18th Annual Peace & Unity March, Watsonville

Saturday, October 29, 2011

18TH ANNUAL PEACE & UNITY MARCH IN WATSONVILLE!

Residents Say Remaining Proactive Against Violence Has Made Big Difference!

Event will honor local residents who lost their lives to domestic and street violence.

On Saturday, October 29, 2011, hundreds of local residents will be joining the 18TH ANNUAL WATSONVILLE PEACE & UNITY MARCH which will take place at noon on the Watsonville Plaza. The Peace ceremony begins at NOON. We march at 1PM SHARP. Several community leaders, family members of victims of violence and youth will be addressing the effects of violence on our communities.

“This march is an ongoing effort to stop the destruction of our youth and community by violence,” said Sandino Gomez, an organizer of the Watsonville Peace and Unity Coalition. “It creates a community consciousness about becoming actively involved in reducing violence and improving our neighborhoods for our future generations.”

“Remaining proactive against violence has made a tremendous difference,” said Yovanna Bravo, an event organizer. “After this march first began seventeen years ago, we have seen other efforts emerge throughout our city to bring peace and unity to all our homes, schools, and neighborhoods, and to keep awareness and action focused on building positive community here in Watsonville.”

ALL FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES TO VIOLENCE ARE INVITED TO SET UP AN ALTAR BEFORE THE PEACE CEREMONY BEGINS AT NOON. This yearly event continues to be organized by a coalition of concerned students, parents, community-based organizations, churches and families who have lost their loved ones to community violence. We will never forget the names of our loved ones lost.

We will also be presenting the “Barrio Warrior” award to one of our local educators, artists and community advocates, Jovita Molina!!! It is an honor to give Jovita this award for her tireless organizing, cultural work and participation in improving our community.

Joining the march this year will be a special interfaith contingent of indigenous people and their supporters from many different countries and belief systems who have united in their opposition to nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, including Buddhist monks from Fukishima, Japan. They will be joining the Peace and Unity March on Saturday October 29^th. For more information about the walk and those involved please see www.canuclearwalk.com

This will also be a Day of the Dead celebration. Community is invited to set up Dia de Los Muertos altars.

We hope you can cover our 18-year anniversary of this very important event that is primarily organized by Watsonville residents and youth!

WHAT: The 18th Annual Watsonville Peace & Unity March

WHEN: Saturday, October 29, 2011

TIME: NOON Opening Ceremony, 1PM March Begins

WHERE: Ceremony on City Plaza & March will take place throughout various neighborhoods.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

18TH ANNUAL PEACE & UNITY MARCH IN WATSONVILLE!

Residents Say Remaining Proactive Against Violence Has Made Big Difference!

Event will honor local residents who lost their lives to domestic and street violence.

On Saturday, October 29, 2011, hundreds of local residents will be joining the 18TH ANNUAL WATSONVILLE PEACE & UNITY MARCH which will take place at noon on the Watsonville Plaza. The Peace ceremony begins at NOON. We march at 1PM SHARP. Several community leaders, family members of victims of violence and youth will be addressing the effects of violence on our communities.

“This march is an ongoing effort to stop the destruction of our youth and community by violence,” said Sandino Gomez, an organizer of the Watsonville Peace and Unity Coalition. “It creates a community consciousness about becoming actively involved in reducing violence and improving our neighborhoods for our future generations.”

“Remaining proactive against violence has made a tremendous difference,” said Yovanna Bravo, an event organizer. “After this march first began seventeen years ago, we have seen other efforts emerge throughout our city to bring peace and unity to all our homes, schools, and neighborhoods, and to keep awareness and action focused on building positive community here in Watsonville.”

ALL FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES TO VIOLENCE ARE INVITED TO SET UP AN ALTAR BEFORE THE PEACE CEREMONY BEGINS AT NOON. This yearly event continues to be organized by a coalition of concerned students, parents, community-based organizations, churches and families who have lost their loved ones to community violence. We will never forget the names of our loved ones lost.

We will also be presenting the “Barrio Warrior” award to one of our local educators, artists and community advocates, Jovita Molina!!! It is an honor to give Jovita this award for her tireless organizing, cultural work and participation in improving our community.

Joining the march this year will be a special interfaith contingent of indigenous people and their supporters from many different countries and belief systems who have united in their opposition to nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, including Buddhist monks from Fukishima, Japan. They will be joining the Peace and Unity March on Saturday October 29^th. For more information about the walk and those involved please see www.canuclearwalk.com

This will also be a Day of the Dead celebration. Community is invited to set up Dia de Los Muertos altars.

We hope you can cover our 18-year anniversary of this very important event that is primarily organized by Watsonville residents and youth!

WHAT: The 18th Annual Watsonville Peace & Unity March

WHEN: Saturday, October 29, 2011

TIME: NOON Opening Ceremony, 1PM March Begins

WHERE: Ceremony on City Plaza & March will take place throughout various neighborhoods.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

18TH ANNUAL PEACE & UNITY MARCH IN WATSONVILLE!

Residents Say Remaining Proactive Against Violence Has Made Big Difference!

Event will honor local residents who lost their lives to domestic and street violence.

On Saturday, October 29, 2011, hundreds of local residents will be joining the 18TH ANNUAL WATSONVILLE PEACE & UNITY MARCH which will take place at noon on the Watsonville Plaza. The Peace ceremony begins at NOON. We march at 1PM SHARP. Several community leaders, family members of victims of violence and youth will be addressing the effects of violence on our communities.

“This march is an ongoing effort to stop the destruction of our youth and community by violence,” said Sandino Gomez, an organizer of the Watsonville Peace and Unity Coalition. “It creates a community consciousness about becoming actively involved in reducing violence and improving our neighborhoods for our future generations.”

“Remaining proactive against violence has made a tremendous difference,” said Yovanna Bravo, an event organizer. “After this march first began seventeen years ago, we have seen other efforts emerge throughout our city to bring peace and unity to all our homes, schools, and neighborhoods, and to keep awareness and action focused on building positive community here in Watsonville.”

ALL FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES TO VIOLENCE ARE INVITED TO SET UP AN ALTAR BEFORE THE PEACE CEREMONY BEGINS AT NOON. This yearly event continues to be organized by a coalition of concerned students, parents, community-based organizations, churches and families who have lost their loved ones to community violence. We will never forget the names of our loved ones lost.

We will also be presenting the “Barrio Warrior” award to one of our local educators, artists and community advocates, Jovita Molina!!! It is an honor to give Jovita this award for her tireless organizing, cultural work and participation in improving our community.

Joining the march this year will be a special interfaith contingent of indigenous people and their supporters from many different countries and belief systems who have united in their opposition to nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, including Buddhist monks from Fukishima, Japan. They will be joining the Peace and Unity March on Saturday October 29^th. For more information about the walk and those involved please see www.canuclearwalk.com

This will also be a Day of the Dead celebration. Community is invited to set up Dia de Los Muertos altars.

We hope you can cover our 18-year anniversary of this very important event that is primarily organized by Watsonville residents and youth!

WHAT: The 18th Annual Watsonville Peace & Unity March

WHEN: Saturday, October 29, 2011

TIME: NOON Opening Ceremony, 1PM March Begins

WHERE: Ceremony on City Plaza & March will take place throughout various neighborhoods.

Occupy Santa Cruz Human Chain at Lighthouse on West Cliff Drive

Occupy Santa Cruz forms human chain at Lighthouse Point

By Cathy Kelly - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted: 10/23/2011 04:44:58 PM PDT

Woody Carroll, employed in the UC Santa Cruz film department, wants the... (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)

SANTA CRUZ - About 150 Occupy Santa Cruz protesters joined hands Sunday at Lighthouse Point Sunday in a human-chain demonstration against greed and inequity.

