The general assembly convenes for Day 5 of Occupy Wall Street

I arrive and it’s beautiful. Everything is cleaner, more organized and more vibrant than I left it. Spirits are high in the General Assembly (GA) and even nature is cooperating, lending us a little sunlight. Since Justin was arrested yesterday for using a megaphone the GA has adopted a system of self-amplification referred to as the “people’s microphone.” A new speaker begins by testing the volume – “MIKE CHECK!” and everyone within hearing distance echoes in unison: “MIKE CHECK!” People are becoming accustomed to speaking in brief, clear, beats and hearing their words reflected back to them by their peers – a democratic improvement on the megaphone. As one cardboard sign says, REVOLUTION IS EVOLUTION.

A riveting message from the finger-painting station

The GA welcomes back one of yesterday’s arrestees, who reports that she was hospitalized after the NYPD denied her access to prescription medication and told her she was suicidal when she demanded information about her brother, who was also arrested. A member of the medical team tells me another arestee has deep wounds where his wrists were bound with zip-ties so tight that police officers had to use needle-nosed pliers to sever them, further mauling his wrists in the process. Everyone who has been arrested during our peaceful protest has returned to Liberty Plaza upon being released.

A GA facilitator asks for a “vibes check:” we signal good vibes all around. People are naturally and intuitively adopting the many hand gestures we’ve developed to communicate: “I agree/I feel good about that”, “I disagree/I feel bad about that”, “I have a direct response,” “I block

One of the many services available in Liberty Square

that idea,” “point of process,” “point of information,” “shorten your sentences,” and “I’d like to be put on the speakers’ stack.” The young woman taking stack informs us that most of the speakers thus far have been men, and asks if any non-male identifying participants would like to speak. Grateful for the invitation, I take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy International Peace Day and announce a rally to support Bradley Manning organized by CODEPINK and other peace groups for this Friday. People take fliers and signal their support by wiggling their fingers towards the sky. In Liberty Plaza, we are all Bradley Manning.

CODEPINK and the Granny Peace Brigade: partners in peace

As people are leaving work we march on Wall Street, led by the bombastic musical stylings of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. I march with Eva-Lee, a seasoned CODEPINKer and member of the Granny Peace Brigade. She is in awe of what young people are doing and says it’s unlike any other demonstration she’s experienced:

“it’s the process even more than the issues. I’m just blown away by how people are treating each other!”

Quiet hours in Liberty Plaza: Make Out Not War

During the evening GA the Principles Committee passes around copies of a framework they’ve prepared for discussion: “Principles of Solidarity [Working Draft of Consolidated points for Discussion].” Someone voices a concern: the media is so desperate for any kind

of statement from us that they will take this and use it to represent us. The point resonates with the GA. I share the concern that the document

will be misinterpreted as a set of demands, which continue to be the focal point for most interviewers asking me about the demonstration, and decide not to post my photo of the document online.

A member of the committee, who tells us he stayed up until 3 am drafting the document, responds to the questions ermerging from the GA. His words resound through the plaza, as the people’s microphone brings us back together:

I know this is challenging // “I know this is challenging”
But I love you all // “but I love you all”
And we can do this. // “and we can do this.”
You can reject the draft // “You can reject the draft”
You can reject the committee // “you can reject the committee”
What’s important// “what’s important”
Is to stick this through.// “is to stick this through.”
We’ll make 100 drafts// “We’ll make 100 drafts”
If you think this is worth a try// “If you think this is worth a try”
A step in the right direction// “A step in the right direction”
We can try it.// “We can try it.”
We can always try again// “We can always try again”
Start anew// “Start anew”
But it’s too important// “But it’s too important”
To not try.// “To not try.”
We will not sleep// “We will not sleep”
Until we can give you something // “Until we can give you something”
That proudly identifies// “That proudly identifies”
What you’re doing // “what you’re doing”
Which is fucking amazing. // “Which is fucking amazing.”

The GA break into small groups to discuss the document. At 9:50 pm someone interrupts with an emergency announcement: Jerry of Ben and Jerry’s has donated 4 cases of ice cream to the demonstration.

