance of being fired.

*          *          *          *          *

            When I got home, I read before trying unsuccessfully to sleep.  I kept thinking about the “speech” I would have made, even though at the time I felt no urge to go up and speak.  I would have said something like this:

            To anyone who doubts the power of this movement, let me ask one question: Where are the cops in riot gear tonight?  They are at home in the suburbs, or back in their stations.  Last night we were barricaded from this Plaza—tonight we have reoccupied it.  Why?  Because it belongs to us.  Last night we didn’t have shields, nightsticks, gas or guns.  But tonight we have the Plaza.  To anyone who says we need more time, I say, see what even one night can do!  I was part of that voting group right there!  And we support the strike!

*          *          *          *          *

10/27

            Reflecting on these events the next day, I’m struck by the power of young, determined people to win a small battle over police brutality.  We beat the cops, and whoever gave them their marching orders, and rubbed democracy all up in their faces.

            I also realize that the U.S. is not Egypt.  The majority of people in this country are not young, but middle-aged and old.  If this movement is to evolve from street protest to permanent change, older people can’t be ostracized.  Parents, small business owners, and higher paid workers have much more to loose than the throngs of 20 and 30-somethings who got gassed on 10/25. 

            Because they have more to lose, they must be assured that this is a non-violent movement.  I can attest to that.  For every hooligan in a black mask who tried to light a trashcan on fire on the 25^th, there were ten people there to stomp out the flames.  For every idiot who threw a bottle or an egg at the cops, there were a thousand people to boo the thrower as we ran from the gas.  For those who worry that an undefined movement is reckless and dangerous, join your local protest and help define it.  For those who worry that we are too soon, think about what we have to lose if we wait: momentum, energy, excitement, media attention. 

            The time is now.  Strike while the iron is hot.  Please join in solidarity with the Occupy Oakland General Strike November 2^nd anyway you are able!

For the second day in a row Oakland police have used violence to disperse peaceful demonstrators, and last night Atlanta police conducted a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators in that city. I would like to remind the police departments across this country of the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It’s just a little thing called the First Amendment, and it guarantees the American people the right to assemble for a redress of grievances, which is exactly what the Occupy Wall Street movement is doing.

Are the police acting on their own?  Hardly.  I’m quite sure in both cases that they were simply enforcing some local city ordnance, probably about trash, or public grassy areas.  In New York the local ordinance that daily confronts demonstrators is about amplified sound.  And while such city ordinances sound banal enough, and may have even been put on the books with the best of intentions for public safety, cleanliness, and quality of life for a city’s residents, the fact remains that in the cases of this mass social movement currently underway in our country, these ordinances are being misused to violate the First Amendment rights of American citizens.  What has happened in Oakland and Atlanta, and has been repeatedly threatened in New York City, is not about trash or public lawns.  It’s about silencing the voices of descent, which the New York City ordinance on amplified sound makes perfectly clear. 

The mass arrests of demonstrators this week in major American cities is not about local municipal ordinances; it’s about attempting to silence those who are daring to speak up and collectively say that things are very wrong in this country, that the status quo is what caused this mess and therefore must be abandoned to solve it, that many of the policies that led to this mess were not in the interest of 99% of the population, and that that 99% demands to have a real role in working to solve this mess.  And, the arrests and attempts to break up the protests are specifically about the fact that the powers that be do not want to change the status quo or open decision making back up to the majority of the people.  Just like corporations use loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, the powers that be are now using local municipal ordinances as loopholes to subvert the rights enshrined in the US Constitution.  Sure, Congress didn’t make the laws that allowed Oakland and Atlanta PDs to break up peaceful demonstrations, the cities of Oakland and Atlanta did.  But the fact that those laws exist and are being used to violate the civil rights of American citizens is a significant impediment to our democracy and civil rights.  I for one do not think that city ordinances should be used to violate the Constitution, but that’s just me.

You may not agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement, after all we are still young and in the process of formulating our ideas.  But you cannot dismiss that things have gone terribly wrong in our country.  And if you are OK with the First Amendment rights of OWS demonstrators being violated than you better be prepared to have your First Amendment rights violated as well.  We’re here.  We have the right to be here.  And we are going to keep coming together until things get better.  At least, that’s the way I see it.  There are long term problems that need to be solved, but they cannot be addressed by preventing the voices of the American people from being heard and violating our First Amendment rights.

Are we who are in some way or another involved in the OWS movement trying something new?  Perhaps; though the idea that direct democracy is new seems very odd to me.  Are we disrupting the status quo?  Most definitely.  Does the US Constitution guarantee our rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and seeking redress for our grievances?  Again, a resounding yes.  So stop arresting us and start joining in our conversations.  We are serious about trying to solve the mess that this country is in.