Organizers said they were showing that the local arm of Occupy Wall Street is "united in peace and pushing for economic justice and accountability in the United States." Event literature protested the consolidation of wealth in the hands of a few, with trillions of dollars poured into prisons and wars while vital social services are slashed.

The gathering included people of all ages and levels of involvement in the mushrooming movement. More than one participant noted they were part of the 99 percent, utilizing an Occupy slogan about the broadness of a movement for those who are not among the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

Woody Carroll, 51, carried a flag as rode his bike up to join a short pre-chain rally. Carroll, who works in the UC Santa Cruz film and digital media department, said it's the first Occupy Santa Cruz rally he has attended.

"Like most Americans, I'm angry and I'm looking for a way to express that to express solidarity with Occupy Wall Street," he said. "Our political process has been bought and sold. There is too much influence by corporations and the rich.

"It's in the fabric of Americans to protest and demand redress. You do what you can where you are."

The demonstration began with music by the Sadza Marimba Band and a brief noon rally before the group

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stretched out along the railing fronting Monterey Bay, lining up toward Pelton Avenue and reaching bleachers erected for next week's Cold Water Classic. West Cliff Drive was bustling on a sunny fall day, and several motorists honked horns as they drove by.

Bonnie Loya and Lynn Martin were walking together down West Cliff when they decided to join the chain.

"It's great," said Martin, a 63-year-old school custodian. "It's about time. We've been grousing about things since before Obama, and we haven't really done anything so visual. I think it's wonderful."

Demonstrators held a series of signs that made sense only when held together. One multi-sign message talked of the ripples created by a pebble cast into a pond, while another called for campaign reform and one stated that "all sentient beings have the right to pursue happiness and live in peace and freedom."

Those in the chain sang several songs in unison, including "This Land is Your Land."

Joy Binah, 56, a Santa Cruz artist and farmer, helped organize the event.

Binah has been seeking a mortgage modification from Wells Fargo Bank since November, and said she has had to reapply every 60 days because the bank does not act on her request.

She added that she would join the movement even if she had no loan problems.

"We have 1 percent of the population controlling the remainder, and the time has come to put an end to the oppression," she said. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could connect these groups across the United States?"

Others spoke of lost homes, lost jobs and lost faith in government.

An organizer of Occupy Santa Cruz, Noah Shepardson, said the Santa Cruz group held its first general assembly Oct. 4.

Based at the courthouse steps along Water Street with a camp in nearby San Lorenzo Park, the movement has held several marches and protests at Santa Cruz branches of national banks.

Shepardson said the human chain went well, and that more are in the works.

"It was excellent," he said. "There was a really good turnout and we got a lot of good public support. I think a lot of people who spent time out there on West Cliff got at least a little glimpse of what we're about."

Occupy American Cities to End Homelessness' Gravest Dangers for Already Displaced People

Published on Sunday, October 23, 2011 by TomDispatch.com

Throw Them Out With the Trash: Why Homelessness Is Becoming an Occupy Wall Street Issue

by Barbara Ehrenreich

As anyone knows who has ever had to set up a military encampment or build a village from the ground up, occupations pose staggering logistical problems. Large numbers of people must be fed and kept reasonably warm and dry. Trash has to be removed; medical care and rudimentary security provided -- to which ends a dozen or more committees may toil night and day. But for the individual occupier, one problem often overshadows everything else, including job loss, the destruction of the middle class, and the reign of the 1%. And that is the single question: Where am I going to pee?

Some of the Occupy Wall Street encampments now spreading across the U.S. have access to Port-o-Potties (Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.) or, better yet, restrooms with sinks and running water (Fort Wayne, Indiana). Others require their residents to forage on their own. At Zuccotti Park, just blocks from Wall Street, this means long waits for the restroom at a nearby Burger King or somewhat shorter ones at a Starbucks a block away. At McPherson Square in D.C., a twenty-something occupier showed me the pizza parlor where she can cop a pee during the hours it’s open, as well as the alley where she crouches late at night. Anyone with restroom-related issues -- arising from age, pregnancy, prostate problems, or irritable bowel syndrome -- should prepare to join the revolution in diapers.

Of course, political protesters do not face the challenges of urban camping alone. Homeless people confront the same issues every day: how to scrape together meals, keep warm at night by covering themselves with cardboard or tarp, and relieve themselves without committing a crime. Public restrooms are sparse in American cities -- "as if the need to go to the bathroom does not exist," travel expert Arthur Frommer once observed. And yet to yield to bladder pressure is to risk arrest. A report entitled “Criminalizing Crisis,” to be released later this month by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, recounts the following story from Wenatchee, Washington:

"Toward the end of 2010, a family of two parents and three children that had been experiencing homelessness for a year and a half applied for a 2-bedroom apartment. The day before a scheduled meeting with the apartment manager during the final stages of acquiring the lease, the father of the family was arrested for public urination. The arrest occurred at an hour when no public restrooms were available for use. Due to the arrest, the father was unable to make the appointment with the apartment manager and the property was rented out to another person. As of March 2011, the family was still homeless and searching for housing."

What the Occupy Wall Streeters are beginning to discover, and homeless people have known all along, is that most ordinary, biologically necessary activities are illegal when performed in American streets -- not just peeing, but sitting, lying down, and sleeping. While the laws vary from city to city, one of the harshest is in Sarasota, Florida, which passed an ordinance in 2005 that makes it illegal to “engage in digging or earth-breaking activities” -- that is, to build a latrine -- cook, make a fire, or be asleep and “when awakened state that he or she has no other place to live.”

It is illegal, in other words, to be homeless or live outdoors for any other reason. It should be noted, though, that there are no laws requiring cities to provide food, shelter, or restrooms for their indigent citizens.

The current prohibition on homelessness began to take shape in the 1980s, along with the ferocious growth of the financial industry (Wall Street and all its tributaries throughout the nation). That was also the era in which we stopped being a nation that manufactured much beyond weightless, invisible “financial products,” leaving the old industrial working class to carve out a livelihood at places like Wal-Mart.

As it turned out, the captains of the new “casino economy” -- the stock brokers and investment bankers -- were highly sensitive, one might say finicky, individuals, easily offended by having to step over the homeless in the streets or bypass them in commuter train stations. In an economy where a centimillionaire could turn into a billionaire overnight, the poor and unwashed were a major buzzkill. Starting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York, city after city passed “broken windows” or “quality of life” ordinances making it dangerous for the homeless to loiter or, in some cases, even look “indigent,” in public spaces.

No one has yet tallied all the suffering occasioned by this crackdown -- the deaths from cold and exposure -- but “Criminalizing Crisis” offers this story about a homeless pregnant woman in Columbia, South Carolina:

"During daytime hours, when she could not be inside of a shelter, she attempted to spend time in a museum and was told to leave. She then attempted to sit on a bench outside the museum and was again told to relocate. In several other instances, still during her pregnancy, the woman was told that she could not sit in a local park during the day because she would be ‘squatting.’ In early 2011, about six months into her pregnancy, the homeless woman began to feel unwell, went to a hospital, and delivered a stillborn child."

Well before Tahrir Square was a twinkle in anyone’s eye, and even before the recent recession, homeless Americans had begun to act in their own defense, creating organized encampments, usually tent cities, in vacant lots or wooded areas. These communities often feature various elementary forms of self-governance: food from local charities has to be distributed, latrines dug, rules -- such as no drugs, weapons, or violence -- enforced. With all due credit to the Egyptian democracy movement, the Spanish indignados, and rebels all over the world, tent cities are the domestic progenitors of the American occupation movement.

There is nothing “political” about these settlements of the homeless -- no signs denouncing greed or visits from leftwing luminaries -- but they have been treated with far less official forbearance than the occupation encampments of the “American autumn.” LA’s Skid Row endures constant police harassment, for example, but when it rained, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had ponchos distributed to nearby Occupy LA.

