[Street] [Ob-media] The Meaning of Last Night and Next Steps

Anna Aizman anna at occupyboston.org
Fri Dec 9 14:00:54 EST 2011


Ironically many people who worked at Food, Logistics, Safety, and Medical
were the most adamant about de-camping, and hoping that if we take time to
strategize we could come back with a stronger, safer camp. Dewey Square was
and will remain unsustainable - dangerous for women, houseless people, and
recovering drug users. There are several drug rings at camp, and many more
tents where people could stay and use hard drugs. We have been enabling
people who'd been trying to stay sober, and offering a space for violent
individuals who threatened, sexually harassed, and assaulted vulnerable
homeless people and female activists. We failed to figure out a way to kick
out the people who (though they are undoubtedly part of the 99%) did not
share our goals and, instead, widely abused our community. We've been
watching activists leave the tent city, and leave fewer and fewer people to
take care of the daily functioning of the camp. We've been turning
activists away from camp because we have no tent space for them to stay in
-- the tents were increasingly occupied by people who had no interest in
contributing even in the smallest way (insulting us when we asked for
help). As a result, the energies of most on-site occupiers were divested
from the movement, and towards camp maintenance, conflict resolution,
substance abuse counseling (when none of us are trained in it).

None of the people who stood for striking down tents were actually
interested in ending the movement or parting with the idea of a camp site.
Rather, we believe we need time to figure out how to have an occupation
that is sustainable, an occupation that allows the activists who camp to be
part of the larger movement as well as of the daily running of the camp.
Maybe this means involving professional social workers or counselors
on-site, or maybe it means having a vetting system to ensure a truly
substance- and violence-free camp. I hope that we can keep in mind the
difference between what we'd like for camp to symbolize and what the camp
experience actually was -- especially for vulnerable people.

There are a lot of meaningful relationships at camp but there is also an
incredible amount of negative energy that's another reason for the
exhaustion of so many OB activists. If we are defending Dewey Square and
re-building it, I hope that, in addition to the faith of so many people in
the tent city symbol, we take into account the experiences of the people
who found themselves struggling to keep the camp from dissolving in violent
conflicts or getting raided by police for drug use, violence, or sexual
assault. I hope we do something different this time, because the Dewey
Square camp never looked as beautiful as it did last night, when people
demonstrated and danced in the streets. In reality, Dewey Square version
1.0 was far from festive and communal.

-Anna

On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Nicole Sullivan <nicole_sullivan at live.com>wrote:

>  Brian, I agree.
>
> While last night was a huge success in so many ways and I so proud of
> that, we also decamped ourselves. My tent (the mike tent) is a filth hole
> but it is still standing. Democracy isn't clean, it isn't sanitary. Its a
> messy process that takes a lot of trial and error. Our encampment is a
> symbol of our freedom. I do wish we did not capitulate so early.
>
> Thank you to all who are rebuilding today. I wish I could be there with
> you, however I do need to get some life stuff done before tonight.
>
> Nicole
> ------------------------------
> From: asnevitt at gmail.com
> Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 13:08:37 -0500
> Subject: Re: The Meaning of Last Night and Next Steps
> To: bdubkwob at gmail.com
> CC: ob-media at lists.occupyboston.org; facilitation at lists.occupyboston.org;
> obexpansion at gmail.com; ob-logistics at lists.occupyboston.org;
> check_your_privilege_ob at googlegroups.com;
> occupy-boston-people-of-color-working-group at googlegroups.com;
> InfoTent at occupyboston.org; occupyeric at gmail.com;
> movementbuildingob at masslists.org; ocupemos-el-barrio at googlegroups.com;
> street at lists.occupyboston.org; obit at occupyboston.org;
> occupy-boston-socialist-discussion at googlegroups.com;
> occupybostonda at gmail.com
>
>
> Thank you for this, Brian.
>
> I'm sorry I cannot be there today to "rebuild". I have vast appreciation
> for those of you with the stamina and the wisdom to do that work this
> morning. I will be there as soon as I am able.
>
> I hope we can all remember that what we're standing up for - to demand the
> end of profound corruption of democracy and the beginning of true democracy
> for the first time in this nation's history - is far more important than a
> pristine encampment which meets codes. As adults, we can make a choice to
> take more risks than we would normally take because we find it worthwhile.
> The city stops us from having sanitation, lowering fire hazards, etc. and
> still we stay because this is about something bigger: a just and
> sustainable society for all.
>
> No one here complained that Egyptians didn't have permits or weren't
> meeting safety codes when they occupied Tahrir Square. I bet their tents
> got dirty, too! We encouraged them to stand up to bullets and fire hoses
> and tear gas, even though there was trash on the ground. They did the best
> they could to manage it while they were protesting and we do, too.
>
> We, the 99%, have had enough of the oppression of the 1%. We will stand
> until they forcibly remove us. Then we will stand again.
>
>  - Allison
> Una at DailyKos <http://www.dailykos.com/user/UnaSpenser><http://bostonlyme.blogspot.com/>
>
>  <http://kossacksnetworking.ning.com>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 7:00 AM, Brian K <bdubkwob at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Brothers and sisters,
>
> I just got home after spending over 2 hours cleaning and renovating the
> occupation in Dewey Square AFTER all the events of the night, so sorry if
> this email isn't totally clear....
>
> *Last night was a major moment in the development of our movement. It is
> ripe with tactical and strategic lessons, and we must understand and act on
> them IMMEDIATELY. What follows is my assessment of what we got right, what
> we got wrong, and what the next steps are.*
>
> *What we got right: *
> *
> *
> *Sensing a major threat to our movement, we mobilized the masses to
> defend us! *We must have had a thousand people come and rally to support
> of our movement. There were tons of people following the marching band,
> tons more in a state of perma-rally by the north wall, tons more practicing
> civil disobedience, and tons more just milling around, talking, sharing
> ideas, and showing their solidarity in many ways.
> We ended up taking the streets and shutting down Atlalntic ave. We had
> only 2 arrests (that I know of), and everything was peaceful, jubliant, and
> energizing. People of all kinds, young, old, abled and disabled, people of
> color, students, union and non-union workers, and all segments of the 99%
> all came out for unity and solidarity with Occupy Boston. Mobilizing our
> social base all-out like this was the right thing to do and that is (in
> part) why it was so successful.
>
>
> *What we got wrong: *
> As painful as this truth may be, we have to face it squarely and honestly:
> *we dismantled most of our own occupation without a fight. *In this sense
> we really punched ourselves in the face. Needlessly.
>
> By 4 am, Dewey Square had only about 30% of the tents it did 24 hours
> previously. There was trash and debris strewn on the sidewalks
> and perimeter. And there were only about 30-40 people left from the 1,000+
> who had been there at some point earlier. In other words, we weren't raided
> by the police, but by 3:30 am, it looked like we had been.
>
> This was demoralizing because it looked like a post-apocalyptic occupy
> that I saw in Denver, after they had been raided twice. But we did it to
> ourselves. The Mayor/City/BPD/RKG achieved much of their desired outcome
> basically WITHOUT LIFTING A FINGER.
>
> This was a strategic mistake. Period. Things like this sometimes are only
> clear after the fact: the Mayor said "jump" and we jumped as high as we
> could. This contrary to the very essence of the movement insofar we are
> occupying to STAND UP and OPPOSE the dictates of the powerful, not tremble
> in fear before them...
>
> *Next steps:*
> Luckily, there were about 5-10 of us who were able to salvage the
> situation a bit. We moved a bunch of tents on "weird street" that had been
> left for destruction by the (non-existent) police raid, and moved them into
> the main square to fill in some of the gaping (and depressing) holes.
> Another 5-10 of us cleaned up the sidewalks, swept, and restored some
> semblance of order to the outward appearance.
>
> But there is more work to be done. This means *anyone who can needs to
> return to the Square ASAP* to help re-organize the space, re-purpose the
> tents, re-allocate the pallets and walkway planks. Not for permanent
> occupation, but for the next 24 to 48 hours of the struggle. Yes, the cops
> can come Friday night (tonight) or Saturday night or Sunday night. We
> should be ready for them to come on any one of these nights, but we can sit
> on our hands and wait; we have to keep struggling, keep assembling and keep
> speaking out against injustice.
>
> I'm not saying we need to bring back everything to the square. We can do
> without the library books and other valuables in Dewey. But we need to
> CONTINUE occupying until some decisive event that forces us into another
> space. Otherwise they can effectively shut down our occupation with merely
> the ever-present *threat* of shutting it down. Let us not allow ourselves
> to be paralyzed with fear like that.
>
>
> *Why we messed up: *
> Part of the problem is that strategically, many of us were thinking in
> "post-Dewey" mode, yet we were not (and are not) yet there. We are still in
> Dewey Square. And we must defend it.
>
> By dismantling our occupation, we essentially tried to shortcut the
> difficult and painful midwife between where we are now and the birth of our
> next phase: the police raid. This reminds me of a quote from Hagakure, the
> book of the samurai from feudal-era Japan:
>
> "There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a
> sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. By
> doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet.
> When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though
> you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to all
> things."
>
> Pick up on that. By trying to avoid the police raid, we ended up doing it
> to ourselves. This had the desired outcome of our enemies (a massive
> dismantling in Dewey), but we got nothing to show for it. Many of us may
> feel "perplexed," but need not be if we "are resolved from the beginning"
> to stand our ground.
>
> Just like the first raid on us, and so many other raids happening around
> the country, raids are not pleasant, but they are a necessary part of being
> an occupation that does NOT jump when the powers that be tell us to.
> Otherwise we might as go home now.
>
> Remember: when people see the violence of the police officers arresting
> veterans, manhandling priests, hog-tying peaceful 99%ers, this rightly
> causes OUTRAGE. And it is that outrage that can help feed our movement for
> the next phase. We must not evict ourselves; make them do it.
>
> As of now, we have a damaged (but not un-salvagable) occupation. Please go
> to Dewey Square ASAP and see why. Especially Logistics and Food. We need
> your insight, experience, and steady hands the MOST during the day. Today.
>
> As for everyone else, see you at tonight's GA...in Dewey Square.
>
> Revolutionary love and solidarity,
> and now sleep.
>
> Brian
>
> p.s. please forward this to any groups/lists/folks I left out.
>
>
>
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