We are all Troy Davis

As we continue to hash out the principles, people bring around tray after tray of small bowls of rum raisin, chocolate, and cookie dough. Throughout the GA people have been circulating to distribute apples and collect trash

. I continue to be amazed at how this rag-tag collection of unemployed, underemployed,

debt-ridden souls manages to feed thousands of people and accomplish what our government does not: caring for each other’s basic needs and engaging in true democracy. The twitter hashtag #needsoftheoccupiers solicits everything from independent journalists to extension cords to birthday cake:

“@OccupyWallStNYC: Member of legal team’s wife’s birthday. He spent it here defending us. Can somebody send a cake here tomorrow? #needsoftheoccupiers”

At 10:33 pm we receive another emergency announcement: someone has just learned via text message that Troy Davis will be executed in 20 minutes. The announcement chills the square, as his last words resonate through our bodies and voices:

The struggle for justice// “The struggle for justice”
Doesn’t end with me. // “Doesn’t end with me.”
This struggle // “This struggle”
Is for all the Troy Davises who came before me // “Is for all the Troy Davises who came before me”
And all the ones who will come after me. //“And all the ones who will come after me.”
Keep working // “Keep working”
Keep the faith. // “Keep the faith.”

We have a moment of silence. I take the hands of the once-strangers sitting on either side of me. I hear people crying. Rain starts to fall. The peoples’ microphone speaks:

We are the 99% // “We are the 99%”
We are all Troy Davis// “We are all Troy Davis”
May his soul fly high // “May his soul fly high”
And may his spirit be with each one of us // “And may his spirit be with each one of us.”

Some decide to march to the courthouse. We make sure they are accompanied by a camera and a member of the legal team and send them on their way.

Be Safe // “Be safe”
Be careful // “Be careful”
Go with our love // “Go with our love”

It’s well after midnight. We have not made it through the Principles of Solidarity – at least not on paper. More food arrives: delicious-looking salads, snacks, fruit and vegetable smoothies. The friendly people in our new-and-improved kitchen station promote their offerings, ask what else we need (nothing – we have more than enough!) and encourage everyone to eat. No-one will go hungry in Liberty Plaza. I see the bike bloc leaving for their nightly run and signal with my bell I’d like to join them. They wait patiently as the marchers return and people light candles. I hear the people’s mic propose changing the name of Liberty Plaza to Troy Davis Square.

Police look on as the 99% try to get some rest

We ride past the line of police guarding the metal barricades still blocking Wall Street: me in my pink, Joe at my side in rainbow knee-high stockings. The scene reminds me of an iconic image of a CODEPINKer piercing through a line of riot police with a smile and a pink feather boa — an inspiring symbol of our power to disarm the military industrial complex with humor and positive energy. I sail through the financial district with renewed faith in our mission to bring our war dollars home where they belong and resist the endless funding of death and destruction.

The police may have succeeded in occupying Wall Street with fear and violence, but we have succeeded in exposing their commitment to protecting corporate greed over human need. Together with our friends in Liberty Plaza, we are creating an alternative, peaceful, vision based on beauty, joy, and hope.

We are the 99%, and we are winning.

Day three of the encampment at Liberty Plaza, formerly known as Zuccotti park, is coming to a close. A lively group stands at the corner waving cardboard signs to passersby: JOIN US. WE ARE THE 99%. Helium balloons pop up throughout the park, boosting morale and providing helpful markers (“Where are you sleeping?” “Over by the red balloon”). From the other side of the park, where we sit eating some of the $6,000 worth of pizza donated to the protest thus far, we hear a loud stream of honking from Broadway. People jump to their feet, speculating it’s the Hell’s Angels. Rumor has it they are part of the 99%.

***

Charged with Possession of a Deadly Weapon: Sidewalk Chalk

10 am: I arrive in the plaza to find five people have already been arrested during a march from Liberty Plaza to Wall Street for the opening bell of the Stock Exchange. At around 11:00 am a crowd rushes towards the sidewalk on Broadway chanting “shame!” – police are arresting two people for drawing on the sidewalk with colored chalk. Returning to the scene of the crime Andrea Osborne, one of the chalk offenders, tells me that before she was arrested, one of the NYPD officers told the demonstrators it was okay to draw on the sidewalk.

