Occupy Protester to Oakland City Council: “We coordinated an attack on you. You’re supporting [the 1%]. If you keep doing this, think about the consequences, OK?"

Oakland City Council...censor this: Flip your anti-American resolution!!!!! We will not be silenced!

Last night the Oakland City Council alarmingly entertained the idea of giving the Oakland Police and General Attorney the power to enforce police brutality, assault the First Amendment of free speech and suppress the Occupy movement. Knowing that the good and fair people of this land will not stand for this police state proposal, they decided to pass on it, for now….

The scary thing is that some actually voted in favor of it! They promised to revisit the proposal though, so the Occupy movement will be planning a rebuttal to this deliberate attack on their freedom of speech and right to peacefully assemble.

In true censorship fashion, the city council attempted to deny comments for those opposing the bill, which included many Occupy protesters, patriots and aware Americans in attendance.

Occupy Oakland's Barucha Peller, who helped organize the port brigade, was determined not to allow her voice to be silenced by the bureaucrats in the room who were embarrassed of the truth of the situation, spoke out WITHOUT the PERMISSION of the protectors of the 1 percent.

She tells the nervous and bought and sold council (as resported by the SF Gate):

“You coordinated national attacks on the Occupy movement,” Occupy Oakland protester Barucha Peller forcefully told the council, as members of the audience cheered her on. “So you know what we did? We coordinated an attack on you and we shut down ports up and down the West Coast and coordinated an attack on the 1 percent, who you’re supporting. So if you keep on doing this, think about the consequences, OK?"

Exactly! America has been attacked by Big Banks and we are all suffering the consequences of a government who is being controlled by these Wall St crime lords. Absolutely NOT will we lie down and let cities, states and the country pass laws to restrict and silence us. We will speak out.

As a native Californian, I’m saddened that the proposal was even suggested. Let yesterday be another wakeup call that the 1 percent is getting very worried of our uprising, and rightfully so. They are now sinking to such anti-American and drastic measures as to try to outlaw protests and freedom of speech.

To the writers of this Oakland anti-First Amendment resolution, councilmembers Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5) and Libby Schaaf (District 4)----censor this:

 Flip Off! You sell outs! Who are you protecting? Why did the people vote for you in the first place? Join us, or get out of the way because a real democracy is coming to a council near you!

Occupy Wall St.'s Un-Spokes Council Sets a Dangerous Precedent of Non-Transparency, Classism and Vote Tampering

Tonight’s Spokes Council proved that certain individuals and a few Occupy Wall Street Working Groups (WGs) have a long way to go in understanding that classism, racism and sexism are dangerous in a movement that says it speaks for *everyone* in the 99%. The non-transparency, domineering style and questionable tactics of tonight’s facilitation team, bullying against those who voiced dissent against the proposal, insensitivity to marginalized and voiceless communities and the vote tampering displayed tonight is a wakeup call to the General Assembly to get more involved in the behind the scenes organizing of the OWS movement and demand accountability.

Firstly, I couldn’t believe that yesterday [Sunday, December 18] OWS had a big conference on the same day as International Immigrants’ Rights Day, yet it was not in honor of, it was instead of. We should have done more to support immigrants on this day, such as a day of actions following the march, or a conference dedicated solely to immigrant rights. When some proposed in a Spokes Council that the conference be moved to another day so we could focus the day on immigration rights, the idea was belittled and shut down with meritless excuses.

Then tonight [Monday, December 19] at the Spokes Council there was a proposal which sought to reduce the amount of time a person could represent their WG or Caucus. However, the General Assembly already voted that the same spoke could speak once every two meetings, but not back to back, which seems fair. The new proposal seeks to extend it to every three meetings. This is a ‘foot in the door technique’ because this is now setting a precedent where the Spokes Council could make more restrictions on WGs.

Many flaws were pointed out tonight with the proposal by attendees:

It lacked consideration that some WGs have only 15, 10 or less people in their groups. They will not be able to have their group’s vote counted with such strict regulations

The Human Rights Working Group pointed out that there was elements of racism and classism in the proposal and in the Spokes body itself. I’ve talked to many individuals from the People of Color Caucus, the Anti-Racism Group, Occupy The Hood and many other groups and they agree with the Human Rights WG concerning racism and classism.

