If week one of Occupy Wall Street was about surviving, week two has been about finding our voice. Some of the organizing and facilitation processes we’ve developed to make our movement inclusive and participatory have proven not to be enough, and we are constantly adapting and regrouping to ensure that everyone’s voice in this broad and vibrant coalition is heard.

During Monday’s General Assembly I announce through the call-and-response system of people’s microphone that CODEPINK’s Medea Benjamin will be leading a media training session for women and gender queer/non-male identifying members of the demonstration:

This morning I watched // This morning I watched
News coverage of this protest // News coverage of this protest.
10 people were interviewed // 10 people were interviewed
1 of them // 1 of them
Was a woman // Was a woman
The 99% // The 99%
Is not 90% men // Is not 90% men

Reflecting briefly on the conversations I’ve shared since the occupation began – the countless sound, necessary suggestions and contributions that have been voiced amongst ourselves without making reaching the larger group or media – I add:

If you’ve ever thought // If you’ve ever thought
‘I have something to say’ // I have something to say
… ‘but it’s not that important’ // but it’s not that important
‘It can wait’ // It can wait
Or ‘someone else can say it better’ // Or someone else can say it better
Please join us // Please join us

The message is received enthusiastically. When we do our introductions in the training, we realize many people are not only finding it difficult to speak to press but also during the General Assembly (GA). CODEPINK members following from across the country via livestream have expressed similar concern that women’s participation in the GA seems limited to logistical report-backs from working groups that run the encampment at Liberty Plaza rather than more weighty discussions about our principles of solidarity and Declaration. As these important discussions have intensified, so has women’s insistence on meaningful inclusion and representation in the drafting of our “living documents.”

During the training Medea offers some suggestions on how to make sure everyone’s voices are heard – we tell her about the speak-easy caucus of the General Assembly, which is a safe space for women and non-male identifying members of the GA, and the group responsible for calling the Colbert Report out for doing a piece on Occupy Wall Street that featured interviews with three men and a shot of a topless woman from the demonstration, who apparently was not deemed worthy of interview. That evening a new group, the “Safer Spaces” Committee, will announce its formation to address the problem of sexual harassment:

Please keep in mind // Please keep in mind
Not everyone // Not everyone
Wants to hug you // Wants to hug you
You might need a shower // You might need a shower
If you want to dance with someone // If you want to dance with someone
Or talk to them // Or talk to them
You should find a way to ask them // You should find a way to ask them.

When we get to the practice portion of the training my partner, Anna, is shy and says she doesn’t want to try it. I ask her why she’s here. She freezes up. I tell her to imagine she’s on the phone with her best friend, someone close to her, who’s wondering what all this is about. Without so much as a pause or an “um”, Anna tells me she’s here because she’s been unemployed for two years and she’s tired of seeing media blaming young people for being jobless. Another young woman says she’s here because she grew up homeless and although she was able to escape that lifestyle (I later learn she’s earning a PhD), her family has not been so lucky. We immediately bring the livestream camera over to record these stories, which are more compelling and personal than any I’ve heard covered thus far.

—

Since the demonstration began two weeks ago, I’ve been coordinating with members of CODEPINK, the Granny Peace Brigade, and the Speak-Easy Caucus looking to take the demonstration to the “next level” by staying overnight, and wanting to generate a critical mass of trusted friends to create a safe encampment for the night. On Friday we gear up for our first Occupy Wall Street sleep-out. After last Friday’s was rained out, this time we are ready. At least most of us are – I still don’t have a sleeping bag.

I receive an email from Eve Ensler – she wants to pay a visit and is wondering if there’s anything we need that she can bring. Problem solved. I notify one of the founding members of the Speak-Easy caucus. Her eyes well up – “Omigosh! Are you serious? HERE?! When?!” She tells me about how her closest group of friends formed around a highschool production of the Vagina Monologues and still lovingly refer to each other as “The Vaginas.” When Ms. Ensler arrives she tells her “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Eve and Alicia – one of the V-girls – arrive at the encampment with bags of supplies – including a wonderful sleeping bag that I gratefully accept. Eve tours the ground, interviewing people, and says they will return tomorrow night with the rest of the V-girls – for now she just wants to take it all in. Her face glows with awe, praise, and curiosity: “A second wind is coming.”

