Occupy Wall Street

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...with Katey and Nan, on Thursday night around midnight, and it looked really nice to me, a park full of people camping out on a warm night, some talking quietly, others sleeping. It was inspiring, and it looked like fun. I was quite shocked that it had taken days of this going on before I had even heard about it. I was on my way to a late-night radio show and then a comic convention in Boston (just got home to NYC 10 minutes ago), so there was no way I could have joined the people there, but if I had not had other things on my schedule I think being there would have been a great thing to do (are they still there? Maybe can spend some time there Sunday/tomorrow?). I suppose the fact that my "other things to do" were higher priority than joining to protest does say something about my priorities and the priorities of millions of others, if the protest was important enough to me I would drop the other priorities and be there downtown with the men and women who have been sacrificing their time for this cause.
Those people in the park might need some entertainment too, if anybody wants to go down and play some tunes. I'm not sure what the situation is at the moment - if it's a heavy police-action scene then it's gotten much uglier than the peaceful communal encampment/gathering that I witnessed on Thursday night.

Immortal Technique just put me over the edge - I'm heading out the door to go down there right now, tho I don't know what's happening there at the moment
ANybody wanna come down and meet me there?
I'll be reachable at 347-819-5894
Jeff

I just got back, it was getting dark and I figured I'd head back home for dinner (though there was plenty of free food there at the gathering).

With an ongoing protest/gathering/encampment like this, there's the unusual feeling of not knowing when to go, not knowing how long to stay, not knowing how best to lend my presence.
After being there this afternoon I'd say that it doesn't matter when you go or how long you stay - the very act of being there AT ALL is a very positive experience. An amazing feeling that it's hard to put into words. The people that I saw there were a VERY diverse crowd. And the array of available mini-scenes was very interesting and inviting. In one section was a "library" of tons of books and publications available to pick up, and of course I'm sure they'd welcome donations (of reading material). In another section was a mini-internet cafe, a park table that was covered in laptops and people gathered around using them - I'm not sure if there was a wi-fi signal or if they were doing other things. In another area there were a bunch of people gathered around somebody talking, I'm not sure of the topic. There was a schedule board drawn on some pieces of colored paper announcing things like perhaps a yoga class at a certain hour, a drum circle at a certain time, things like that. There was a food area that looked very well organized, with a lot of food available free for anybody, administered by some volunteers at a long table, with pizzas, apples, cookies, some kind of rice dish, and lots of other foods. There was a bucket for cash donations towards the food supply.
There was also elsewhere, amazingly, a collection plate of money on the ground for ANYTHING. It was just sitting on the ground, administered by nobody - and full of cash. It said "if you have extra money, leave some - if you need some money, take some."
I bumped into good ol' David Peel, who chatted my ear off of course, quite amiable. He was sitting with a bunch of those old pot-head worn-down radical types, but there was room for all kinds of people here, as far as I could tell no one group dominated the proceedings.

I didn't know if i should bring a guitar, or a sketchbook, or some food, or what. So I had left the house with a bunch of my "low budget video" performance artwork, stuff that might be appropriate to perform there, like my "French Revolution" song. After checking out the scene, I was very inspired by the wide-open "anarchy-in-action" vibe, it seemed like anybody could set up an area for anything, and it would be respected and attended by anybody interested. So I figured I'd just pick a place to stand and start singing my songs out loud, showing the artwork, and see what kind of crowd gathered. But then I noticed a few people who had just started up an impromptu open-mic area - it was a large square of green paper taped to the ground for a "stage", and they had written out some signs announcing that it would be the "people's stage" and they had started a sign-up list on a notebook. So I signed up and sat down on the ground with the gathering little gang of open-mic attendees and I took out my sketchbook and sketched and watched a bunch of performers. Like any open mic there was a wide range of quality, some folks were clearly completely unused to public performance, but it was a really cool diverse performance. A college kid with a cello did a cello improv. An old rasta guy did a long-ass a cappella song/poem, the guys keeping the notebook eventually had to nudge him and tell him to wrap it up. An older fella with a banjo and his equally elderly wife, both of whom had travelled to the gathering from West Virginia (!) performed a great couple of political songs they had written, they were obviously experienced with doing street performance. I got up and did a couple of my illustrated songs a cappella, to great response. I think anybody with any performance skills would be very much appreciated down there - when you're occupying a park for days on end there's a real need for quality entertainment. But you gotta bring your street-performance skills - no muttering or finger-picking is gonna cut it, you gotta know how to belt it out and strum it loud to be heard. Or to do poetry, or rap, or monologue, etc.

