Please consider this is an open suggestion, an invitation to help form a working group, &/or a call-out to anyone already moving in this direction who wants added support. I’m a particpant in GAs, been present & participated in a number of Occupy actions, but I haven’t been staying at the camp. I’m interested in feedback from everyone, & in particular from people who’ve been highly involved in the camp infrastructure. Cheers & solidarity.
Goals:
A. Maintain meaningful presence in the plaza
& B. Continue the social experiment of the encampment
& also C. Grow support & participation throughout the city
Actions:
1. Begin coordinating plaza shifts, to maintain 24/7 presence, & continue GA schedule
2. Bring in supplies for simple, PVC & tarp rooms, to be set up for a few hours/half day at a time, which would be used for any Occupy committee, activity, working group, etc. Run them with the best open-but-structured approach from Hacker Spaces, Info-Shops, & so on.
3. Probe the limits of “lodging” to make these Free-Rooms warm enough for overnight stays, water-proof enough for in-the-rain-meetings, & filled with enough light-but-comfy-couches, narcoleptics, & trance-yoga-practitioners, that people who need to sleep can do so…
4. Coordinate intentional violations of the “lodging” rule to set up at least one tent each night… preferably one made of sticks & paper to make the regular police rousting look really absurd.
5. Rebuild/renew/grow encampments/occupations throughout the area, anywhere that a group of people come together to do so. Some might be high profile like Veterans’ Camp, some might be extremely low-profile squats/building occupations… Planted wherever people have the commitment & the collaborators, ready to bloom like crocus buds whenever that group decides to declare spring!
Like I said at top, if you’re already moving in this direction, & want help, please let me know.
Reply here, direct message me, or look for me at GA Wednesday: I’ll have an orange scarf under a thick beard over a jacket & tie below a bald head.
Justice, Liberty, Prosperity
Mister W.
I am interested in discussing your ideas for maintaining a strong presence in Oscar Grant Plaza. I’ll look for you tonight.
I also, believe we must move forward quickly in reclaiming public spaces to actually start helping the dispossessed in Oakland. Occupation is supposedly our goal. We must call on our union brothers and sisters in helping us with such things as electric, gas and water service for spaces that we decide to “reclaim” as well as immediately starting vegetable gardens in as many public spaces as possible. I think it’s becoming more and more clear that the unsustainable capitalistic economy is going downhill fast…..wall street is in danger of collapsing. When this finally does happen, we must have systems in place to help people with food, shelter, health care, and education. Cities will be hard-hit to support all citizens. It’s already beginning. So, I think we need to begin reclaiming buildings for cooperative living, and reclaiming open ground for growing food.
I look forward to discussing all this, with you and others.
I’d like to see the Sunday GA start at 2 pm to include members of the community who cannot attend evenings. I also advocate for a speaker’s corner at Oscar Grant Plaza run by facilitators between the hours of 11:30 and !:00 pm for the express purpose of providing a forum for any and all Oaklanders to speak freely. I suggest developing a relationship with one of the local businesses who would be willing to act as mail drop so #oo can ask people who are unable to come to Oscar Grant plaza to share their concerns.