The Classroom at the End of the Occupation
A Report from the Sidelines of Oakland
The first tweet from the Occupy Oakland had gone out just a few minutes before three, and we managed to make it to the plaza in about half an hour. When my wife Marcy and I arrived at Frank Ogawa Plaza, now redubbed, “Oscar Grant Plaza”, the flimsy barricades, some consisting of milk crates, had already been installed in preparation for the police attack. The occupiers, most with bandanas or scarves covering their faces as some sort of protection or guard for anonymity, worked as if directed, though there was no one directing. It soon became clear that this was a problem. This was, in a sense, THE problem. After two weeks occupying the plaza, the “leadership” wasn’t leading; the unity of cause wasn’t a unity of action, and the occupation was now facing a very highly disciplined, well-armed, uniform and uniformed
Goodbye to a State (of Being)
Four hundred and seventy years ago, famed Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and his men got lost in the Texas panhandle. They floundered there for three weeks.
They were confounded by the redundant plains. They were disoriented by what seemed to them a landmark-less sea of grass.
As I recently turned off US Hwy 287 at Claude, Texas and got on County Road 1151, venturing due west towards Canyon, Texas and Palo Duro Canyon, I crossed what used to comprise one of these amazing plains. But instead of indigenous grasslands, most of the area is now farmland. The beginning and end of this quiet 30-mile stretch is dotted with occasional houses, metal churches and closed-down firework stands. The middle features
Occupy Santa Rosa’s First Week Contrasts with Wall Street’s Moral Principle
The inspiring grand opening of Occupy Santa Rosa in Northern California on October 15 was a great success. I was energized from the moment I saw and felt the surprisingly large crowd, which turned out to be some 3000, around City Hall.
Many aspects of that historic occasion were impressive. People were genuinely joyous to be together, as well as angry at the 1% who rule the United States, extracting their excessive wealth from the labor of the rest of us and the Earth’s natural resources. Yes, it is a class conflict, started by the 1%, which the 99% is finally mobilizing to