Oscar Grant Plaza Gazette

The Oscar Grant Plaza Gazette aims to be a voice and record of the historic Occupy Oakland movement, and part of a national and international movement of resistance. Please consider writing your thoughts, reflections, opinions, and what you’ve seen – you are part of this movement and we want to get your words out there! Send submissions to: gazette@oscargrantplazagazette.com. We will strive to publish all materials received. We reserve the right to decline materials which would render us legally liable.

Goodbye from the Oscar Grant Plaza Gazette

My involvement in the Occupy Movement has largely been in a supportive capacity: I went on late-night postering runs for J28, I took over the Oscar Grant Plaza Gazette when the original editors dropped out and I became heavily involved in the Anti-Repression Committee. Spending so much time promoting Occupy and trying to keep it alive has of course begged the question: what is this thing that I am working so hard to protect? I know what I have wanted Occupy Oakland to be. Months ago, I saw Occupy Oakland … Continued

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Post May Day Self-Care Tip #2

For  individual or group trauma support, mediations and anti-oppression advocacy, please contact Safer Spaces: Tel: (510) 502-9466 Email:saferspaces@occupyoakland.org Healing can take place in the form of reconnecting with Mother Earth. It can be little steps like birdwatching, hiking, going to the beach or eating freshly picked berries. Ask your five senses what do I see, hear, taste, touch, smell? Have you tried gardening? Or are you already a gardener? What does your body, mind and soul experience when you dig that dirt, plant the seed, water, trim the weeds, ask … Continued

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Post-May Day Self-Care Tip#1

SAFER SPACES is available for Post-May Day phone and in-person individual or group trauma support. Please contact us @ (510) 502-9466 or email: saferspaces@occupyoakland.org Nourishing Mind/Body/Soul/Each Other! From: Mindful Occupation: Rising Up Without Burning Out  http://mindfuloccupation.org/ Protest is physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and politically intense. Even moment to moment, it can shift from being exceptionally enriching and energizing to exasperating and exhausting. One of the most effective ways to deal with these desires and disruptions is to establish and sustain a collective, holistic space that nourishes people’s individual needs as … Continued

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M1GS Street Action Panel and Skill-Share 4/29/12 (Sunday) Noon-2:30

With May Day approaching in less than two weeks, the Safer Spaces committee invites activists and allies together for a two and a half hour panel and skill share session on: *Basic tips for a sustainable street action *Emotional First Aid: trauma education, emotional self care tips for pre, during and post action *First Aid: simple street medic tips, physical self-care for pre, during and post action *Coping with activist burnout and keeping the movement connected When:  4/29/12 (Sunday) Time: Noon-2:30 (hope everyone is ok with a slight overlapping of … Continued

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OGPG 4/15/12

Single Mother Falsely Accused of Endangering Her Children at Occupy Oakland by Irene The authorities apparently stop at nothing to intimidate and scare people from participating in a movement that they fear. Stayaway orders, bogus arrests, heavy charges for minor offenses, sham “lynching” laws, and, most recently, deploying the Child Protective Services to attack a single mother for participating in Occupy Oakland. Kerie Campbell is an all-star activist at Occupy Oakland. There from the very 1st planning meeting in Mosswood Park, there the night the camp struck back in October, … Continued

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OGPG 4/1/12

In This From My Heart by Linda The camp was the most beautiful experience of my life. Then they tore it down. We responded by bringing tens of thousands to march on the Port of Oakland, declaring a General Strike in the city of Oakland. The night of the General Strike, everyone came back to the plaza and the police shut down the buses so I couldn’t go home. Someone let me use their tent and I didn’t mind staying out all night. It was my first time ever encountering … Continued

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OGPG 3/18/12

DAY 160 =================================================================================== UPDATED: DEFENSE LAWYER THREATENED WITH ARREST, POLICE REPORT DOCTORED IN PRELIMINARY HEARING OF ICE CREAM THREE by Jesse Three Occupy Oakland activists, known inside the movement as Teardrop, Cincinnati and Nneka, were arrested  on felony robbery charges aggravated by PC 422.7, the now infamous hate crime charge. Each was initially subject to $100,000 bond. The court has refused to lower the bonds on Cincinnati and Teardrop, who remain in custody since February 29th and May 1st, respectively. Last Friday, I attended a preliminary hearing in their trial. … Continued

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Oscar Grant Plaza Gazette 3/7/12

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7: DAY 149 EAST BAY SOLIDARITY NETWORK AND OCCUPY OAKLAND HOUSING NETWORK FORESTALL FORECLOSURE FOR TWO OAKLAND FAMILIES by Jesse The stories of these two families run parallel to those of many Oaklanders these days: working people thrust by an economic crisis caused by the 1% have been denied loan modifications by the very same institutions bailed out by the federal government with billion dollar sums. Then these institutions did their best to foreclose and evict, “losing” reams of financial documentation that proved the families’ abilities to continue … Continued

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OGPG 3/4/12

SUNDAY, MARCH 4: DAY 146 PIGS ARE NO FRIENDS OF OURS excerpted from a statement by some women and queers of Occupy Oakland Because of recent manipulations leaked by the Oakland Police Department, we felt compelled to make something unquestionably clear: The exclusive role of the police is to serve and protect the interests of the patriarchal and racist state and the rich capitalist elite. The “justice” system of the united states has one function: to protect the rulers from us, those who would want to overturn this horrible state … Continued

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OGPG 2/20/2012

Capitalism and Mass Incarceration Excerpted from Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis, 2003 …When the drive to produce more prisons and incarcerate ever larger numbers of people occurred in the 1980s during what is known as the Reagan era, politicians argued that tough on crime stances—including certain imprisonment and longer sentences—would keep communities free of crime. However, the practice of mass incarceration during that period had little or no effect on official crime rates. In fact, the most obvious pattern was that larger prison populations led not to safer communities, but … Continued

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