That guy Cornell West showed up and started giving a talk in another part of the park and got a bunch of folks gathered around him.

A parade of other protesters showed up, with drums and signs, and everybody cheered them.

Another drum circle broke out and got pretty big.

Katey came and met me and saw some people she knows there.

Overall it was great. The biggest problem, as I see it, is how to get work done there. If i could get my daily work done while being down there, I'd just set up camp and spend hours there.

I recommend everybody go and check it out, even for a half hour if you don't have time to stay longer. It's truly America in action, in a good way. Quite different from any other protest that I've ever attended, really.

I went down about 4pm and about 50 people were sitting in silent meditation.
The sign said "Flash Meditation".
After watching for about 10 minutes I joined in.
About 15 minutes later someone said the silent part was over and some folks brought out drums.
The drumming was on point and high energy.
More people began to gather around and for an hour it was just drums--loud and strong usually with dips into more subtle playing.
We rode the waves and people literally clapped and cheered whenever a drum climax occurred.
Then, some folks marched up from out on the street--including some horn players.
The horn players joined the drummers and it went for another 1 1/2 hrs.
High energy.
All kinds of people genuinely smiling.

It was one of the nicest musical experiences of my life.
No one plays like that unless they play free--with abandon.

The press can say what they like--and one on one everyone there may have slightly different concerns and reasons for being there, but what I experienced during the 2 1/2 hr. drum and horn event was solidarity.
It was above and beyond goals, at least for some.
Much different than what you usually see in society.

Overall I was deeply impressed.

This thing is more serious than I thought it was.

PS Number-wise there were maybe 300-400 by 7pm.

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First of all this is very funny.
Second of all it's an amazing example of how people's media can infiltrate the wider media/culture world, and has a snowballing power. From somebody's iPhone to a local cable-access news show and then up to the writing staff of Jon Stewart & The Daily Show - and the entertainment power of The Daily Show now propels this information to millions of new people being exposed to this incident for the first time.
In addition to the vast exposure this will bring, this is totally gonna make you laugh (tho based on a sad incident at the protest). Check it out and pass it on -

http://gawker.com/5845321/jon-stewart-takes-on-occupy-wall-streets-peppe...

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I'm new to protesting in an organized way--and I am still not sure I am totally into following and being part of a herd where I am being lead, but I was out there today.
I was one of the ones that got kettled in on the Brooklyn Bridge.
I'll leave out a lot of details, but basically there came a point at the foot of the bridge where a large portion of us swept up onto the car part instead of the walkway.
There are different theories as to how/why this happened.
All I know is most of us--as far as I could tell--went that way.
When we got a bit less than halfway the march stopped. I was way back and we didn't know why it had stopped, so people started chanting "march, march".
We saw the line of cops walking behind us and I thought they were just going to follow us across.
Stopped, we were just standing there.
That when the cops caught up to us and pulled out the orange fence.
Two older men sat down cross-legged and were hauled away.
The cops left about 5 feet open on one side and were letting people leave and walk unescorted back down the bridge back into Manhattan.
Then, all of a sudden, they closed it.
I went up to a captain and said "I thought you were letting us go if we chose".
He said, "You waited too long".
Then, a minute later, they reopened a portion and said "Go now if you're going".
That's when I decided to go.
I regret it really.

Neil posted on FB 3 hrs ago (around 7pm) that he was on the bridge and he thought it was looking like he was about to be arrested.

I'm assuming he hasn't updated since then cause he's in cuffs in a bus.

Keep vigil, people!

Neil's out. He was, indeed amongst those arrested on the br. yesterday. He was detained for 6 hrs at the 79th precinct Bed-Stuy.

Judging from his FB post he sounds well.

Todo bién, folks!

It strikes me that the OCW movement's goal is a revolution, which would be a changing hands of power.
They are not for the end of laws, but for enforcing or changing laws.
A leadership circle is forming and solidifying.

I don't like laws period, and I am not interested in them taking over, forming a new government, ceasing all land, redistributing it, and me getting some as a result of that.
A "fair" government is still a government, and still part of the problem.
"Fair" or not, government exists and persists only by a continuing use of violence.
All governement is oppressive to free-minded people.

There was a revolution in Cuba. They lined people against the wall and shot them. Not cool by me.
Wall Street bankers being lined against a wall and shot? Not interested.
Dick Cheney being lined against a wall and shot? Not interested.
People giving me a "good" job and a nice piece of land and then being my leaders? Not interested.

I have no reason to believe that if these folks somehow eventually take over that they will not kill me if I speak out against their new governement.