The Class War Working Group voted against the proposal because they said it gave the Spokes Council too much power on an issue that each WG should decide for themselves.

The Security Working Group voiced dissent because there should be a longer conversation about such an important issue before we rush to a vote and he noted that it disproportionately affected women of color in the Spokes Council who were voicing dissent.

The spokes from the Occupiers Working Group blocked it because he felt it “guaranteed to further marginalize the already marginalized in our movement”, however, this block was not observed by Facilitation.

The spokes from Outreach Working Group blocked the proposal for moral and ethical reasons.

The Constitution Working Group voiced dissent because the proposal was inconsiderate of WGs with small numbers and/or with members who lived far away.

Other working groups blocked the proposal, and others abstained from voting due to dissent or confusion.

The proposal was written in what many felt were “secret meetings” because they were not publicized enough in advance, and WGs were not properly outreached to.

An allegorical novel I read in high school, George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, talks about oppressed communities mimicking their oppressors by eventually setting up hierarchies amongst themselves. In the book the farm animals (the 99%) rose up against the farm owners (the 1%). After the farm animals scare the humans off the land, something very heart breaking happens: The pigs decide that equality was no longer for the horses, cows, chickens and sheep: Equality was now just for the pigs. Misrepresentation. Classism. Betrayal. The movement that was supposed to be for ALL quickly became co-opted into what was best for some.

Many ninety-nine percenters are pleading at the top of their lungs for the OWS movement to not follow in the footsteps of Animal Farm and for those with privilege to step back and realize that if some are enslaved, silenced and dehumanized, than we as a human body are all enslaved, silenced and dehumanized.

As the representative from Women Occupying Nation Caucus I pointed out that the proposal was insensitive to women who had children and couldn’t attend multiple meetings weekly. People living in low-income, poverty and and/or homeless also have restrictions. People who work two jobs just to survive also can’t attend so many weekly meetings. The writers of the proposal failed to be democratic because they didn’t enroll multiple WG’s buy-in or for them to take part in the formation of a proposal that will affect all of us. Instead, they quickly created the proposal practically off the radar and without sufficient time for the General Assembly and WGs to plan and articulate their opinions regarding the matter.

Being a few days before Christmas, this was the lowest attended Spokes Council to date. Many WGs did not even have a representative present to vote. Many of the WGs not in attendance represented groups who would be negatively affected by the outcome. The concerns of classism, racism and sexism stated by numerous attendees were dismissed by the Facilitation team and the presenter of the proposal. There is a growing concern that this movement is being co-opted into a movement for only the white middle class. Those who voice dissent are mocked, misrepresented, or even jeered at and vilified.

It was against protocol and alarming to see the Facilitation team, who is supposed to be neutral when facilitating, inappropriately injecting their personal opinions, steering public opinions with over bearing tactics such as yelling and misrepresenting certain spoke’s by recapping their statements inaccurately to the Council, causing confusion during voting, allowing certain women to be personally attacked without calling it out and allowing the democratic process at the end to be tainted and compromised.

Vote tampering allowed by the Facilitation team is common of certain working groups breaking process to push forward their agenda and disempowering dissent. I noticed that certain people just picked up spokes signs from the unused pile to “illegally” vote at the end just to get the proposal passed.

There were enough blocks against the proposal to take it off the table, however, the Facilitation team made the decision to not include the votes of all those who blocked. First they said the meeting was over, and then they said it wasn’t. During this time of concocted confusion, some people went to the use the restroom or some thought it was over and left. At the end the Facilitation team misused their role and discounted half of the original eight blocks and only included four. This dangerous pattern of the Facilitation team breaking and creating new process on a whim is very telling of the hypocrisy and corruption that needs to be addressed immediately if we are to maintain an authentic democracy.

The reason why so many people oppose the way the “in clique” is steering the decisions that affect the movement’s directions is because we don’t want anyone to be left behind. We don’t want to create hierarchies. We don’t want disenfranchised and discriminated against communities to be misrepresented, censored and even personally attacked by certain people aggressively pushing an agenda in this movement. We don’t want to be led down a path that excludes the less privileged portion of the 99%.