“I don’t know what they’re trying to do. I think they’re really afraid of us and they’re trying to instill the same fear into us.”

The General Assembly of NY convenes in Liberty Plaza

People converge for a General Assembly – one of many that will take place today – to give legal updates and advice. The General Assembly, or GA, is an open, participatory forum through which decisions and announcements for Occupy Wall Street are made and the various working groups responsible for organizing Occupy Wall Street were formed. There is a committee for everything from medical help to direct action; as of today there is also a dumpster-diving committee and a hygiene committee. The food committee, who on Saturday announced “no-one will go hungry on Wall Street” is concerned about the lack of vegan meal options. Every time I have been hungry, there has been food. Nobody can say we are not organized.

Occupy Wall Street Media Committee hard at work

The media committee of the GA announces they’ve been fielding requests about how to respond to reporters asking “what is our one demand?” This question has pervaded  the weekly GAs ever since Adbusters first issued the call to Occupy Wall Street back in July. The media committee reminds us that we are all here for our own reasons and no-one can speak for the group, but proposes that anyone interviewed include the following two words in their statement: “join us.” The proposal is passed through consensus demonstrated by raised hands, wiggling fingers, knocking fists.

Bring Our War Dollars Home!

Seeing my hot pink “Bring Our War Dollars Home” sign, a member of the media team says “hey, CODEPINK! Thanks for the oatmeal!” I’m as surprised by the recognition as I am by her revelation that she has even seen food today; the only stationary presence in the park (with the exception of people sleeping), the media team never seem to stray from their intricately wired laptop hub, except maybe to light cigarettes. I ask her how she knew it was CODEPINK who brought the oatmeal: Twitter, naturally.

Occupying Wall Street on Saturday - photo courtesy of cphantasm

On Saturday CODEPINK joined the mass demonstration at Bowling Green, marching with a Make Jobs Not War banner and encouraging people to demonstrate what they wanted to “make” instead of war with our mobile Make ____ Not War photo booth. In the week leading up to Saturday’s demonstration we joined with the Arts and Culture committee of the GA in creative, participatory actions aimed at demilitarizing Wall Street and building for the mass occupation.

Throughout the day I see various people – some familiar, some not – adopting the CODEPINK “Bring Our War Dollars Home” sign and its message. A young man asks if he can hold the sign for awhile. He is part of the 99% who are outraged that our tax dollars are spent killing people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Palestine, while record levels of Americans are living in poverty. I watch as reporters ask members of the Granny Peace Brigade what the sign is about and why they’re here, pointing out that most people demonstrating are a fraction of their age. A Granny throws her fists and face towards the sky shouting with glee: “YES! And thank GOD!”

***

Police look on as protesters add to the collage of pizza-box signs

Night falls and I reconvene with The Arts and Culture Committee, who are discussing how to keep momentum and spirits up – hula hoops, radical cheerleaders, music – and the criminality of sidewalk chalk (apparently it’s legal if we clean it up afterwards).

At 9:00 pm the first vegan pizzas arrive. The ever-expanding collection of recycled pizza-box signs covering the sidewalk by the park demand an end to wars, funding for healthcare, bail outs for student debt, jobs, environmental and economic justice, and freedom for Troy Davis and Bradley Manning.

At 9:30 the sound of hundreds of hands clapping from the other side of the park  signals the GA is meeting. The message appears on a giant white sheet projected from a digital screen where anyone can send a message to people in the park and post to twitter and other social media.

Digital message screen in Liberty Plaza

I send a message to the digital screen: I see beauty all around me. I look around at my brothers and sisters in the A & C committee, weary but alert. For some it is their seventh day of action and the third night spent in the park.
We are tired. We are together. We are here.
JOIN US.

Then out of nowhere, about five minutes before noon, people poured in. Our crowd quadrupled. Energy abounded. NYC-celeb and Green Party mayorial candidate Rev. Billy arrived with a small choir, as did some from War Resisters League and more from CODEPINK DC, Long Island and NYC.