OCW is an organization with agendas, leaders, structures, protocols, etc.
You get some pure people at the start of a revolution and all corrupt by the end.
Revolution is not the way.

I aim to carry on, being hypocritical at times perhaps, but over all moving forward, letting go of fears, and believing in nothing (ie. anarchy).
I can't settle for a lesser life, or a lesser ideal, just because it's universally unpopular and nearly impossible to live up to.

PS Perhaps boycotting Apple would be a stance worth taking, instead of using Apple computers to orgainze a march against big corporations with shady practices like Apple.
PPS Yes, this is somewhat sloppy and vague, but I haven't got time to fine-tune it further.
PPPS To anyone whose karma (if there is anyone) is truly to take an active part in the OCW movement, I say go for it.

Agreed, the OWS movement has only proposed/backed peaceful protest.
I have just heard the word revolution used by some out there.

Agreed also, facilitators instead of leaders--- at least for now, hopefully always.

Consensus is still not self-rule/anarchy.
If the consensus/majority vote is to do something I am against than I still must become an outlaw to follow my heart.

I disagree entirely regarding the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. monument.
The ends never justify the means.

If you advocate that certain laws be passed and enforced, or that certain existing laws be enforced, you advocate violence.
You cannot peacefully enforce a law.

I respect anybody that follows their heart.

A number of you may have already seen this, I sent it via e-mail to a list of people.
It's a good thing the protest is taking place but much more needs to be done.
Who knows what to do?

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Just briefly I was a Wall Street occupant. I felt a responsibility to go and if I didn’t I think it would have always bothered me. One can’t quite grasp it from the reporting and the images that have circulated. You have to experience it for yourself. It was organized and peaceful. When I was there the police seemed to be simply doing their job, standing by just in case, and hopefully the safety of the people is their priority. Hopefully they understand that they are part of the same group of people they’re watching over. A lot of people were communicating in different ways and that all seemed to be really positive. However, it often looked just the way one might expect it to look, and as people took on their prescribed roles I felt some desperation. This is a big deal! This protest represents a call to action, a call to change, a change to a more humane way of coexisting. I couldn't help but feel that not enough people in the city and in the world will take it seriously or even open an eye and an ear to consider what is being protested. In glimpses, “Occupy Wall Street” might just look like a gathering of hippies alternately dancing and lying around on the pavement and that simply will not stir much sympathy. Obviously the fascists running the corporations and in turn our governments do not yet sympathize, but even the people that are affected by all of this, who really should care and should also be peaceably assembling on Wall Street or in their own cities, much of the 99% appears slow to sympathize with the common plight. The common plight being, as was stated by the New York City general assembly, that our governments are run by corporations that “place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality.” This is not fallacious or unfounded. This is the problem. It is imperative that this movement becomes more focused and organized because the protesters in their hippie costume will elicit little or no sympathy as they are looked at with both disdain and nostalgia. The familiar image makes it too easy for onlookers to quickly conclude that they understand this, they've seen it before, and turn away with a smug smirk. This is part of what I observed. They might suppose that these “kids” have already “dropped out” and they don’t really share the concerns of a middle class. There were also tourists on buses and on foot who looked on the proceedings with amusement, perhaps not realizing how much this struggle is their own. This is not to say that all of the protesters are hippies or just look like hippies or that there is anything wrong with hippies. But it seemed more meaningful to see the citizens who came down after work, some of them with signs, some of them in their jacket and tie they wear to the office. We need all kinds of people involved. These varied people, which might include you, might make more of a difference and help others learn what solidarity is about because more people can identify with them. That is what is needed: people to identify with one another. And we need statements straightforward and plain as well as symbolic to illuminate specific actions to make a difference. Visiting Wall Street I felt like the populace is being slowly killed by a relatively small number of people with seemingly no compassion, just rampant greed. The 1% is a parasite that has been effectively ignored even as the symptoms have become more severe. Overall, the experience opened my heart and I felt a surge of compassion for humanity. Please go to Wall Street or wherever similar demonstrations are taking place near you, and please make a new effort to understand what it is about. The problems are many and they are complex, but treating others fairly is simple. Perhaps by adopting more neighborly behavior (globally!) we can iron out some of these complex problems.

While it can help to spread some information, it's not enough to "like" and "share" posts on Facebook. Many of you are better informed and more articulate than I am. Some of you can dream as big ; ) I hope you will take back some of your fearless, youthful spirit that didn't tread so lightly and didn't worry about saying it just right. Take part in the conversation, take part in the action, and do what you can to bring about the changes that matter to you. Now is the time.