We want transparency and accountability.

The vote tampering and bullying of dissenters tonight is exactly what the far right has been guilty of. Let's practice what we preach. Please.

On a personal note, I’ve thought long and thoroughly about whether to air this grievance publicly. People have exposed these issues since the beginning. I wholeheartedly care about this movement because I feel it’s our country’s last chance to break away from the shackles of the anti-humanity Big Banks that have corrupted and bought our government and democracy, kill our environment, cause unemployment and profit off our despair and enslavement. We cannot sustain such a letdown of our vision and goals. I believe what is broken can be fixed. Keeping silent on these issues will only make them more toxic.

I believe in the ideals of what the mission statement of OWS says and I am here to stay.

ALERT!!!: A new proposal will also be put for a vote this week which gives the Spokes (aka a new Congress?) the power to remove Working Groups, affiliations or individuals who don’t beat to the drum of the inner circle. Be afraid, be very afraid. This new proposal goes against the ideals of OWS.

Audre Lorde, an activist and writer who left the feminist movement in the 70’s to start the womanist movement because the feminist movement had been co-opted by white middle and upper class women who devalued the inclusion, needs and equality of women of color and women living in poverty, wrote:

“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those…who still define the master as their only means of support.”

This is a call to action to not allow the “master tools” to spoil the Spokes Council, Facilitation Group and other entities of Occupy Wall Street. This is a plea to not allow the “master tools” to be incorporated into the message that the information team dispels outwards via media, press, direct actions and decisions. We should be gentle, compassionate, understanding and PROACTIVE concerning marginalized communities and individuals who are reminding our body to be more progressive, honest and just.

Moving forward, since it was obvious there was vote tampering and illegitimate Facilitation team tactics, the proposal should be deemed void. Then the writers of the proposal should have meetings and teach-ins (like numerous Spokes suggested) for two weeks open and promoted to EVERYONE so that all those affected can have a say in the language and outcome of the proposal. After the two weeks, there should be another vote. However, this time around people will actually know about this proposal and will be prepared to exercise their right to take part in what is supposed to be a transparent democracy.

Your sister in the fight for liberation, Ashley

Dec. 12th- Occupy Wall St Protesters Demand Release of Comrades at NYPD 7th Precinct

Following the December 12th march against Goldman Sachs, peaceful protesters were arrested in Winter Gardens, many were victims of police brutality. Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered at Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park) and we decided to go to the NYPD 7th precinct where the arrested Occupiers were being held. Around 50 people gathered outside to inquire about their comrades. In the video footage I entered the station to ask about those arrested and to make a written complaint about a 50 year old woman, Debra Goodman, that was thrown on the ground and bruised by Officer Wagner. I was threatened by a police officer and told to leave or risk being arrested. I leave but not before telling the police officer that the police should be ashamed for their disgusting police brutality against peaceful protesters excercising our Constitutional rights

The Occupy Wall Street Protesters at Zuccotti Park Should Open Their Kitchen to Feed the Homeless, Not Publicly Spread Anti-Homeless People Sentiment, Which Hurts Our Cause.

I was shocked to hear the kitchen volunteers at Occupy Wall Street are organizing to have homeless people prevented from eating the free food.

Would Robin Hood steal bread from the rich and only give the bread to the middle class? Or would he also give it to the homeless? That’s right, he made sure the most impoverished ate as well.

Here is the link to the New York Post article on this development : http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/zuccotti_hell_kitchen_i5biNyYYhpa8MSYIL9xSDL#ixzz1bzhgohUN

This is such a dangerous development on so many levels.

1-      The message this sends is that of anti-homeless people sentiment. Isn’t the OWS movement about helping people unemployed, disenfranchised, vulnerable and hungry?

2-      This goes back to the airs of classism in the home camp I have witnessed firsthand. As a drummer, I encountered a lot of anti-drummer and anti-hippie sentiment from the media and even by some people down at Zuccotti Park. So I sympathize with the homeless community which now seems to be the next community people are turning on.