CODEPINKers come and go from the square throughout the day and gather for the march against police brutality at 5:30. After the march more members stop by to offer support and delicious home-baked chocolate chip cookies. As night falls I go to the nearby fast-food restaurant that has become our bathroom. It’s packed with young women from Occupy Wall Street. One [Nicole, 20] watches me take out my toothbrush and nods knowingly. I ask her how long she’s been staying in the square – since last Saturday. She tells me she didn’t planning on staying, just came down one day to check out the scene, met some cool people, and didn’t want to leave. “You can’t capture that on camera, that sense of community. I’ve never felt so close to the people around me.” A woman who I recognize from the encampment’s medic committee reminds us that our cell phones will be the first thing taken by the police and instructs us to take down the National Lawyers’ Guild number in case of emergency. We obediently pen the number on our forearms in pink sharpie and wish each other luck.

As I’m consulting with the Safer Spaces committee – identifiable by their pink armbands – where to set up camp, it begins to rain. I run over to where the General Assembly is meeting and duck under a big red umbrella with Sara Beth, a member of the speak-easy caucus. We reminisce over how the umbrella originally brought us together in a moment that seems years ago but was probably last week, when I asked to trade my red umbrella for her pink one. The rain gets harder and louder. A young woman in a poncho tours the square with a cardboard sign shouting like a newsboy: “FREE HUGS!” People huddle under tarps and shout jokes across the square to keep spirits up: “Two fish are swimming in a river. One slams into a concrete wall. Dam!”

Alli, a CODEPINKer from DC, somehow finds us in the labyrinth of tarps and umbrellas creating a patchwork shelter throughout the square. She is down for the weekend to help out and to prepare for DC’s own occupation in Freedom Plaza beginning on October 6th. We discuss what to do if the rain continues and decide to stick it out. I duck from tarp to tarp trying to cover my belongings and rally together other speak-easies while Alli bravely bolts across the square to the Comfort Station to see if they have any extra ponchos. Eventually we seek refuge in the WikiLeaks truck, owned by fellow Bradley Manning supporter Clark Stoeckley. Referring to our Occupy Wall Street-induced evolution from twitter-following to friendship, I joke that I’ll thank him on twitter. There’s about 7 people in the van already, only one of whom is a woman. They welcome us in joking that it’ll make her feel better. This is not exactly the “safe-space” we were envisioning, but it is warm, cozy, and most importantly, dry.

At around 11 pm I receive a text from my partner asking where I am. I reply “still in Liberty”, expecting him to text back that I should come home before I catch a cold. Instead, he joins us about half an hour later wielding a huge Tupperware of freshly-baked brownies. More people stop by the truck as the night progresses, including members of the Security Committee, who leave us with one of their yellow walkie-talkies in case we need anything. Like many of the committees, they mention they are looking for more women members. A figure dressed in garbage bags drops off bottles of water and someone else pokes their head in asking if anyone would like a pair of clean, dry socks. A few of us hold back out of politeness before accepting – he has a whole bag of them. Wiggling our toes with glee in the too-large white tennis socks (“they feel like a hug!”) we all agree: they are the best socks we have ever worn in our lives. Alli returns from a bathroom run with an armload of hotdogs and falafels and reports: “ We have occupied McDonalds!” The venue is full of occupiers escaping the rain, playing guitars and singing “this little light of mine.” We keep a running tally of the number of people in the truck, joking that we should adopt the restaurant’s slogan: 17 served. Everything is funny to us. Max, the sock-bearing carpenter from upstate New York, says his next cardboard sign will read: “For the first time in my life I finally feel at home.”

At 5 am I return to the 24-hour fast food bathroom. It is as hot as a sauna, and we pack in, taking turns using the hand drier to ease some of the night’s saturation. Some are changing clothes, some cutting each other’s hair, some just sitting on the floor to get some warmth into their soaked bones. People tell each other they’re beautiful, reunite, hug, and compare horror stories of the rough night we just survived. One jokes that tonight we should all just sleep here in the bathroom where it’s safe and dry – “let the guys figure out their own thing.”

So one of our goals in promoting the mayoral campaign has been achieved: the House of Representatives has heard our voice! While we’re incredibly pleased at Representative Lee’s swift introduction of the text of the resolution into the Congressional record, we must continue on our journey. We must gather more citizens to demand and immediate withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is no debt crisis in this country. (Republicans are using this moment to demand cuts to government spending, but had no problems raising the debt ceiling throughout the Bush administration.)

We are not broke. (The U.S. still has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the world, meaning we’re still the richest country in the world.)