All over the country, in the last few years, police have moved in on the tent cities of the homeless, one by one, from Seattle to Wooster, Sacramento to Providence, in raids that often leave the former occupants without even their minimal possessions. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, last summer, a charity outreach worker explained the forcible dispersion of a local tent city by saying, “The city will not tolerate a tent city. That’s been made very clear to us. The camps have to be out of sight.”

What occupiers from all walks of life are discovering, at least every time they contemplate taking a leak, is that to be homeless in America is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born “illegals,” facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their feces, or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odors. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process, and burn.

But the occupiers are not from all walks of life, just from those walks that slope downwards -- from debt, joblessness, and foreclosure -- leading eventually to pauperism and the streets. Some of the present occupiers were homeless to start with, attracted to the occupation encampments by the prospect of free food and at least temporary shelter from police harassment. Many others are drawn from the borderline-homeless “nouveau poor,” and normally encamp on friends’ couches or parents’ folding beds.

In Portland, Austin, and Philadelphia, the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking up the cause of the homeless as its own, which of course it is. Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It’s where we’re all eventually headed -- the 99%, or at least the 70%, of us, every debt-loaded college grad, out-of-work school teacher, and impoverished senior -- unless this revolution succeeds.

© 2011 Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation. She won the 2004 Puffin/Nation Prize. Her seventeenth book, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (Metropolitan Books), has just been published. Her bestselling book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, 10th Anniversary Edition, has just been released by Picador Books.

Linda's Hearth note: I truly appreciate all that I have read from Ehrenreich. My recently deceased friend, Shannon Casamo, introduced me to Barbara Ehrenreich's writing in a Ms Magazine long ago, when she and I were working out our partnership as welfare rights activists. Shannon was already working for homeless people through Peter Carota's beach flats food outreach, and I was homeless with two sons at the time. Read Nickel and Dimed - on (Not) Getting By In America about the same time I was watching the 2009 financial crashing and the arrogance of contemporary financiers. Wish I could meet this woman before the Lodging Trial I'm facing?

In this article, I see for the first time in print, words from a writer who isn't part of the movement to end persecution of homeless people (I am including our legal support folks), who realizes that our federal and other policies of making homeless people "go away" is killing them. Barbara Ehrenreich, thank you for being true to your intellect. I believe it can help save some of these destroyed lives.

CounterPunch.org Claims MILITANT LIBERALISM of Occupy Wall Street Movement Does Not Grasp Class Disparities

Weekend Edition October 21-23, 2011

6

A Look at the Occupy Movement

In a Manner Neither Forceful Nor Foolish

by RON JACOBS

I first got wind of the Occupy Wall Street action back in its planning stages. I didn’t give it much thought, but considered it a potentially positive thing, especially if it began with a fair number of people participating or somehow captured the mainstream media’s attention. As it continues to unfold, I must admit that the continued growth of the movement has exceeded my expectations exponentially. I have yet to spend a night at an Occupy encampment. However, I have participated in a couple assemblies in Burlington, VT and am in touch with a few occupiers in Manhattan, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Asheville, NC. These contacts have provided me with an overview of the movement and what it hopes to achieve.

It is impossible to put every one involved in this movement into one ideological box. In its current state, it is reasonable to portray the Occupy movement as one where multiple ideologies are competing to be heard. Libertarians and socialists; anarchists and liberals. They are all present and they are all vocal in their attempts to represent the movement. Yet, if there is one dominant trend in the literature, speeches, and encampments of the movement, it would be that of militant liberalism. Perhaps it is best to look at the anarchist classic The Floodgates of Anarchy for a definition of this political trend. In a backhanded manner, the authors Christie and Meltzer describe militant liberalism by “its inability to understand the class struggle, without the recognition of which social change is impossible.” No matter what those signs one might see about the class war, the reality of the movement at this point is better revealed in its mantra regarding the 99% and the 1%. This oversimplification of who owns the so-called means of production ignores the relationship of the so-called 99% to that means and does not demand a change in that ownership to those that actually produce the wealth.

Some in the mainstream media, along with various loudmouths on the far right, have criticized the Occupy movement because it has too many demands. What does it really want, they ask? This is a legitimate criticism and further illustrates the underlying liberalism of the movement in its current form. Every ill that the movement has highlighted: foreclosures, bank bailouts, unemployment, austerity measures and (rather belatedly) the wars of Washington, are related to one phenomenon. That would be the current manifestation of the economic formation known as monopoly capitalism. Call it what you want, globalization, global capitalism or imperialism, the fact is that all of the ills highlighted by the Occupy movement are economic at their most fundamental. The only way to cure them is to end the economic system which by its very nature created them.

Making the banks smaller will not end the housing crisis or end unemployment. Nor will it fix the schools or create single-payer health insurance. It may encourage banks to lend money again, but the very nature of capitalism is for smaller economic units to compete for profit for themselves so that they can buy out their competition, thereby beginning the cycle of monopolization all over again. It is the very competition that creates monopolies, which by their creation end competition. The history of the United States–perhaps the ultimate capitalist nation–proves that government induced reforms designed to prevent the excesses of monopoly capitalism are always temporary, no matter how well meaning the reformers original intentions.

It is no longer possible to reform capitalism. Its current ruthlessness is unsurpassed in human history. The countless millions who toil at its mercy along with those that toil despite its existence can no longer be saved by liberal politicians or reformers. Nor can they be saved by green capitalists or those that operate on the Ben and Jerry’s model. While the efforts of these corporations are commendable in their own limited way, the very fact that they subscribe to the capitalist mode ensures their inability to solve the ills that economic system creates. While it is certainly true that some capitalists are crueler than others, the fact is that when times are tight and profits are squeezed the very nature of capitalism forces any corporation desiring to survive to exact some kind of heartlessness if they wish to survive. This is why monopoly capitalism itself is the problem. If the Occupy movement had only one demand that would address all of those demands attributed to it, it should be to abolish monopoly capitalism.

The left should be heartened by the Occupy movement. It should also be wary of those that would turn it into another MoveOn or Progressive Democrats organization. The reign of Obama should have proven once and for all that there are very few differences between the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States, just like there are few differences between the Tories and Labor in Britain or the SPD and CDU in Germany. All of these political groupings sold their souls to the neoliberal pipedream decades ago and no matter what they do or say, they are no longer in control of their politics or the outcome of those politics. Furthermore, the trends towards free market libertarianism within the Occupy movement should be addressed. Small time mercantilism and entrepreneurship has its place and a certain allure, yet the financial giants behind the capitalist libertarian movement are neither small time nor entrepreneurs. They are some of the cruelest capitalists on the planet.

The organic (as in its free flow and non-hierarchical, not what it eats) nature of the Occupy movement is its strength and weakness. Occupying is in itself a radical statement. Yet, as a veteran of numerous occupations/liberations I can honestly say that the fact of occupying can often become the raisin d’etre of a movement, thereby preventing further political action beyond that involved in maintaining the liberated space. Those of us with an anti-capitalist analysis would do well to involve ourselves in a manner that is neither forceful nor foolish.

Ron Jacobs is the author of The Way the Wind Blew: a History of the Weather Underground and Short Order Frame Up. Jacobs’ essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch’s collection on music, art and sex, Serpents in the Garden. His collection of essays and other musings titled Tripping Through the American Night is now available and his new novel is The Co-Conspirator’s Tale. He can be reached at:ronj1955@gmail.com

Extraordinary Photographer Bob Fitch's Image Inspired New MLK Jr Monument in D.C.

