Occupy Oakland Caravan to Longview Preparation Meeting- Sunday 4.30 at 410 14th st

Occupy Oakland Caravan to Longview Preparation Meeting- Sunday 4.30 at 410 14th st

Hello Caravaners! Occupy Oakland will be caravaning  to Longview, WA to join Occupy Portland, Occupy Seattle, Occupy Olympia, and Occupy Longview to blockade the notorious EGT ship who is busting Longshormen jurisdication. EGT is a multinational grain exporter rsponsible for economic and enviromental devastation around the world. While the date for the arrival of the ship in Longview is uncertain,it IS approaching quickly!!  Here in Oakland we need to have a preparation meeting to get ready for our caravan. We will be meeting Sunday January 22nd at 410 14th st, between Broadway and Franklin, at 4.30 (after the GA).

In this meeting we will discuss everything - how we'll be alerted, how the actual caravan will be organized and who is going with who, where we'll meet, what to bring (and not bring), what to expect during the day of action in Longview, etc. We will be hosted by Occupy Longview and Occupy Portland who are very excited to take action with Occupy Oakland!
Every chance you can get, tell people to sign up or donate at on our website occupytheegt.org !!

Thanks, see you all on Sunday!

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly & Autonomous Action Endorsement

Now I'm aware of the fact that I am not one of the individuals that have been with Occupy Oakland since the beginning (I came in about November 2nd as many did in support of the General Strike) but I have been a major supporter, ustreamer, and blogger since I started coming. The one thing that I quickly noticed was the General Assembly and I really liked it. I mean let's face it as a Parliamentary Debater, I can appreciate direct democracy breaking out on the amphitheater steps of "Frank Ogawa Plaza" (otherwise named Oscar Grant Plaza by Occupy). However, as time went on the GA started to lose its sparkle to me, and many others. So much so that it is been a little difficult to continue to make quorum. Initially I had written a proposal to change the GA process to be more inclusive, but I can't sit at EVERY GA with 2 more people from my proposal writing group to wait for our turn to read the proposal. The process seems to have gone from the decision making process of "Occupy Oakland" as a whole, to the place for theoretical debate and a breeding ground for more autonomous actions.

This is a good thing and a bad thing for multiple reasons, keep in mind that this blog is my opinion combined with things that I have seen and heard from my experiences. That does not make me the final word on anything, but I think it's important that people remember that as they continue to read. Anyway, this is a good thing because it gives room for people to get together and do the things they feel as if are needed to further the movement and/or help the community. That is a great thing because as I've said many times before I feel like diverse tactics should be embraced not used as a tool to divide the house. Also, it gives room for these different actions to be applied in different areas and for people to support them while still having the Occupy Movement not loose momentum. That part is wonderful, but there is a down side. It's unfortunate but it is my belief that more people need to realize this fact as forewarned is forearmed. It's an apparent fact to me that being a part of the 99% movement means that I will not agree with the tactics of everyone all of the time. That doesn't mean that my opinions don't matter, or that the movement has left me as an individual behind. With groups like TAC using their right to autonomous actions, there are bound to be people who disagree with the ideas that the group is employing. If so, don't criticize in a way that you will not be heard. Instead offer constructive criticism that doesn't finger point and degrade the efforts of college aged young people who are doing their best. Either that or form your own committee and start employing your own tactics to work towards the same goals. No need to fight among ourselves.

I got a little off topic here, but I find it difficult to discuss the GA without talking about the highly controversial group (TAC) within Occupy Oakland that has been recognized officially. Basically after checking out the GA and supporting several actions that came out of the GA, I went to NYC for Thanks Giving, came back and TAC was the surviving face of the Occupy Oakland movement. While I was gone, these young individuals had made the news for the foreclosure on 18th & Linden, shortly after they had combined forces with just Cause and the Black Panther Party without GA consensus.. just autonomous action and people seeing the effort and wanting to help. The teaming up with other organizations lead to the takeover of the property on 10th & Mandela in Oakland, and then another encampment simultaneously on 20th & Mandela. Now, although there is some good discussion and interesting questions that are brought up at GA, it seems to stop there with many people voting on things and going home waiting for them to magically happen. Meanwhile disappearing through the planning process without coming to meetings or giving feedback and then giving harsh and mostly undeserved commentary after the fact. To these GA attendees I shame you.

I shame because Occupy Oakland has not had any other successful largely publicized encampments since the take down of Frank Ogawa (Oscar Grant Plaza), even though there has been a vigil and a 24 hour presence there. 24 hours of citizens protesting and Oakland Police officers standing around, playing angry birds, and occasionally harassing Occupiers with the tax dollars of the citizens paying them to do it. With every single GA being rushed and giving what seems like the same amount of allotted speaking time (1 minute) like the City Council meetings is almost hypocritical to the anti establishment element of the movement. I have spoken to several people who feel the same way, and there are those who no longer attend but just decide to support in the way that they can saying "let the theorists have their debate" referring to GA. The thing is that it's easy for the divide to be placed when the GA is nowhere near as inclusive as it pretends to be. With proposals coming up in the queue randomly and having to be present with at least 3 of the writers upon the calling of the proposal is already frustrating enough. However, when GA barely makes quorum every night, a lot doesn't get decided anyway.