We are wasting trillions of dollars on pointless wars abroad and we are giving money away to the richest people and corporations in the world.

Want a new contract for the American Dream? Want to rebuild America? Start by completely ending the wars abroad. Then tax the rich. Then you’ll have the money to fully fund vital programs like food for pregnant mothers, housing for the homeless, and job creation. It’s simple really. And it all starts by cutting military spending.

You can start by calling your Representative at 202-224-3121 and asking your Representative to vote no on the entire military spending bill (aka H.R. 2219, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2012).

And be sure you’ve emailed a copy of the mayoral resolution to President Obama, your Senators, and your Representative.

Here’s an excerpt from March 11:

This is my last day in Gaza before I head back to Cairo and then home to DC. And it’s strange, but I’m feeling “homesick” already. I feel both that I should stay here to show solidarity with the people  – joining the ISM (International Solidarity Movement) to help fishermen and farmers make a living — and to get to know this unique wedge of land and its population a little better. Today was jampacked with activities, starting with a tour of some of the most war-ravaged areas of Gaza (the bitter) and ending with a delightful evening with new friends I’ve made here who I hope will be lifelong acquaintances (the sweet).

Check out this excerpt from March 6:

There are 59 of us on the two buses.

Some you would expect to find in a Codepink delegation with a mission of breaking the siege on Gaza: The mother of a girl who was bulldozed to death by the Israeli army when trying to block a home demolition. A U.S. Army colonel and diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war. A Pulitzer-prize-winning author and feminist. A producer for Democracy Now and videographer for Big Noise Films. A member of the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California.

Others would surprise you – perhaps even if you thought you knew them well. The owner of a small record label that specializes in jazz and blues. The manager of an art gallery and sometime candidate for mayor of Santa Fe. A high school math teacher. A veterinarian.

Most are from the United States, but they also hail from Canada, Australia, France, Turkey, Pakistan, Dubai and Egypt.

But no matter what their background or residence, we share the same mission: To focus the world’s attention on the continuing blockade of Gaza, and — in particular – to show solidarity with the women who must continue to hold their fragile families together despite extreme hardship.

A 60-member aid delegation – including novelist Alice Walker, the parents of Rachel Corrie, Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright – is currently on its way to enter Gaza, the first delegation of its size and kind to attempt to enter Gaza since July 2007. Delegates — which include members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as doctors, businesspeople, lawyers and college students — will meet with Palestinian aid groups, Gazan women, and United Nations officials. They will also bear witness to the aftermath of the three-week Israeli assault earlier this year and deliver 2,000 gift baskets to Gazan women, purchased through an outpouring of donations through the CODEPINK website to honor Gazan women on International Women’s Day, March 8.

The Egyptians blinked!! We were contacted by the Egyptian Red Crescent just before dinner on the 7th and told that they and the Palestinian Red Crescent would facilitate the transportation of our relief supplies from Egypt to Palestine. This was a BIG signal. They also mentioned that Mrs. Mubarak was “very interested” in our International Women’s day project. At that point we knew that they Egyptian government did not want 60 international human rights activist camping out with big banners, Alice Walker and Rachel Corrie’s parents at the Rafah Gate. So…. Yesterday morning we set out from El Arish at 9 a.m. and after lots of bureaucratic screw-ups — including that LAST passport which was found on the copy machine — we were in Raffa, Palestine, where we were met by the mayor and had a press conference. We arrived, exhausted but exhilarated, in Gaza City at 5 p.m. and, after a brief lecture/q&a on the actual conditions in Palestine and hopes/despair for the future, we dispersed, some of us to the homes of Palestinians and some to hotels. Some of us stayed with a man who is a paramedic, studying to be a nurse. It was his ambulance which picked up Rachel Corrie’s body when she was mowed down by and Israeli bulldozer. More later about our families and our IWD events.

CAIRO — The parents of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American killed by an Israeli Defense Forces bulldozer in Gaza six years ago, will arrive here Thursday to join Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Alice Walker and 58 other Americans, Canadians and Europeans on a historic aid delegation to Gaza this week.

Craig and Cindy Corrie will appear at a press conference at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Arabesque Hotel in downtown Cairo to announce the purpose and itinerary of the delegation, the first of its size and kind to attempt to enter Gaza since July 2007. Delegates — which include members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as doctors, businesspeople, lawyers and college students — will meet with Palestinian aid groups, Gazan women, and United Nations officials. They will also bear witness to the aftermath of the three-week Israeli assault earlier this year and deliver 2,000 gift baskets to Gazan women, purchased through an outpouring of donations through the CODEPINK website to honor Gazan women on International Women’s Day, March 8.