Pajaro man's photo inspired Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington

• Posted by GandhiServe Foundation on September 3, 2011 at 8:40pm in Mahatma Gandhi News Digest

Pajaro man's photo inspired Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_18819976?nclick_check=1

Monterey County Herald

By MARC CABRERA - mcabrera@montereyherald.com



Pajaro photographer Bob Fitch, whose work inspired the MLK Memorial in Washington, at his home on Friday. Photo: REG REGALADO/Herald Correspondent


In 1966, photographer Bob Fitch was summoned to Atlanta for what would become a historic photo shoot with Martin Luther King Jr. Fitch, a 6-foot-tall, self-professed "blue-eyed gringo," captured King with his arms crossed, staring to his right.

An illustration of Mahatma Gandhi hangs nearby and serves as an almost mirror-reflection of two peacemakers measured up eye-to-eye.

King's reflective gaze, captured by Fitch's lens, is the basis for the MLK Memorial that was unveiled in August in Washington, D.C.

Fitch, a 73-year-old Bay Area native who resides in Pajaro, recalled the day he shot the iconic image.

"They called me up one afternoon and said, 'Dr. King's writing a new book. He's got 10 minutes this afternoon. Will you take some photos?'" Fitch said.

"I went down to the office. I positioned the print of Gandhi on the wall, and took this photo," Fitch said. "It's got a warmth and openness. Dr. King was a very affable, approachable person."


The MLK Memorial in Washington was modeled on Bob Fitch's photo. Photo: CHARLES DHARAPAK/Associated Press


Fitch's work with King and the civil rights movement began in the mid-1960s. He worked as a photographer for King at his Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Fitch's assignment became crucial, as racial tensions prevented black journalists from reporting in the South. Fitch traveled through Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.

Fitch was attracted to the social issues of the time after graduating from a Protestant seminary school. He said he would often arrange for speakers from the South to speak
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at Bay Area churches.

"After school, I decided it's time for me to see this," he said.

Fitch has spent most of his career working for nonprofits, as well as doing some manual labor while continuing to hone his photography skills.

He said he came to know King well. Fitch's wife was a secretary to Coretta Scott King. Toward the end of his assignment with the conference, Fitch traveled with King to various events.

"A lot of people envision him as a dreamer — they latch on to that word, everyone likes to dream — but they really are a little more cautious about the fact that he was an organizer and a doer," Fitch said. "He really wanted to make things happen."

The process to build a King monument took shape in 1996, when President Bill Clinton signed legislation proposing the establishment of a memorial.

Some of Bob Fitch's work is featured on popular campaign posters.
Photo: REG REGALADO/Herald Correspondent

In 2000, San Francisco-based ROMA Design Group's entry was selected as the winning design.

Clayborn Carson, history professor at Stanford University and editor of King's official papers, was part of the team that submitted the winning design.

He said the team selected Fitch's photo for several reasons.

"We wanted the memorial to reflect King's words. ... The idea of him as a thinker, as an intellectual, someone who created words that are on the memorial," said Carson.

The designers drawing plans for the memorial needed something to work with, and Fitch's photo fit their needs.

"We wanted something that was focused on his face and upper body," Carson said. "That photo seemed to fit the bill."

Fitch's original image was modified during production of the memorial. The photo's negative was reversed, with King facing left.

Fitch said the memorial strayed from his personal vision for the project.

"It's kind of harsh. I don't mind it being (a strong image)," said Fitch. "It doesn't portray the warmth and availability to people that gave him his charisma."

The photographer said he has never received acknowledgement from the memorial's organization committee or the King family, which oversaw the project.

"I would have appreciated at least a courtesy call," Fitch said.

But he said he's not bitter.

"I'm honored my work is achieving his goal to help continue to tell the story of the miracle victory of the civil rights movement," Fitch said.

Fitch spends most of his time at home in Pajaro. He is active with the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz.

He recently spent time as a photographer for Assemblyman Luis Alejo's successful campaign.

He previously volunteered at Dorothy's Kitchen in Salinas. A Fitch photo of Dorothy Day, the organizer for whom the kitchen is named, hangs prominently on the kitchen's wall.

Jill Allen, development director for Franciscan Workers, which runs Dorothy's Kitchen, said Fitch's work deserves further accolades.

"I hope he gets all the recognition that he deserves. There's a lot of people who don't know who Bob Fitch is, and they don't know the extent, the volume of photo journalism he's done over the years," Allen said. "He's preserving our history."

Velvet Pistol's PROCLAMATION

PROCLAMATION

It has been done, Messieurs!

Already the wax mannequins are invading the libraries
The women walk like watery flags
The madmen distribute the images of their spirit
To the disaffected doors of the churches

Laugh
I forbid you to laugh or to grit hour teeth
I forbid you to sell your songs of love

Scatter our tinsel
Eat the flowers and the splinters
Mingle the aliments of these animals
And give them the whole and remnant of the heart

.......Do not conduct our children to school
.......Learn their secret usage of the word

We have already reversed the multiplication asbles
We no longer reenter the house of crime
We are unwearied een in sleep
Hold on to it to say

.......Today is
.......Round about the world
.......For the
.......REVOLUTION
.......of the
.......WORLD.

-E.L.T.Messens

Linda's Hearth note:
These words are a suggested gift from my Beloved to Occupy Santa Cruz,
this poem is from surrealist 1970s Santa Cruz County zine
Velvet Pistol, undated.
Please forgive, and try to ignore, the "....." because I can't figure out how to make tabs stay put. -LL

Malcom X, "You don't have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. ..."

You Say You Want A Revolution

by Mark Halfmoon
Monday, August 29, 2011 at 3:45pm

In a headline to a link on Facebook to an August 25th opinion piece in the New York Times about Martin Luther King weeping from his grave by Dr. Cornell West, we're told "Martin Luther King Jr. Would Want a Revolution, Not a Memorial." Perhaps. But is the Ivory Tower professor himself really ready for the reality of a true revolution?

Revolution. How easily the word rolls off the tongue. But jumping up to do it requires a commitment to the possibility of personal loss of comfort, freedom, limbs, and life. And those of your loved ones. This demands a complete certainty of the heart regarding your cause.

Only true personal hardship and fear brings people to the streets in a revolution. People don't want to fight. It's not in human nature to be confrontational toward authority. People have to come to a point that they can't take it any more. When they believe they have no other choice. People don't do it in their spare time, on weekends. It is an all consuming pursuit. People revolt when they see their children killed, are hungry, are brutalized. That's what causes revolutions. Not just some abstract debatable issues.

While the American Revolution was a case of the aristocratic class of the colonies convincing the impecunious to fight against their British rivals by offering them an actual slice of the spoils, the French who were barely surviving in abject poverty were forced to directly alleviate their suffering by violently deposing the source of their misery.

The American Blacks who took to the streets and formed militant revolutionary organizations in the 1960s and '70s were at a point of oppression and degradation they could no longer abide without exploding.

The revolutionary anti-war movement arose when traumatized and damaged young men returned from Vietnam with stories of the horrific discovery that they had been set up to be the enemy, committing atrocities against people in their own land, and fear of the draft swept through the country. People felt it personally and viscerally, and reacted thus.

Finally, if anyone entertains the fantasy that revolution can be peaceful or bloodless, they need to understand that the power establishment being revolted against did not get that memo. There will be violence, whether you are willing to commit it or not. The shock troops of empire are willing to commit it. As well as many of your own allies. Once the ball is in play, the game is on. So it better be what you really want.

You don't have a peaceful revolution. You don't have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. Revolution is bloody. Revolution is hostile. Revolution knows no compromise. Revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way. ~Malcolm X

Tea Partiers not a mob but '99 percenters' called mob, by phony Republicans

“Mobs” are a Crazy, Liberal, All American Idea

Guest Post by Dr. William Turner

Apparently conservative leaders have taken to calling the Occupy Wall Street protesters and their cousins across the country “mobs.” Think Progress reports that House Majority leader Eric Cantor used that term in speaking about the Ninety-Nine Percent movement, which is who is occupying Wall Street. Some

1. Happily, President Obama’s press secretary had the good sense to point out the gross hypocrisy of persons who celebrated and benefited from the Tea Party protest of 2009-2010 calling anyone a “mob.” I have heard no reports of Ninety-Nine Percenters deliberately disrupting town meetings of members of Congress, as the Tea Party mob did in summer 2009.