And so we were off, dancing and marching with our signs and banners, fueled by an amazing four-person band Himalaya that decided to march right among us. With thousands of others, we snaked our way through the narrow streets (made more narrow by the relatively-friendly NYC police) on down to Battery Park, where several dozen organizations from CODEPINK to the Green Party hawked buttons, stickers and more, distributed literature and schmoozed with the crowd. We heard about 10,000 people marched, quite a feat considering the weather and overall political mood these past few months. Not bad, not bad at all!

That mood — of confusion, of hope, of despair, of misdirection, of disagreement, of inspiration — has made organizing rather tough. Our country’s economic collapse, thanks to mismanaged corporations rewarded over and over by billions of our taxes, has enraged us and given us momentum to call out against its numerous injustices and connect them to the war economy. But our pockets, too, have emptied. It’s not easy to fund-raise, fly cross country to join a march, print banners or invest in outreach, let alone convince mainstream America to join the cause and do the same. We all have different priorities, too, now that the Iraq War no longer unites us. Gaza, Afghanistan and Pakistan — how much has escalated there in the past few months alone, not to mention violent escalations the anti-war movement have largely ignored, like those in Sri Lanka, Congo and Mexico. Then there’s Obama and “Obamanation.” Many of us in the movement rode the nation’s wave of ecstasy that pushed him to his presidency, but now for many of us, that wave has crashed into a wall of reality. How to push Obama when the American public largely supports his every move (it’d be easier in Europe, where G20 protesters seemed to have some answers).

None in the movement here have offered solid answers. But we’re working hard on them. Today Brave New Foundation is hosting a Get Afghanistan Right blogging day, encouraging all with a blog to write about ending the military occupation of Afghanistan, and UFPJ has some days of action planned. We’ve put together this page on our Web site, with resources, and we plan for quite a bit of discussion and outreach at our Mother’s Day 24-hour vigil across the street from the White House this May 9 and 10. The mood Saturday warmed considerably as the day wore on, as we were reminded of our incredible potential to join together to demonstrate our desire for change, fiercer than any wind we faced that day.

Gotta love tourists. What began as a relatively mild, 60-person crowd of CODEPINK women, Rainforest Action Network folks and others protesting the bailout today near the Wall St. charging bull statue boomed into an incredible brouhaha when tourists blanketing the area were totally tickled and bug-eyed by the action.  They snapped photo after photo of the protesters chanting “We pay, we own, foreclose Wall Street, not my home!” and “No deal for Wall Street, new deal for Main Street!” But they really went bananas when two Rainforest Action Network members scaled the flag poles sandwiching the bull and, in a meticulous hour-long production, hoisted an American flag emblazoned with “Foreclosed?” Because of the gawking crowd, police blockaded part of each road straddling the plaza.

Then reporters and photographers appeared out of nowhere; one New York Times reporter said he’d been writing a story nearby about dwindling restaurant tips when he passed the rally, saw the scalers and busted out his notebook to cover it. (And he wrote this great piece here). Tons of passerby working in nearby offices came down, too, saying they were happy we came out and that they agreed with the madness of the blank-check bailout, a theft of taxpayer’s dollars.

About a half an hour after the RAN folks put up the flag, set up a ladder to escort them down.

Now if only tourists could storm the Senate and inspire a no vote?

Time for a Taxpayers Revolt

By Medea Benjamin and Arun Gupta
September 28, 2008 | Posted in IndyBlog , National | Email this article

Congress will be voting this week on the biggest give-away of our tax dollars to the financial sector in our nation’s history. Despite attempts by legislators to portray this as a compromise bill that helps both Wall St. and Main St., in reality it represents an appalling transfer of wealth upward.

While there’s a distinct possibility the plan will pass this week, we should oppose it both before and after it passes. Jobs with Justice is calling for a national day of action against the bailout this Wednesday, Oct. 1. In conjunction with this, we are calling for actions against Congress on the same day. Building on the wave of protests against the Wall Street bailout last week, we must put Congress on notice that they pass this bill at their own risk. With just weeks left until the election, it’s the perfect chance to tell them they’ll be facing a taxpayer revolt if they vote for the bailout.

Look for the closest office of your Congressperson or Senator. Organize your family, friends, group, whomever to do a picket, hand out literature, flood the office with phone calls – whatever. The imperative is to act now. (For more information on alternative economic plans, organizing strategy and protests near you or how to announce your own, go to bailoutmainstreet.com.)

