why are you calling it oscar grant plaza? i am sorry at what that idiot meserhle did, but what makes a oscar grant a hero? when he was being a typical party goer and being boisterious? so he should get the plaza renamed after him??? i don’t think so. also you know all of you are making a bigger mess of the occupy movement if you really wanted to be heard then what you do,is contact all the other occupies all over the world or states whichever you prefer and designate someone to speak about all your issues. believe me i am behind you, but you are all doing this wrong. you could be the biggest political movement in history if all of you joined and became one large unit..occupies and 99%ers. but alot of ppl. are getting disgusted and YOU are not LISTENING. see that is where politicians make their mistakes they don’t listen, yes your speaking but your speaking at me…not for me.
why??
Categories: Open Mic
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Sorry, don’t expect this movement to change to meet your needs. It’s pretty much a free-for-all at the moment. It’s a very immature movement and much hasn’t been decided yet and even the decisions that have been made aren’t set in stone. There’s a lot of idealism going around. There isn’t much that is practicle that has come out of it yet. But that’s the nature of such things. Hopefully as the movement matures, if it matures, it will become more of a practical “real world” movement that actually accomplishes real change. Until then it’s amature hour. And that’s part of the rough beauty of it sometimes.
“why are you calling it oscar grant plaza?”
other movements under the occupy umbrella have renamed public plazas and gathering areas. for example: zucotti park became “liberty park” in new york; justin herman plaza is now “bradley manning plaza” in sf; woodruff park is now “troy davis park.” there are probably more examples. in oakland, in connection with the panther party, people call defremery park “little bobby hutton park.” it’s a way of reclaiming space.
“i am sorry at what that idiot meserhle did, but what makes a oscar grant a hero?”
people voted on that name during the first meetings of the oakland movement and in a way it stuck. but some people call the plaza “grant-ogawa.” i don’t think people see him as a hero. he is more of a martyr. the fact that he was just a party going ne’er do well schlub who was killed in the way he was killed is even sadder than what you described.
” also you know all of you are making a bigger mess of the occupy movement if you really wanted to be heard then what you do,is contact all the other occupies all over the world or states whichever you prefer and designate someone to speak about all your issues.”
there have been conference calls and travels/visitations between people in these occupy movements, including oakland. the one issue that seems to have any sort of traction (considering networking, people power, and money) is the labor struggle of the longshoremen in longview washington. that is the major concern of those who are heavily involved in the movement right now, and those are the people who are defacto speakers for the movement. it has been said many times that the movement has no designated speakers, but if you hand around long enough, you will see who gets airtime and who does not. there is a contradiction i realize, in pointing that out.
if the movement officially appointed a speaker, it would not bode well for many reasons. i can explain in detail if you want…but mainly – there are too many different kinds of people with too many different needs/struggles for one leader to speak for everyone on some kind of official level.
“believe me i am behind you, but you are all doing this wrong. you could be the biggest political movement in history if all of you joined and became one large unit..occupies and 99%ers. ”
good idea, but how do we do it? many people are opposed to endorsing a political party or candidate to represent the movement. it would just be the same old tired system repeating itself again if the movement went in that direction. look at the tea party ….what are they really? just rabid republicans in sheep’s clothing. they haven’t revolutionized anything in getting people’s voices heard in the political sphere.
“but alot of ppl. are getting disgusted and YOU are not LISTENING. see that is where politicians make their mistakes they don’t listen, yes your speaking but your speaking at me…not for me.”
you’re right that it seems as those some in occupy are not listening to the average folks. you are right that they don’t speak for you. a sliver of hope in the movement is that you can speak for yourself, which is part of what you are doing just by posting this and voicing your objections and doubts about occupy. there are others who think the same way that you do.
Hi Sherri,
Thanks for taking the time to reach out to Occupy Oakland. In the present day when polite acts of civil disobedience invite brutal coercive response by police. And in the near future when being labeled a terrorist sympathizer can have you black bagged and sent to gitmo. We have all stepped over that line already just by questioning what is going on. And yes that includes you. But thank you for expressing interest and concern. I do have some reservations that you may be operating on faulty information about Occupy Oakland. I know I had some misconceptions based on the newsmedia’s portrayal of Occupy. I went downtown to Occupy Oakland expecting, I dont know what. But it wasn’t what I expected.
Occupy is not a homogenous movement. Occupy Seattle, Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland all have different methods and concerns. For example, the general assembly consensus procedures are different from one to another.
I suggest you come on out (in the cold!) and talk to us.
First of all, I agree with what desiluna said. We are not going to “pick a representative” to speak for us — that would actually be “making a mess of the occupy movement.” Occupy is about direct democracy and personal involvement, not a centralized national lobby group or PAC which is essentially what you are urging us to become. And as far as how you say we “don’t listen” — you can get up at any GA and make a general announcement. You can vote. It’s your movement as much as anybody else’s.
As far as Oscar Grant Plaza, I actually agree with you but it’s too much of a minor point to waste a lot of time fighting about. I just call it OG Plaza and that includes Oscar Grant and Frank OGawa.
The Occupy Movements makes it’s decisions based on direct democracy. I will not speak for you because that would be representative democracy (we already have that). If you want your voice heard, and you want to change the course of occupy then you are going to have to participate and remember that this is about making decisions together (voting on it at GA) not telling someone what you want for the future and them doing it for you. The only way to change the course of the occupy movement is to join your local movement and participate as much as possible.