THE OSCAR GRANT PLAZA GAZETTE Sunday, October 16 2011 Day 7!

THE OSCAR GRANT PLAZA GAZETTE

Sunday, October 16 2011                   Day 7!

The beauty of a world created in seven days by a collective is that some laborers can rest while others work. Let creation continue!

FROM A COMRADE

Dear Occupiers,
They’re at it again in Washington, the Jobs Bill failed to pass, Obama has raised millions for his reelection, Democrats and Republicans continue to treat millions of unemployed and “discouraged” workers as pawns in their tired game.  We should have compassion for them, they are sadly addicted to these power games and out of touch with reality.  You, the Occupation, are living and breathing Reality.  Students are milling around with homeless folks and renters and waitresses.  It is up to you to discover what compassion means, to find that part of yourselves that cannot be turned into a commodity, to go beyond the program of individualism.  The Occupation is like a rupture, a rip in the ‘civilized’ fabric of society, pouring out a mix of humanity into the plazas of the world, humanity in search of common ground, literally and metaphysically and economically and ecologically.  Find more fabric to rip, tear through the myths and pseudo-science of Race and Gender, dig through the guts of American history and class warfare, destroy the illusions of seperation and discover your true selves.  The power is yours, don’t give it away to the politicians or police!  Continue to create your own institutions of liberation! Hold the plaza, harness your power! You are not alone.

REPORT FROM A CONVERSATION ABOUT RACISM IN THE OCCUPY! MOVEMENT

About 25 people participated in a discussion about racism in the movement. We started by acknowledging that racism is an emotionally charged issue and that when we talk about it, shame is likely to come up for everyone. We emphasized the notion that every person is inherently worthy and lovable, and that worth and belovedness don’t depend on whether we have all the right opinions on the issues, know everything we need to know about racism and other forms of oppression, etc. The group did a short meditation focused on receiving the love of the universe and the movement as a way of grounding ourselves for conversation. We agreed on conversation guidelines. Among other things, these stressed that no one’s experience is universal and that privilege tends to blind us to the experience of those who do not have the same privileges we do. For that reason, we need to hear about the experiences and perceptions of non-dominant groups.

Using a talking stick, one of two small group began with a round robin on the question, “What brought you here?” Several issues had made people of color and white people alike uncomfortable, such as dismissal of a set of ideas presented by a black man at Friday night’s GA, highly unwelcoming comments on the fb group, whispered questions about the right of the people of color caucus to meet separately, and attitudes toward the police that put people of color at more risk. Some stressed a longing to come together, not by ignoring differences, but by being able to talk to each other honestly about them. Many of us expressed our desire to be in more authentic relationship with each other across lines of difference. The group brainstormed a list of suggestions for how to make the movement safer and more welcoming for all, one of which was to form an ongoing caucus called All Voices for Equity that could be allies to the People of Color caucus and any other caucuses that form to represent the issues of non-dominant groups. We have not reached consensus on next steps, but a draft list is posted on the new Facebook group we created for the All Voices for Equity Sub-caucus (search that term). We are also working on establishing a regular meeting time.

PARTIAL LIST OF BANK-OWNED PROPERTIES IN OAKLAND

Data compiled from publicly-available information on bank websites