Oakland’s Immortals (w. special addendum)

"Death to Capitalism!" Indeed. Photo: Ava Bird

Oakland’s brave fight against the status quo is raising the bar and setting standards for all the other Occupys across the land.  And the struggle is just beginning. Below, a cry of pride by one of its native sons. 

By Al Osorio, Senior Contributing Editor

Cairo, Egypt?

That’s audacity – not a political catchphrase to capture the votes of a disillusioned public then cynically continuing neocolonial Wall St policy, but real audacity – launching a movement in defiance of both conventional wisdom and the entire capitalist system.

Initially the capitalist system’s propaganda arm ignored them, but when OO didn’t go away the local MSM attack dogs took the offensive. Talking heads found local business owners who would condemn OO on camera, they sought out street people to provoke for evening news sound bytes. This was predictable – the MSM is a parasitic organism, existing only to serve the 1% while rotting the brains and sucking the blood from the 99%.

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From Ava Bird, another proud Oaklander

as you know, oakland, ca made history yesterday as the whole city went on strike and we shut down the ports!    it was an amazing feeling, i hope that you are experiencing the joy in your city too.   this is one of the most profound events i have witnessed in my lifetime, people actually taking their country back from the thieves, robber barons and criminals occupying and masquerading as a government.    please do what you can to support the movement.   bring food, offer help, or just be present.    i have waited my whole life for something like this to erupt and it is history in the making!   please help in your community, align with your local occupy movement.   and share these photos if you wish:   (taken yesterday in oakland, ca)
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Conventional wisdom made itself manifest in the form of progressive elements taking OO to task for not playing by the rules of radical politics. One must formulate demands, have clear leadership, and exercise patience – that was the way it was done in their day, so that was the path OO must pursue. But the conventional wisdom and the MSM learned nothing from the spontaneity issuing forth in the Arab Spring – social media and a different mindset, and the fact that many in OO never had a foothold in the American Dream – so America’s economic travails brought a certain equality the system had never delivered. Confronted by rubber bullets and tear gas, OO didn’t pull back to regroup, they didn’t settle down to write a manifesto for discussion in coffeehouses – OO upped the ante, and declared a general strike.

People made incredible efforts, giving selflessly of themselves and their experience – yet none were indispensable. Arrest eighty of us? Eighty more will spring up. Like the ancient Immortals, the cohesion is unaffected.

OO is only getting started – and for the first time since I was a young man, I believe again. I am hella proud of Occupy Oakland. I hella love Oakland.

Senior Contributing Editor AL OSORIO also blogs at Roundtree7, an online commune for radical authors.  He also shares his thoughts on the crisis on Links for the Wildly Left (Facebook). 

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ADDENDUM

subtle dissing of the movement; it’s clear they remain of two minds and are not sure how much legitimacy they will lose by overtly attacking it—at least at this point. This vacillation may reflect the narrow tactical choices faced by the plutocracy itself and its own indecision. And lastly, there are surprises here and there, instances of overall fair reportage, like the one presented below, filed by none other than that pillar of rightwing/establishment disinformation, TIME magazine. What’s notable about this report is that it doesn’t “bait” the movement, nor exploit the overnight “violence” to cast doubt on its credentials as a legitimate expression of popular anger at the powers that be. Maybe some in the media are catching “OWS fever”. —PG

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How Occupy Oakland Is Stealing Occupy Wall Street’s Mojo

By Jason Motlagh / Oakland Thursday, Nov. 03, 201

 

 

Protesters climb on big rigs stuck on the road after Occupy Oakland activists closed the Port of Oakland as part of a general strike in the California city on Nov. 2, 2011 // Terry Schmitt / UPI / LANDOV  

 

But most of Wednesday provided further proof of how a small core of activists has managed to build a broader movement with substantial public sympathy — with an energy and a vibe, as well as hazards, that are eclipsing Occupy Wall Street in New York City. “The [initial police] violence was massive propaganda on our behalf,” says Ethan, 22, a shirtless protester with a Guy Fawkes mask who was out on the street on Wednesday for the general strike. Indeed, shared concerns over corporate greed and a dubious future have united blue collar workers and immigrants with punks and middle-class families. “We’re out here as a family because our child’s class is overcrowded, libraries are closing, there’s runaway climate change and our planet is being plundered,” says Mateo Nube, 40, an environmental activist who came to march accompanied by his 74-year-old mother, wife and two young children. “The CEOs of banks love their kids too, but the imbalance is criminal and the exploitation has to stop.” 