2. But the point goes much deeper than that. As White House spokesmodel Jay Carney put it, one man’s democracy is another man’s mob. “Mob,” of course, is a term of derision that persons in power tend to use to try to dismiss any large group of persons who threaten their power. It connotes a group motivated by baser instincts, in contrast to the supposed refinement of the persons in power (I know, extra silly in the current situation, but there it is).

3. One suspects that King James II considered the group that John Locke was a part of, who wanted to chase James off the throne of England, and eventually did so, a “mob.” But that “mob,” or a prominent member of it, produced some of the most important works of philosophy in the Anglo-American tradition, including the book that provided the logic for the American Revolution.

4. Even higher irony still is the fact that the Tea Party in 2009 deliberately took their name and inspiration from the original American revolutionary mob, the men who raided ships in Boston Harbor and threw private property into the water, destroying it (tea is not much use to anyone after it gets wet, as you may have noticed – who wants salted tea?). I guarantee you that King George III, King of England at the time of the original Boston Tea Party, and throughout the American Revolution, regarded the American revolutionaries as a mob. When they closed the Declaration of Independence by pledging their “lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor,” they weren’t kidding. They knew that, if they lost the war they had just picked with the world’s leading military power, they would all die.

5. And, of course, there’s one important point that makes the modern Tea Partiers’ pretentions risible in the extreme. Not only is no modern Tea Bagger in any danger of dying for any principle of politics or law in the United States in 2011, but the modern Tea Baggers lack even the justification that their forebears in 1774 had for their protest: taxation without representation. The modern Tea Baggers may find frustrating that they do not control the government, but that fact alone obviously does not mean that they lack representation. They have their representatives in Congress, only not the majority. It’s called a democratic republic. Tough turkey. You don’t always get what you want, and adults just deal with it.


As usual, conservatives want to have their cake and eat it, too. They want to gloat about their electoral victory in 2010 with the help of a group who named themselves after the original American mob, then denounce as a “mob” a group that is truly democratic in that neither they, nor any other powerful institution, in the United States, has any control over.

©2011 William Turner. You can visit Dr. Turner’s blog at: http://beingliberal.net/category/modern-politics/

Occupy Together ~~ every sunrise is a new success

For Wall Street Protests, What Constitutes Success?

by Alan Greenblatt

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Demonstrators associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement face off with police Friday in the streets of New York City's financial district.

Wall Street protesters avoided a showdown Friday that could have forced them from their Manhattan camp, but they still face the same question that would have confronted them if they had been evicted: Where do they go from here?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been more successful than even its own organizers would have predicted when they began nearly a month ago. The New York City protest has shown staying power, garnered considerable media attention and inspired satellite protests in more than 100 cities nationwide.

````````Movements don't write legislation. They force open a line of questions that makes it ````````possible for people to imagine new policies. That's always the first step.

``````````````````- Nina Eliasoph, University of Southern California sociologist

Demonstrators have been criticized, largely by conservative politicians and pundits, for questioning institutions — mainly the financial industry and the very wealthy — that loom large in American society. Even sympathetic observers wonder whether the protesters can convert their message of unhappiness about income inequality into policies that actually lead to change.

"The first step of these things is to mobilize community and energy, but at some point that energy and strong feelings have to be focused on what you can actually do to change what it is they don't like," says Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.

Eventually, the protesters will have to build alliances with politicians and institutional forces that, in these early days, they have sometimes spurned. But it's premature to expect them to have a clear agenda at this point, say scholars who have studied past protest movements.

"What starts these movements is a list of grievances," says Rosemary Feurer, a historian at Northern Illinois University. "You don't start with a list of goals, but with a sense of what's wrong."

First, Define The Problem

That's what happened in the past, Feurer says. The populist movements of the 19th century and the early union movement began in a similar fashion: An encampment of people came together, found they shared a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo and worked to change it.

Figuring out how best to express those complaints — and what action to take — always takes time.

American Mad

A selected list of past American protest movements that had a lasting impact.

AP

Civil rights groups picketed a meeting of the board of education in downtown St. Louis in June 1963 to protest integration policies in public schools.

Abolitionism: Nineteenth-century demands for an end to slavery helped bring about the Civil War and emancipation.

Populism: Farmers and other working people pushed an early "anti-Wall Street" agenda that worked to break up monopoly power.

Unions: The labor movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries gave rise to strikes and proposals such as an eight-hour work day.

Bonus Army: A 1932 encampment in Washington, D.C., of World War I veterans seeking payment for military service; symbolic of the revived labor movement of the 1930s.

Civil Rights: A nonviolent movement that peaked in the 1960s with laws providing equal public access and voting rights for African-Americans; helped inspire feminists, Hispanics and gay rights movements.

Vietnam: The war inspired mass protests on campuses and elsewhere in the 1960s and 1970s.

Tea Party: The conservative movement coalesced around anti-government feelings beginning in 2009 and quickly became influential with the Republican Party.

— Alan Greenblatt

"The practical matter here is that where there will be actual, let's say, specific policy requests we'll be working toward, those have to come out of a discussion of the group that is organic and consensus-driven," says Ed Needham, a media spokesman for Occupy Wall Street.

"We're doing our best to define who we are at the moment," he says. "Once we are able to do that, we can do things on the policy front."

Protesting, Not Legislating

If the Wall Street and other Occupy protests are going to lead to real change, activists will have to adopt both an "outside" and an "inside" strategy, says Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University.

They need to keep pushing from outside the normal political channels, but they also have to learn how to work inside those channels, whether by helping create new institutions with a clear agenda that reflects their goals or, more likely, by working hand-in-glove with existing institutions.

It may take awhile to articulate an actual five-point plan that leads to, say, a greater distribution of wealth. And if history is any guide, such a plan may not come out of the protest movement directly, but from politicians responding to it.

"The concrete success, the actual reforms or changes in the system that result from something like this, don't come from the protest movements themselves," says Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

Already, Occupy Wall Street has won support from important institutions on the left such as the AFL-CIO, which urged members to mobilize to prevent protesters from being ousted from Zuccotti Park. But the movement has puzzled political observers by seeming to turn away other forms of help.

When Rep. John Lewis showed up last week to address the crowd at the Occupy Atlanta site, protesters praised the Georgia Democrat for his work in politics and civil rights but successfully argued that he shouldn't be allowed to bump the group's "agenda" in order to speak right away.

Lewis, who had other obligations, decided to leave, though he said he took no offense. Recalling his own days as head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, he said civil rights groups sometimes reached consensus slowly and refused to be deferential to more established leaders.

"It is growing, it is maturing, it will work out," Lewis told reporters at the scene. "It will come of age."

Building Up Support

It may, at any rate, be premature for Occupy Wall Street to join hands with politicians, according to Feurer, the Northern Illinois historian. "The movement has to grow before it can be politically effective," she says.

The protests, however sustained and widespread, are not yet large enough to amount to a real reflection of public opinion.

But the mere fact that more people are talking about income inequality and the growing share of wealth controlled by the nation's richest 1 percent represents a type of victory, says Nina Eliasoph, a sociologist at the University of Southern California.

"Movements don't write legislation," she says. "They force open a line of questions that makes it possible for people to imagine new policies. That's always the first step."

When protests appear to be successful and express important ideas, some people will want to sustain them by moving past street theater toward affecting actual policy changes, says Kazin, the Georgetown historian and author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation.