Despite talk of a crisis being averted, many are skeptical as to whether the bailout will even restore confidence – and credit – to the banking system. As one report notes, “Doubts remain as to how it could immediately thaw the frozen money and credit market.”

Even if the bailout somehow unclogs the banking sector, few economists think it will jumpstart the consumer credit machine. For one, over-leveraged, money-strapped banks will eagerly dump near-worthless securities on taxpayers for cash to bulk up their reserves. Plus, with working hours and wages declining, unemployment, home foreclosures and inflation surging, banks are in no mood to give consumers more credit, so consumption – and hence the economy – will continue to contract.

This is why the bill is a scam. For all the talk of transparency in the bailout, there has been zero transparency in the political process. We weren’t allowed to see any details of the bailout other than the government will go on a shopping binge of buying toxic mortgage-backed securities.
Our elected officials – who work for us – are trying to hide the fact that the fix is in. They are planning a shotgun wedding by slathering makeup on a rotting corpse, dumping it at the altar and hoping taxpayers don’t catch on before we’re trapped in a 30-year marriage to pay for this financial debacle.

The plan will be sold as fair to everyone and “the best deal” possible. Bullshit.

First, the cost is being minimized. The Wall Street Journal cheerily reports that in the worst-case scenario, the annual cost would be a measly $42 billion in interest and principal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122245659564179649.html

A new study of banking crises around the world, however, puts the average cost at 16 percent of a country’s gross domestic product, which would amount to more than $2 trillion here. That’s more than $10,000 of future income for every single adult in the United States. http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12305746

Everything else in the proposed bill is window dressing. Language in the draft states “The government can use its power … to help reduce the 2 million projected foreclosures in the next year.” That’s can, not will. Other measures for housing relief amount to tax breaks – so the banks get socialism, while the rest of us get to eat conservative orthodoxy.

Similarly, there are waffling words like “Meaningful judicial review of the Treasury Secretary’s action.” Does anyone believe that a Republican administration of the present or future would subject itself to “meaningful” review?

In terms of equity stakes, it’s limited to “opportunities” for ownership stakes and profit making in companies seeking a bailout. In all likelihood, this will amount to pennies of equity for each bailout dollar in a few companies.

And the provision to disburse the $700 billion in two installments is meaningless. Congress has just a 15-day window to vote to block the second payout, making it highly unlikely, and the next president can just veto the measure. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122260585791683335.html?mod=article-outset-box

The bill’s slogan is “Reinvest, Reimburse and Reform,” which echoes the New Deal’s rallying cry of “Relief, Reform and Reconstruction.” But deliberately eliminated is any relief and any rebuilding.

Is it any surprise that the Democratic leadership caved in on every proposal for direct aid to homeowners on the brink? And there was no attempt to push for the type of government intervention that could actually revive the economy: public works, national healthcare and alternative energy investments.

Provisions like limiting executive pay and cancelling golden parachutes are tossing out bones. Does it make any difference if some Wall Street billionaire can’t buy a new Gulf Stream jet or a new manor in Tuscany? What would make a difference is cancelling the Bush tax cuts, closing corporate tax loopholes, resurrecting the estate tax and ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The super-rich can pick up the tab for once.

The Democrats said a bill that addressed the needs of ordinary Americans instead of Wall St. investors was simply “not feasible.” Funny that the Republicans never think that way. A small minority of Republicans in the House nearly killed the bill because they maintained iron-willed ideological unity. Of course it’s too much to expect a spineless Democratic leadership to do the same.

That’s where we come in. The free markets are completely discredited, and it’s almost certain that other economic crises are lurking down the road. Paradoxically, this means there is significant political space to build a broad consensus for a 21st-Century New Deal that would stop spending our tax dollars on war and Wall Street, and instead help struggling homeowners and build affordable housing; fund job creating projects for clean energy and rebuilding our infrastructure; and fund a universal health-care system that would help American families, while cutting the nation’s long-term healthcare costs.

It’s time to for a taxpayers revolt against this mind-boggling Wall St. bailout. It’s time to build a broad coalition to demand a 21st Century New Deal. This is our best, last hope.