(See TIME’s photo-essay “Tensions Mount at Occupy Wall Street Protests.”) 

Union members, students and teachers were out in force. More than 300 took the day off, while some arrived at the marches after school. Dozens of small businesses, and some national chains like Rite Aid and Foot Locker, were closed. Others stayed open and lent support by distributing food and water to marchers — though this was no free pass from harassment from a group allegedly sympathetic to the general strike but which appears to engage in vandalism. A Whole Foods that distributed water bottles to passersby was set upon by black-clad masked men, forcing it to close. There were several other instances perhaps connected to the suspected splinter group, including smashed windows at Wells Fargo and Bank of America branches. 

Such incidents were the exception during the daylight hours. At another downtown Wells Fargo branch, about 20 good-humored protesters sat in front of the entranceway, blanketed by yellow police tape, chanting, “Shut it down, shut it down!” A dumpster blocked the ATM. No one attempted to get past the group, which refused to leave until the door was chained. “An emerging reality is being created,” says Michael Babel, 38, a graduate student who lives in San Francisco. “This is the movement we’ve been waiting for.” As he spoke, a passing man blared through a megaphone: “The 99% is here. They’re not cracking down on us. We’re cracking down on them.”

(See TIME’s video “What Happens After the Standoff at Occupy Oakland.”) 

A short distance away, Celina, 31, idled in her car for 15 minutes and honked in support as a marching crowd passed. The health care manager did not display the least irritation at the delay, unlike a motorist who later in the evening was reported to have run his Mercedes-Benz into a crowd of protesters crossing the street, injuring two of them. “Oakland is a beautiful place, and this is a great example,” she exclaimed, adding that she would join the march once she picked up her child. She was less sure about the march to shut down the port. “I just hope people keep it light and don’t get aggressive. That way, it’s all good.” 

The marches rolled on late in the afternoon, from the city center to the country’s fourth busiest port. On foot, in wheelchairs and on bicycles (and the odd unicycle), protesters converged under the watch of circling helicopters. Police officers were invisible. Mutt Mule, 39, a longtime Oakland resident, banged on a drum and took swills from a second champagne bottle after knocking an empty one over. “It’s a big f—— party,” he said. “We’re having a ball.” Nearby, fellow protesters danced to a break-beat DJ; others climbed on stranded vehicles with banners that spanned the angry (“They Grind Our Bones to Make Our Bread”) to the outlandish (“Occupy Everything!”). 

Occasionally, openings were cleared to allow weary port workers to drive home, but hauling goods or letting people enter ahead of the evening shift change was forbidden. Tensions briefly surged when a 25-year-old driver named Omar started his truck and tried to push through, only to be stymied by the crowd. “I want to go home. I’m tired,” he pleaded. A protester shot back, “C’mon, you’re one of us, man … We’re all walking home tonight.” Omar was nonplussed, but after a short standoff, he finally saw the futility of pressing his case and turned around to park on the side of the road. A cheer went up in the crowd, which went on to achieve its goal of shutting maritime operations down late into the night. 

(See “Occupy Oakland: Will the General Strike Have Legs?”) 

Downtown, the good vibe soured. As midnight approached, a group of rabble-rousers moved into a vacant building two blocks from the occupied plaza, lighting street fires, scrawling graffiti and smashing windows as they barricaded the block. Riot police deployed to the scene again used teargas and stun grenades to clear the streets in the early hours of Thursday. Some protesters tried to de-escalate the situation but to no avail as the masked gang, estimated to number fewer than 100, faced off against police with rocks and bottles. Some 60 arrests were made by the time the melee was subdued at around 3 a.m. Mike Porter, 24, a protester who has lived with his dog in the tent city since the outset, blamed “anarchist” elements that he said took over the building after it had been reclaimed by the Occupy movement, and then prepared for a clash they were hell-bent on having. “They’re totally taking advantage of our numbers and leaching off our movement,” he said with disgust as the crowds thinned out for the night. How to deal with this? “I don’t know, and that’s what worries me,” he said. “These people have no values.” 

See “Upping the Ante for Occupy Oakland: A Tense Standoff in the Park.”

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2098628,00.html#ixzz1cl9yBelL

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