"This always happens with protests that get large. People say, 'This is wonderful and I want to do something with this,' and they become professional activists of one form or another," Kazin says. "Believe it or not, you end up having organizations."

Related NPR Stories

Occupy Wall Street Park Cleanup Postponed Oct. 14, 2011

from Hearts and Minds to Occupy Everywhere

An Open Letter to the Occupiers from a Veteran Troublemaker

by Jim Wallis

Throughout history, often it has been left to the youth of a society to do that, and you boldly have stepped into the role of the emerging generation, which sometimes means saying and doing what others only think. You have articulated, loudly and clearly, the internal monologue of a nation.

Some of you have told me that you expected only to foment a short-lived protest and that you were as surprised by this "movement" as anyone else. Try to listen and learn from those whose feelings and participation you are evoking by encouraging more reflection than certainty.

While there are some among us who may misunderstand your motives and message, know that you are an inspiration to many more.

One of you told me in New York City last week, "This is not a protest, but a think tank." Another of your compatriots wanted me to understand that you are trying to build something in Liberty Square that you aspire to create for our global village -- a more cooperative society.

Most telling to me was the answer to the first question I asked of the first person I talked to at the Wall Street demonstrations. I inquired of one of the non-leaders who helped lead the first days of Occupation what most drew him to get involved in the demonstration, and he replied, "I want to have children someday, and this is becoming a world not good for children."

My 13- and 8-year-old boys came to mind when I heard his answer, and I felt thankful. It is precisely those deepest, most authentic feelings and motivations that should preoccupy you, rather than how best to form and communicate superficial political rhetoric.

You are raising very basic questions about an economy that has become increasingly unfair, unstable, unsustainable, and unhappy for a growing number of people. Those same questions are being asked by many others at the bottom, the middle, and even some at the top of the economic pecking order.

There are ethics to be named here, and the transition from the pseudo-ethic of endless growth to the moral ethics of sustainability is a conversation occurring even now in our nation’s business schools (if, perhaps, secreted inside the official curriculum).

Keep pressing those values questions because they will move people more than a set of demands or policy suggestions. Those can and must come later.

And try not to demonize those you view as opponents, as good people can get trapped in bad systems and we've seen a lot of that. Still, you are right for saying that we all must be held accountable -- both systems and the individuals within them. It is imperative that we hear that message right now.

The new safe spaces you have created to ask fundamental questions, now in hundreds of locations around the country and the world, are helping to carve out fresh societal space to examine ourselves -- who we are, what we value most, and where we want to go from here.

Instead of simply attacking the establishment "economists," you can become the citizen economists, like the young economics major I met at the Wall Street occupation who discussed with me new approaches for society’s investment and innovation. We desperately need new vision like hers to come up with alternative ways of performing essential functions.

Keep asking what a just economy should look like and whom it should be for. They are noble questions. But you’d do well to avoid Utopian dreaming about things that will never happen. Look instead at how we could do things differently, more responsibly, more equitably, and yes, more democratically.

Don’t be afraid to get practical and specific about how we can and must do things better than we have in recent years. One of our best moral economists, Amartya Sen, says that "being against the market is like being against conversation. It's a form of exchange." You have begun such a conversation about what markets could and should be. Keep talking.

Even in forums where business and political leaders meet, they too are asking those questions and using terms like "a moral economy" as a way to interrogate our present and failed practices. I’ve been in such a gathering this week -- just days apart from visiting yours -- where the participants slept on featherbedding in five-star hotels rather than in pup tents on the sidewalk. And yet, surprisingly, they were asking many of the same questions you are.

Keep driving both the moral and practical questions about the economics of our local and global households, for that is what the discipline was supposed to be about in the first place.

I know you believe that the leadership on Wall Street, and Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues have all failed you. Indeed, they have failed us all. But while you feel betrayed by both our business and political leaders, don’t give up on leadership per se.

We need innovative leadership now more than ever. And you are providing some of it.

Think of stewards rather than masters of the universe as the model for leadership.

And remember, non-violence is not just a critical tactic but a necessary commitment to moral and civil discourse that can awaken the best in all of us. There is much to be angry about, but channeling that energy into creative, non-violent action is the only way to prevent dangerous cynicism and nihilism that also can be a human response to the injustice and marginalization many people now feel.

The anarchism of anger has never produced the change that the discipline and constructive program of non-violent movements has done again and again.

I remember what it feels like to see your movement as a lead story on the evening news every night, and the adrenaline rush that being able to muster 10,000 people in two hours' time to march in protest against injustice and inhumanity can bring. I was in your shoes 40 years ago as a student leading demonstrations against the Vietnam War, racism, and nuclear proliferation.

I would advise you to cultivate humility more than overconfidence or self indulgence. This really is not about you. It's about the marginalized masses, the signs of the times, and the profound yearning for lasting change. Take that larger narrative more seriously than you take yourselves.

Finally, do not let go of your hope. Popular movements are the only force that truly brings about change in society. The established order is never as secure and impervious to change as those who preside over it believe it to be.

Remember that re-action is never as powerful as re-construction. And whatever you may think of organized religion, please keep in mind that change requires spiritual as well as political resources, and that invariably any new economy will be accompanied by a new (or very old) spirituality.

So I will say, may God bless you and keep you.

May God be gracious to you and give you -– and all of us -- peace.

Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

...righteousness like an everflowing stream

"Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

- Amos 5:22-24

SC Weekly Reviews Week-young Occupy Santa Cruz

Occupy Santa Cruz Learns The Ropes

By Tessa Stuart, with additional reporting by Jacob Pierce

Wed, Oct 12, 2011

• 
• Photos ~ Chip Scheuer

A movement finds its footing

‘There are liberals. There are Marxists. There are Libertarians. The beautiful thing is that there is a lot of diversity,” said Occupy Santa Cruz protester Patrick Roooney, a 2010 UCSC graduate.

The ideologically mixed crowd remained patient and focused on the speakers Monday evening at the fledgling group’s sixth general assembly meeting. They seemed unfazed by the dizzying array of committees, subcommittees and various interest groups forming. “This is more practical and more functional. They got good practice already from the weekend, and you can see they’re learning,” said Linda Lemaster, a community organizer and one of Monday’s speakers. They discussed whether or not to protest against counter-protestors and Ron Paul supporters. They also covered what to do when police arrive.

“There will be no way to discuss a goddamn thing if there is no protocol for what to do when the police get here!” warned Robert Lewis, a Salinas resident who has been active in camping out. The group eventually decided to leave how to handle the police up to the protestors’ discretion for now.

While the body count has dwindled in the week since the first general meeting in Laurel Park on Tuesday, Oct. 4, there are unmistakable signs that the Occupy Santa Cruz movement is beginning to coalesce after a week of gestation. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, a dozen demonstrators ranging in age from their early twenties to their late sixties sat in camp chairs or milled around the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse.

“The facilitators are getting better,” said Fred Schmidt, adding that while meetings were getting better at staying on track, some members were frustrated at the slow pace imposed by the consensus process. To them, he quoted Jerry Garcia: “‘All good things in good time,’” he said, adding, “Things will happen if you hang out long enough. It’s just the hanging out that takes time.”

The location of the latest demonstration is itself a sign that the group is beginning to focus on its audience. Late last week, protestors were tucked away in San Lorenzo Park; the group decamped for one night to Mission Plaza before re-settling on the courthouse steps on high-traffic Water Street, near the corner of Ocean, and retaining a base in the park.

Many drivers honked or hollered supportive messages to the demonstrators, and several passersby picked signs up to show their support. Two women with young children held official National Nurses United signs that read, “Take it Back. Tax Wall Street;” other handmade signs bearing the messages “Boycott China,” “End the Fed,” and “Stop Funding Wars” were arranged on the steps of the county building.