Without successful autonomous actions, Occupy Oakland would not still be going as strong as it is, giving the freedom to all individuals to represent themselves and take action towards solutions to the issues plaguing their communities. It has to work this way because the same things that work in lower economic areas are not going to work in the suburbs. So with Oakland having east & west then Piedmont, Claremont and the Oakland Hills, there are obviously going to have to be different tactics used, and not all of them are going to be approved at GA. It actually kills me how some people "support" Occupy until people protest in a way that they don't like. It drives me crazy, divorce the culture in a real way. Stop demanding that others submit to your hedgemonic influence and just be happy that we are working towards a common goal and that we are WINNING. Or form your own committee and events instead of being mad at those who are trying to make a difference. This is the way that we can still all pursue the same goal and don't have to conform in order to "fit in" as a citizen with an opinion.

I have heard recent complaints about the way the finances seem to be tied up in bureaucratic red tape. Many (who will remain nameless because I have not received permission to use their names) have complained that they have not been able to be reimbursed for things they have done (like bail themselves out of jail) and some committees saying that they have not received their stipend every week. Likewise there have been rumors of several donations from Occupy Wall Street in the amounts of $25,000 and $30,000. It is not clear to me and others if there is a total of $55,000 in donations given or if it was the initial $25,000 donation and another for $5,000 for a total of $30,000. This is causing frustration among some supporters especially when it comes to bail money and funds for food etc. I plan to see what else I can find out about this particular subject, but the point that matters to me is the fact that there is obviously a divide between SOME of those willing to put their bodies on the line for what they believe in and those who discuss the actions in theory/planning. I have to wonder certain things like why isn't there a National Occupy Movement bail fund or agency even? Why is the GA that struggles for quorum and is not the most inclusive of what I will call the front line voices the one that makes the decisions and votes on how the money will be spent and/or the approval processes of the finance committee. It's unfortunate to see such a scuffle breaking out within Occupy over the funds that are donated. Shows how there are problems with the effects of capitalism even when actively working to protest against abusive capitalism.

In my own personal opinion, I really wish that the 2 could merge. I will be posting a proposal on my blog because I simply don't think the now 2 day a week GA would provide a process in which even I would be able to get multiple people to be present at every single meeting waiting until our proposal comes up to be read and discussed and voted on. Not that I think 2 days a week is even enough. I feel like the GA is already rushed and that we should have more time to get the word out about proposals before they are discussed as far as pros and cons or friendly amendments. Rushing through things and deciding them in 1 night while claiming to have the voice of the community is a little far fetched. In order for there to be a successful plan there must be agents of action and agents of enforcement. those two need to be able to work together. Period. Hopefully, this all gets worked out and the movement can continue to sustain itself.

SF Raid - Since when is it legal to do this? SF RAID & PICS 12.8.11

So I'm on my way to general assembly at Occupy Oakland when I get a text from Cdub510 that it was "going down" on PunkBoyInSF's ustream. It was at that point that I decided to go see what all the commotion was about. After all, it was only about 6pm so the public space occupied by the SF encampment was surely open. Now, on December 8th the San Francisco police department raided the general assembly for Occupy SF. This was organized police action that was in direct violation of the 1st amendment. Even more so than some previous attacks. Here is why:
 The General Assembly was being held at 6pm. The public space was open, and the police showed up using school yard bully tactics and just saying the space was closed. There was no documentation supporting this until later in the evening when a sign showed up. 

Now why was this the tactic used? Why were people sitting in the middle being held hostage basically after being assaulted for traveling freely within this country and peaceable assembling for a redress of grievances with their government by starting problem solving direct democratic tactics in a public space?

Previous attacks had been later in the evening for almost all Occupy encampments in the area, however there was no encampment here. Not at least until the police came and started encroaching on free speech rights. Then tents started popping up and more and more people decided to stay. I'd like to take a moment for all the law enforcement who are more than likely looking at my blog and say that if you keep fighting against Occupy, you're fighting against those who are looking out for your interests. When your pensions are sliced up to nothing remember that you have successfully oppressed those who were fighting for your rights. Those who pay taxes for the services that you have decided to no longer provide to the people, but instead have chosen to protect the 1%. I wonder if Occupy had a stage in because police pensions were being attacked, would the police literally attack the protesters? Would that protest go smoothly and that particular encampment be allowed to stay with actual assistance? Would that be what was needed to solidify the bridge between the police who are the 99% but not fighting with the 99%?

