::came::to::see: February 2012

We arrived in downtown Oakland on bike in the early morning, wanting to scope out the gathering point for the street march/occupation. There were a few people milling around- drinking coffee, smoking, chatting. There were way more cops, private security and television crews than regular people or activists. The television crews were getting anxious and carried around their cameras with bored and foolish expressions. They really didn't know what they were sent to cover, but they ran after every young-ish looking punk person that walked across the park.

I know that the "occupy" thing has gotten flack for being too leaderless and not making any claims or demands. From my perspective, that is what makes it the most authentic and awesome to be a part of. I think that it is great that the mainstream media doesn't know what to do with the "lack of leadership". It was really funny and pathetic to watch the newsmen scurry around trying to cover stories/make shit up that isn't even there.

This band led the group, wish I could remember the name...they were from Oakland...so, so good and funky. The drum leader lady is bad ass.

The street protest/dance party/occupation was especially moving and rad. Imagine joining with a TON of other people in a downtown area and taking it over. If you can, imagine doing this in a peaceful, powerful and totally people-positive way. I swear, this street take-over was the most effective action that I have seen in a looong time. There were no permits, no/few leaders and a huge grip of people. It honestly was like a bunch of people woke up, saw the fliers and took to the streets with their friends. People were out protesting the way corporations and jobs take up all our time and money. They were out on the streets because their schools were shutting down. Some people didn't like the racism and illegalism that has crept back into everyday context, so they got out there too. People just wanted to dance in the streets like it was no big deal. It's about liberation for self, liberation for all. My favorite chant of the day- "occupy yourself".

What wasn't funny was the cops. The helicopters circling, droning above my head. The private security people with the generic, corporate military badges and fearful faces. The horses and the arrests. The mass confusion after a day of celebration. These are things that make me scared; make me believe that our current military state is a powerful and sad force to recon with.

We were driving through southern California up to Berkeley listening to a local public radio show, they were talking with some people from the west-coast occupy movements. A lady from Seattle was interviewed and she gave an account of being pepper-sprayed in the face and her tears mixing with the pepper-spray running down her face. Dorli Rainey, an 80-year old activist, talked about her occupy experience and also about her lifetime of resilient resistance to fascism and corporatism. She is pretty awesome and you can watch a video of her here!

Even if you don't know how you feel about people protesting, I hope that most agree that police should not pepper-spray our elders/grandmas/ defenseless fellow humans.

I wrote poems about it.

Occupy I

my heart

your politics

my heart

no matter

is suffering

no matter

grandmas,

grandmas

you are

face-wet

a threat

pepper-spray drool

no matter

if you are ten or eighty

peaceful, violent

no matter

thousands or hundreds

no matter

they will beat you

this time

they will hold you

this time

chain surrounds

around your wrists

they will look at your face

trembling

and spit

no matter

------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------

Occupy II

wrist chains

now plastic

to make arrest

more modern

more disposable

now they buy in bulk

efficiency

a roll on the belt loop

enough to chain a hundred

order more

make it a thousand

so many hands need to be held

back and be tied

so many fists that need to be

shackled

make them zip, now

along a plastic slip knot

tight, like

manufactured fascism

xoxo mary

We had driven again, all day/night. Flagstaff to a random southern California town, Coalinga and the Bestwestern parking lot. We had tried to stop in a town a couple of miles south, Avenal but were pulled over doing a u-turn in the fire station driveway. It had been a really long day of driving and we were just looking for a hotel parking lot off of Hwy 5 to rest in for a couple of hours. The officer that pulled us over was really nice actually, but warned us from staying overnight in Avenal. He actually told us quite pointedly that we were probably not safe in that town at all. So, we took the hint and drove north to Coalinga, where the cop said there was a really nice truck stop and diner.

We never found either of those things, we just found the nearest anonymous hotel lot and crashed out. Early, early next morning we stumbled out of the van and into the nearby sandy abandoned lot. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and the hum of semi trucks was starting to fill the air. Onward.