Scrawled in sharpie on one cardboard sign was a list of demands: free all political prisoners, tax oil companies to pay for healthcare and education, end GMOs, no militarization of the border, end the sleeping ban—a hodgepodge of demands, and a microcosm of a movement that that has become a clearinghouse for grievances.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on Sept. 17 has ignited pockets of collective frustration across the country. At press time, there were 1382 “Occupy” communities registered on the website Meetup.com, the largest in San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Portland.

Santa Cruz’s movement started Oct. 4, a drizzly Tuesday, with a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people at Laurel Park. The meeting began with a reading of the manifesto written by Occupy Wall Street before goals specific to Santa Cruz were established.

At times, there was some conflation about where the protestors were directing their anger—some were frustrated at corporations and banks, some blamed city government and the county government, some sloganeered “Vote with your dollars” and others advocated abandoning dollars altogether to subvert the economic hegemony.

A mild-mannered octogenarian proposed occupying the former Borders on Pacific Avenue, a suggestion that was countered with arguments that it would disrupt local businesses and put protestors at a tactical disadvantage to law enforcement. Several other proposals—the Veterans Memorial Hall, Chase Bank on Water Street, the Rittenhouse Building—were raised and voted down before the group finally reached consensus.

The crowed ultimately decided to reconvene Thursday at 10am to occupy the Santa Cruz County Courthouse and San Lorenzo Park. The date, Oct. 6, was chosen in solidarity with other “Occupy” actions happening around the country.

On Thursday morning, protestors began erecting tents in a thicket of oak trees beside the lawn bowling courts in San Lorenzo Park. Literature was distributed among the crowd before the meeting began, including a nine-page handbook titled: “OCCUPY! Your Guide to the International Occupation Movement of 2011” and a map of Downtown Santa Cruz delineating the route Friday’s march would take (Dakota to Laurel to Pacific to Cooper to Front to River to Water to Ocean and back to San Lorenzo Park).

“I think it’s going to be a long process and I know there is a wide range of demands, but two of the things I’d like to see are campaign finance reform and a return to higher taxes like before Reagan,” said Noah Shepherdson, an in-home support services worker who cares for two quadriplegics. “People who are making more than $250,000 a year and paying less than their secretary, that’s just ridiculous.”

By Monday some of the realities of an extended protest were becoming clear. “It’s hard. It’s not just consensus that’s hard, but sleeping outside on the ground is hard,” said Lemaster, adding that she has hopes the protest will make inroads to connect poor people in Santa Cruz with the rest of the community. It’s already happening, she said, and Rooney, the UCSC grad, concurred.

“Regardless of everyone’s political beliefs, the unifying thread is that economic inequality is unacceptable,” said Rooney, “and that big money still has to be taken down.”

With additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.

Occupy Santa Cruz Learns The Ropes

A movement finds its footing

Read More: News,

By Tessa Stuart Wed, Oct 12, 2011

• • A
  • A
  • A
• 0 Comments
• Email
• Share2
• 0

Credit: Chip Scheuer

‘There are liberals. There are Marxists. There are Libertarians. The beautiful thing is that there is a lot of diversity,” said Occupy Santa Cruz protester Patrick Roooney, a 2010 UCSC graduate.

The ideologically mixed crowd remained patient and focused on the speakers Monday evening at the fledgling group’s sixth general assembly meeting. They seemed unfazed by the dizzying array of committees, subcommittees and various interest groups forming. “This is more practical and more functional. They got good practice already from the weekend, and you can see they’re learning,” said Linda Lemaster, a community organizer and one of Monday’s speakers. They discussed whether or not to protest against counterprotestors and Ron Paul supporters. They also covered what to do when police arrive.

“There will be no way to discuss a goddamn thing if there is no protocol for what to do when the police get here!” warned Robert Lewis, a Salinas resident who has been active in camping out. The group eventually decided to leave how to handle the police up to the protestors’ discretion for now.

While the body count has dwindled in the week since the first general meeting in Laurel Park on Tuesday, Oct. 4, there are unmistakable signs that the Occupy Santa Cruz movement is beginning to coalesce after a week of gestation. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, a dozen demonstrators ranging in age from their early twenties to their late sixties sat in camp chairs or milled around the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse.

“The facilitators are getting better,” said Fred Schmidt, adding that while meetings were getting better at staying on track, some members were frustrated at the slow pace imposed by the consensus process. To them, he quoted Jerry Garcia: “‘All good things in good time,’” he said, adding, “Things will happen if you hang out long enough. It’s just the hanging out that takes time.”

The location of the latest demonstration is itself a sign that the group is beginning to focus on its audience. Late last week, protestors were tucked away in San Lorenzo Park; the group decamped for one night to Mission Plaza before re-settling on the courthouse steps on high-traffic Water Street, near the corner of Ocean, and retaining a base in the park.

Many drivers honked or hollered supportive messages to the demonstrators, and several passersby picked signs up to show their support. Two women with young children held official National Nurses United signs that read, “Take it Back. Tax Wall Street;” other handmade signs bearing the messages “Boycott China,” “End the Fed,” and “Stop Funding Wars” were arranged on the steps of the county building.

Scrawled in sharpie on one cardboard sign was a list of demands: free all political prisoners, tax oil companies to pay for healthcare and education, end GMOs, no militarization of the border, end the sleeping ban—a hodgepodge of demands, and a microcosm of a movement that that has become a clearinghouse for grievances.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on Sept. 17 has ignited pockets of collective frustration across the country. At press time, there were 1382 “Occupy” communities registered on the website Meetup.com, the largest in San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Portland.

Santa Cruz’s movement started Oct. 4, a drizzly Tuesday, with a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people at Laurel Park. The meeting began with a reading of the manifesto written by Occupy Wall Street before goals specific to Santa Cruz were established.

At times, there was some conflation about where the protestors were directing their anger—some were frustrated at corporations and banks, some blamed city government and the county government, some sloganeered “Vote with your dollars” and others advocated abandoning dollars altogether to subvert the economic hegemony.

A mild-mannered octogenarian proposed occupying the former Borders on Pacific Avenue, a suggestion that was countered with arguments that it would disrupt local businesses and put protestors at a tactical disadvantage to law enforcement. Several other proposals—the Veterans Memorial Hall, Chase Bank on Water Street, the Rittenhouse Building—were raised and voted down before the group finally reached consensus.

The crowed ultimately decided to reconvene Thursday at 10am to occupy the Santa Cruz County Courthouse and San Lorenzo Park. The date, Oct. 6, was chosen in solidarity with other “Occupy” actions happening around the country.

On Thursday morning, protestors began erecting tents in a thicket of oak trees beside the lawn bowling courts in San Lorenzo Park. Literature was distributed among the crowd before the meeting began, including a nine-page handbook titled: “OCCUPY! Your Guide to the International Occupation Movement of 2011” and a map of Downtown Santa Cruz delineating the route Friday’s march would take (Dakota to Laurel to Pacific to Cooper to Front to River to Water to Ocean and back to San Lorenzo Park).

“I think it’s going to be a long process and I know there is a wide range of demands, but two of the things I’d like to see are campaign finance reform and a return to higher taxes like before Reagan,” said Noah Shepherdson, an in-home support services worker who cares for two quadriplegics. “People who are making more than $250,000 a year and paying less than their secretary, that’s just ridiculous.”

By Monday some of the realities of an extended protest were becoming clear. “It’s hard. It’s not just consensus that’s hard, but sleeping outside on the ground is hard,” said Lemaster, adding that she has hopes the protest will make inroads to connect poor people in Santa Cruz with the rest of the community. It’s already happening, she said, and Rooney, the UCSC grad, concurred.