3-      There is an overflowing stock of donated food in storage, not mention hundreds of thousands of dollars in the OWS account so I’m sure we can not only afford to feed the homeless, but have the compassion to as well.

4-      I feel this is misguided anger on the part of the kitchen volunteers. If they want more help, they should ask for it, maybe do more outreach to get additional volunteers? Perhaps then they will not feel so overworked and then will remember why this movement started in the first place.

5-      Homeless people are also part of the 99%. Times are hard. If the 1% escalate with their corporate greed and corruption, there’s a chance that many more of us will be homeless. Do we want to frown upon helping the most destitute when they need us and this movement the most?

I respect and value all the hard work the kitchen volunteers do, but I feel this should have been handled internally. Now this looks like a public ridicule and judgment of the homeless community.  Can the occupiers who share in the kitchen volunteers desire to have the food line restricted please be more mindful of the words they use when airing out their grievances to the media? Many perceive this turning on the homeless as hypocritical and classist.

Again, would Robin Hood steal bread from the rich and only give the bread to the middle class? Or would he also give it to the homeless? That’s right, he made sure the homeless ate as well.

Ashley Love's Stance on the Occupy Wall Street Drumming Circle Controversy: This is a Protest, Not a Picnic!

Recently the blogosphere, local and national newspapers have had a field day vilifying and misrepresenting the drumming circle of Occupy Wall Street. Many of these media outlets amused themselves by singling me out as a dart board, not to mention comitting libel.

I spoke at a community board meeting last week opposing the attempted constriction and free speech infringment of the OWS drumming circle. I made a point of clarification when the OWS Community Affairs rep made the mistake of telling the community board that the drummers agreed to drum only two hours, when infact we drummers had concensous on four hours.The following day I was misquoted by the site Mother Jones and The Village Voice. The MJ misquote went viral. Since then blog-roaches and ill-politically motivated parties have continued to misquote, misconstrue and cyber-bully me.

All this because many refuse to beat to the toxic drum of hypocrites, shady politcians, classist pseudo-activists and those in the 99% who are actually doing the bidding for the 1%.

There have been reports of anti-drummer/anti-hippie sentiment, sexism, racism and hierarchy creating entities at the OWS NY camp and certain working groups. As someone who has been at Zuccotti Park regularly for the last few wwek, I and many others I know there can testify that these reports are not without merit.

So I wanted to make the following statement so that things are clear and accurate on where I stand on the drumming circle controversy.

Back in southern California, where I was born and raised, on many Sundays I would participate in the Venus beach drum circle, which drew hundreds of people. It was like going to church for me, a spiritual outlet with a diverse fellowship. Drumming is revered and central to many indigenous cultures and faith communities, including my own Native American, Hispanic and African ancestors.

Disappointedly, I’ve noticed in some Western cultures drummers are belittled as “degenerate hippies”, though there is nothing “degenerate” in how hippies catapulted the anti-war movement in the 60’s and launched a tidal wave of peace signs, health conscious living and green initiatives.

They call us drummers “rebels without causes”, when in fact we are very much artists WITH a cause. Many drummers I know in the Occupy Wall St. drum circle, some professionals, some amateurs, play drums as a form of non-violent protest, as well as a celebratory expression of the inspirational coming together of diverse groups of people who share a common goal: People before Profit.

Drummers are essential to the OWS movement because they are the pulse of the home camp, bring in hundreds in donations daily and because artistic and free expression should be protected.

The OWS General Assembly gave consensus on Monday night that four hours for drumming is fair. The majority of the drummers agreed with this arrangement because we want to be good neighbors.

The local community board would prefer only two hours allotted to us, but they need to understand that we are fighting corporate greed and corruption not just for the well-being of ourselves, but for the board members, their children and for all of the 99%.

This is a protest, not a picnic.

We need to stop beating to the tyrannical drum of the 1% by submitting to fear, unjust laws and misinformation. It’s time to march to the authentic drum of humanity and save this economy and environment from Big Corporation bullying and Wall St Crime lords before it’s too late!

Beat that drum, and beat it loudly!