Reflections

For personal reflections on experiences with Occupy.

Occupy Oakland and State Repression

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Re-posted from Counterpunch January 31, 2012 by MIKE KING A crowd of several hundred quickly swelled to a couple thousand, as Occupy Oakland attempted to occupy the vacant Kaiser Convention Center.  The goal was to use it as an indoor base for Occupy Oakland – a place to have General Assemblies and meetings, share food and get shelter for the winter.  This was in keeping with what Occupy Oakland has always done, a goal that is simple, though not simple enough for the mainstream media to understand and honestly report.  … Continued

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What If They Gave a F*** The Police March and No Police Came?

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Photo by Dave Id As soon as I walked into work on Monday, everyone wanted to talk to me about Saturday’s events in Oakland, since I’m their only real link to the protesters. One woman told me about her father, a militant longshoreman. Another commented that Occupy Oakland seems more organized and less fringy than San Francisco. A guy had been upset by a report that the people committing “violence” – throwing things at the police, etc. – were members of Occupy and not “outside agitators.” I was embarrassed to admit … Continued

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Race, Violence and Occupy Oakland

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In the wake of the failed building takeover, there has been a lot of discussion about violence, self defense and the police response. The discussion about violence vs nonviolence has been going on since the beginning of Occupy Oakland. I’ve struggled to find a way to express my thoughts on this subject, and a friend of mine had already encouraged me to express them. The conversations I had today with people down at the plaza have allowed me to solidify my thoughts on this issue. There are several things to … Continued

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The (d)evolution of Occupy Oakland

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There are a lot of reasons that protest movements wax and wane. People have short attention spans, or limited time committments. People move, have babies, get new jobs, or have to deal with family tragedies. Other times, the attitudes of those protesting can lead to reticence. They can make even someone who has donated lots of time and resources feel hesitant to return. Sustained movements like Occupy Oakland have a social component and definite social dynamics, and those dynamics began to turn ugly around the time of the second raid … Continued

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K.Ruby Blume: Interview with Artist and Founder of The Institute of Urban Homesteading by Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

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K.Ruby Blume: Interview with Artist and Founder of The Institute of Urban Homesteading by Willi Paul, openmythsource.com http://openmythsource.com/2012/01/29/k-ruby-blume/ “To me, gross national product is truly a myth. It happens only at a severe cost to the planet. This is a pyramid scheme of the worst kind. The loser at the end of the run is the people and the environment. We need new stories that tell of the richness that comes through putting energy and care back into a system and how that ultimately creates the kind of profit that … Continued

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My special moment with Jean Quan

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I have a lot more to say about the incredible and horrifying things that happened in Oakland today, but while I digest the experience, I’ll just share a brief anecdote. Around 3:30 PM, my son and I left the Move-In march as the first tear-gas canisters erupted. We decided to walk up 12th Street to catch the bus at Broadway. As we were walking towards Franklin Street, my son said ‘look, there’s Mayor Quan.’ Mayor Jean Quan was leaving some sort of event in Chinatown. She was completely unaware of … Continued

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Oathkeepers

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Do you guys know about these people? They literally represent a “5th column” movement.  I think it would be interesting to print out some of their stuff and distribute it to the police that we see at OGP and the protests. check out their site  http://oathkeepers.org they essentially advocate that US military and peace officers should uphold the constitution even if it means being insubordinate. They have recently begun a push to recall congress members that voted for the NDAA. http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/12/25/oath-keepers-launches-national-effort-to-recall-andor-remove-members-of-congress-who-voted-for-ndaa-military-detention-merry-christmas-u-s-congress/ On the other hand they are kind of on … Continued

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Shed: Interview with Author & Transition Economist Charles Eisenstein by Willi Paul. Presented by Permaculture Exchange

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Shed: Interview with Author & Transition Economist Charles Eisenstein by Willi Paul. Presented by Permaculture Exchange http://planetshifter.com/node/1985 “… something is sacred if it is unique and if it is connected, if it is part of the matrix of all being. In principle, of course, everything is sacred, but it is hard to see that in a world where so many things have been rendered into commodities, which are standard not unique, and which have been alienated from their origins. We want to recover this lost sacredness. For me personally, some … Continued

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Not greed and oil. Interview with Transition Albany (CA) Leader Catherine Sutton by Willi Paul. Sponsored by Permaculture Exchange

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 New Soil-Economist. Interview with Charlotte Anthony, Victory Gardens for All, Eugene. By Willi Paul. Presented by Permaculture Exchange http://planetshifter.com/node/1982 The process that I am using includes communicating with the plants, so that they determine what they need to have the system work. This is based on intuition – or heart brain connection to the plants. 16386

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