SF Fire Dept. had to break through the police line to get the injured person out

Anyway... I was very upset once I had realized that the man who was injured after being assaulted by SFPD had not received any medical attention after convulsing on the ground for several minutes. The police even went as far as to turn away two ambulances that came to the scene called by other Occupiers standing nearby. The police are not medics and thus they are not qualified to totally assess someones medical condition ESPECIALLY if they are bleeding from the head and convulsing. It is my opinion that the man could have died because of the police departments lack of good judgement. Eventually the SF Fire Department came out and approached the police officers blocking access to the injured protester. They were turned away and walked back to discuss how to handle the situation. After about 3 minutes of speaking with each other (picture to right) the fire department decided to head in and get the person who needed medical assistance. While the fire department were talking many individuals standing near by were shouting at them to go in and help the man who was injured. By this time people were clearly upset at the fact that someone had been denied medical attention. Many people (including myself) were very happy and cheered once the fire department went in. I'm sure the police department did not appreciate having their line broken, but I'm glad that it happened because it needed to. The police were the most dangerous individuals there that evening. They were the only ones breaking Constitutional Law, to the point where someone was hurt; and regardless of the fact that the police are traditionally supposed to be a very honorable position where you are paid by SOCIETY to PROTECT & SERVE! Not beat and harass and break the very laws in which you are supposed to be upholding while oppressing those you are supposed to be protecting.

There were many individuals who came out in support, and after the fire department went to properly assess the medical condition they had to come back to their truck and get a stretcher to get the protester on. So apologetic about not knowing his name. However, it's only confirming the fact that the police were not adequately trained to assess the medical condition of a "suspect" and they should be held responsible. Not to mention that he was attacked while within his rights. I'm quite sure that he would not have been brought out on a stretcher by the fire department if nothing was wrong with him. Also for some reason (I'm really not sure what crime he actually committed) but he needed to be escorted by an officer in the fire department ambulance to make sure that once he received the medical attention he obviously needed but was being denied that he could still go to jail for no reason.

It was disheartening to see the police allow a man to lay there and deny him help. I know that this is a bit redundant but even as I type this blog I just can't get over it. I could have sworn the police were supposed to protect and serve the community not hurt us. What is this world coming to? When did we as citizens stop holding the police department accountable for their job. I can't get a police officer to help me if I'm locked out of my car at 3am or if my Mother calls when someone is attempting to break in her house while she is home at midnight, so I'm wondering who exactly are the police departments protecting and why are we funneling so much money into the system as if it's been helping anything. Look to cities like Oakland CA where no matter how much money is poured into policing, the murder rate never drops below 100 and crime is never low. This is an injustice within itself that needs to be rectified and it's not going to happen unless we stand up as a people and start to hold our representatives and our government accountable. Occupy is doing that by pointing out the major ways in which our government continues to fail society while somehow still managing to make a profit. Something has got to stop!

The only part that wasn't totally saddening was the fact that so many people had showed up to brave the cold and continue to be there and take pictures, protest and stream what was happening. I'm glad to know that more and more of our communities are waking up to the injustice that has been happening right in front of all of our eyes and with some of our approval either through the action of inaction or not being properly educated on certain things before supporting/voting on them. I'm glad to know that there could possibly be some REAL change. You know the kind the President Obama talked about during his campaign but has seem to have forgotten after he was elected. The kind that reinforces the Constitution and brings us back to some sort of Communal prosperity. Building America back up by starting with the ENTIRE working class who have been left abandoned by those we have voted for and lost hope in. I'm not a professional, but I am a human and I know right from wrong. A lot of what's been happening recently on behalf of government against Occupy has been plain wrong in the basic way that we all learned about in grade school. Not having respect for one another is a big one, because of the separation that we have been programmed to believe it exists so much that we create it as well. We need to decolonize our minds and then we wouldn't feel the need to excessively police each other.

The night proved to be bigger than I thought. For some reason the bike brigade came out. I had no idea then or even now why they were needed. It seemed to be a show on;y because the only time I ever saw the police get off the bike was to go inside the Hyatt and eat food. Makes me wonder exactly how much of the tax payers dollars was wasted on this spectacle to make it seem like something was being done. As a matter of fact while I was walking by and streaming this grand entrance many of the motorcycle police flashed their high beams at me in an attempt to make me stop filming. Why was that necessary? Notice again, the school yard bully mentality from SFPD which seems to be share by their brothers OPD.

I keep wondering to myself how the strategies the police department utilize are developed. This question entered my mind once I saw all of the officers who were hell bent on putting an "unbreakable" perimeter around the perfectly Constitutional gathering, so much so that they were denying medical attention to a gentlemen that was so injured by the SFPD that he needed to be brought out on a stretcher, just decided to line up all perfect like and march around the corner to hang out and waste hard earned tax payers dollars on encroaching upon our Constitutionally protected rights. At what point is enough going to really be enough? When will this blatant abuse of our rights be enough to get the community more involved? Seriously, take a look at how much of an increase in funding for police services there has been in your city and then think about the decrease in crime. Excessive policing is not the answer to social problems.

Photos!!