“I have been to Gaza several times since my daughter’s death,” Cindy Corrie said. “But now it is so important for me to go back, after the people of Gaza have suffered such outrageous devastation — beyond understanding, beyond imagination. I feel a personal need to show the people that I am in solidarity with them, and that I will continue to be in solidarity until the women and children and families have the same opportunities that my family has.”

Traveling at the invitation of the Gaza Gender Initiative of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the delegation will camp out at the Rafah border if Egyptian authorities prevent them from entering Gaza, said delegation organizer Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder. Most humanitarian groups and aid have been denied entry. Delegates will also pressure the U.S. government to demand Israel lift the blockade and halt settlement expansion into Palestinian land.

“We’ve had an overwhelming positive response to this delegation and its mission,” Benjamin said. “Women worldwide feel tremendous compassion toward the women of Gaza and are ready for a U.S. policy based on respect for the human rights of all people in the region.”

For more information, please call Jean Stevens, national media coordinator, at 508-769-2138 or Medea Benjamin, delegation organizer and CODEPINK co-founder, at 018 9561919 (in Cairo).

WHAT: 50 international delegates to camp out at Gaza border until allowed inside; plan to meet with women’s groups, call for end to blockade
WHEN: March 6 to March 12, 2009
WHERE:  March 6, leaving Cairo; March 7, Rafah, Egypt border crossing into Rafah, Gaza

WASHINGTON — A 50-member international delegation will attempt to cross the Egyptian border into war-torn Gaza early next month, carrying 2,000 gift baskets to pay tribute to Gazan women on International Women’s Day, March 8.

Set to depart Cairo March 6, the impressive delegation — which includes acclaimed author Alice Walker, former state department official Ann Wright, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin and 47 others from around the world — expects Egyptian authorities will allow them to cross into Gaza March 7. The delegation, organized by the U.S. women’s peace group CODEPINK and coming at the invitation of the Gaza Gender Initiative of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is the first delegation of its size and kind to attempt to enter Gaza since July 2007, when Israel imposed the blockade.

If Egyptian authorities deny the group’s entrance, the group will camp out at the border until they get in, said delegation organizer Benjamin. Hundreds of aid workers, lawyers, and convoys carrying humanitarian aid have been denied entrance by Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border.

Once inside Gaza, the delegation will spend several days meeting with Palestinian women’s groups, delivering aid to relief groups and witnessing the devastation from the 22-day Israeli invasion.

“We have not, as a planet, been seeking to change the world so that this insanity cannot continue,” said delegate Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet. “Going to Gaza is our opportunity to express solidarity with the people there, to demonstrate the concern we feel each day for the suffering endured. To remind the people of Gaza and ourselves that we belong to the same world. We can bring our witness, one of life’s strongest gifts.”

The delegation will pay tribute to the women of Gaza on the United Nations’ International Women’s Day, which calls on the world to focus on the needs and contributions of women. CODEPINK felt inspired to dedicate the day to Gaza women just two months following the devastating Israeli assault on the occupied land that killed more than 1,300, including 437 children, and injured more than 5,000.

On February 20, CODEPINK put out a call to its members to help fund $10 gift baskets for the women of Gaza. In two days, the group collected enough donations to take gift baskets to 2,000 women.

“We have been overwhelmed by response toward our initiative,” Benjamin said. “We thought we’d take 15 people on the delegation to Gaza and we have 50. We thought we’d take 200 gift baskets, and we’re taking 2,000! American women feel tremendous compassion toward the women of Gaza and are ready for a U.S. policy based on respect for the human rights of all people in the region.”

Benjamin and Wright returned from a trip to Gaza earlier this month where they witnessed the terrible devastation (read Wright’s piece on her trip on Air America here). They found Gazans anxious to have foreign delegations visit, witness and learn about their plight and push for an end to the blockade.

“The Israeli attack came after 18 months of a crippling blockade that had already left the Palestinian population hungry, sick, weak, and suffering from a catastrophic situation,” Wright said. “We must not only provide massive humanitarian aid, but lift the blockade that is keeping the people of Gaza under siege.”

For more information and interviews, please call Jean Stevens, CODEPINK media coordinator, at 646-723-1781.