“Regardless of everyone’s political beliefs, the unifying thread is that economic inequality is unacceptable,” said Rooney, “and that big money still has to be taken down.”

With additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.

Occupy Santa Cruz Learns The Ropes

A movement finds its footing

Read More: News,

By Tessa Stuart Wed, Oct 12, 2011

• • A
  • A
  • A
• 0 Comments
• Email
• Share2
• 0

Credit: Chip Scheuer

‘There are liberals. There are Marxists. There are Libertarians. The beautiful thing is that there is a lot of diversity,” said Occupy Santa Cruz protester Patrick Roooney, a 2010 UCSC graduate.

The ideologically mixed crowd remained patient and focused on the speakers Monday evening at the fledgling group’s sixth general assembly meeting. They seemed unfazed by the dizzying array of committees, subcommittees and various interest groups forming. “This is more practical and more functional. They got good practice already from the weekend, and you can see they’re learning,” said Linda Lemaster, a community organizer and one of Monday’s speakers. They discussed whether or not to protest against counterprotestors and Ron Paul supporters. They also covered what to do when police arrive.

“There will be no way to discuss a goddamn thing if there is no protocol for what to do when the police get here!” warned Robert Lewis, a Salinas resident who has been active in camping out. The group eventually decided to leave how to handle the police up to the protestors’ discretion for now.

While the body count has dwindled in the week since the first general meeting in Laurel Park on Tuesday, Oct. 4, there are unmistakable signs that the Occupy Santa Cruz movement is beginning to coalesce after a week of gestation. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, a dozen demonstrators ranging in age from their early twenties to their late sixties sat in camp chairs or milled around the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse.

“The facilitators are getting better,” said Fred Schmidt, adding that while meetings were getting better at staying on track, some members were frustrated at the slow pace imposed by the consensus process. To them, he quoted Jerry Garcia: “‘All good things in good time,’” he said, adding, “Things will happen if you hang out long enough. It’s just the hanging out that takes time.”

The location of the latest demonstration is itself a sign that the group is beginning to focus on its audience. Late last week, protestors were tucked away in San Lorenzo Park; the group decamped for one night to Mission Plaza before re-settling on the courthouse steps on high-traffic Water Street, near the corner of Ocean, and retaining a base in the park.

Many drivers honked or hollered supportive messages to the demonstrators, and several passersby picked signs up to show their support. Two women with young children held official National Nurses United signs that read, “Take it Back. Tax Wall Street;” other handmade signs bearing the messages “Boycott China,” “End the Fed,” and “Stop Funding Wars” were arranged on the steps of the county building.

Scrawled in sharpie on one cardboard sign was a list of demands: free all political prisoners, tax oil companies to pay for healthcare and education, end GMOs, no militarization of the border, end the sleeping ban—a hodgepodge of demands, and a microcosm of a movement that that has become a clearinghouse for grievances.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on Sept. 17 has ignited pockets of collective frustration across the country. At press time, there were 1382 “Occupy” communities registered on the website Meetup.com, the largest in San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Portland.

Santa Cruz’s movement started Oct. 4, a drizzly Tuesday, with a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people at Laurel Park. The meeting began with a reading of the manifesto written by Occupy Wall Street before goals specific to Santa Cruz were established.

At times, there was some conflation about where the protestors were directing their anger—some were frustrated at corporations and banks, some blamed city government and the county government, some sloganeered “Vote with your dollars” and others advocated abandoning dollars altogether to subvert the economic hegemony.

A mild-mannered octogenarian proposed occupying the former Borders on Pacific Avenue, a suggestion that was countered with arguments that it would disrupt local businesses and put protestors at a tactical disadvantage to law enforcement. Several other proposals—the Veterans Memorial Hall, Chase Bank on Water Street, the Rittenhouse Building—were raised and voted down before the group finally reached consensus.

The crowed ultimately decided to reconvene Thursday at 10am to occupy the Santa Cruz County Courthouse and San Lorenzo Park. The date, Oct. 6, was chosen in solidarity with other “Occupy” actions happening around the country.

On Thursday morning, protestors began erecting tents in a thicket of oak trees beside the lawn bowling courts in San Lorenzo Park. Literature was distributed among the crowd before the meeting began, including a nine-page handbook titled: “OCCUPY! Your Guide to the International Occupation Movement of 2011” and a map of Downtown Santa Cruz delineating the route Friday’s march would take (Dakota to Laurel to Pacific to Cooper to Front to River to Water to Ocean and back to San Lorenzo Park).

“I think it’s going to be a long process and I know there is a wide range of demands, but two of the things I’d like to see are campaign finance reform and a return to higher taxes like before Reagan,” said Noah Shepherdson, an in-home support services worker who cares for two quadriplegics. “People who are making more than $250,000 a year and paying less than their secretary, that’s just ridiculous.”

By Monday some of the realities of an extended protest were becoming clear. “It’s hard. It’s not just consensus that’s hard, but sleeping outside on the ground is hard,” said Lemaster, adding that she has hopes the protest will make inroads to connect poor people in Santa Cruz with the rest of the community. It’s already happening, she said, and Rooney, the UCSC grad, concurred.

“Regardless of everyone’s political beliefs, the unifying thread is that economic inequality is unacceptable,” said Rooney, “and that big money still has to be taken down.”

With additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.

Occupy Santa Cruz Learns The Ropes

A movement finds its footing

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By Tessa Stuart Wed, Oct 12, 2011

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Credit: Chip Scheuer

‘There are liberals. There are Marxists. There are Libertarians. The beautiful thing is that there is a lot of diversity,” said Occupy Santa Cruz protester Patrick Roooney, a 2010 UCSC graduate.

The ideologically mixed crowd remained patient and focused on the speakers Monday evening at the fledgling group’s sixth general assembly meeting. They seemed unfazed by the dizzying array of committees, subcommittees and various interest groups forming. “This is more practical and more functional. They got good practice already from the weekend, and you can see they’re learning,” said Linda Lemaster, a community organizer and one of Monday’s speakers. They discussed whether or not to protest against counterprotestors and Ron Paul supporters. They also covered what to do when police arrive.

“There will be no way to discuss a goddamn thing if there is no protocol for what to do when the police get here!” warned Robert Lewis, a Salinas resident who has been active in camping out. The group eventually decided to leave how to handle the police up to the protestors’ discretion for now.

While the body count has dwindled in the week since the first general meeting in Laurel Park on Tuesday, Oct. 4, there are unmistakable signs that the Occupy Santa Cruz movement is beginning to coalesce after a week of gestation. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, a dozen demonstrators ranging in age from their early twenties to their late sixties sat in camp chairs or milled around the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse.

“The facilitators are getting better,” said Fred Schmidt, adding that while meetings were getting better at staying on track, some members were frustrated at the slow pace imposed by the consensus process. To them, he quoted Jerry Garcia: “‘All good things in good time,’” he said, adding, “Things will happen if you hang out long enough. It’s just the hanging out that takes time.”

The location of the latest demonstration is itself a sign that the group is beginning to focus on its audience. Late last week, protestors were tucked away in San Lorenzo Park; the group decamped for one night to Mission Plaza before re-settling on the courthouse steps on high-traffic Water Street, near the corner of Ocean, and retaining a base in the park.

Many drivers honked or hollered supportive messages to the demonstrators, and several passersby picked signs up to show their support. Two women with young children held official National Nurses United signs that read, “Take it Back. Tax Wall Street;” other handmade signs bearing the messages “Boycott China,” “End the Fed,” and “Stop Funding Wars” were arranged on the steps of the county building.

Scrawled in sharpie on one cardboard sign was a list of demands: free all political prisoners, tax oil companies to pay for healthcare and education, end GMOs, no militarization of the border, end the sleeping ban—a hodgepodge of demands, and a microcosm of a movement that that has become a clearinghouse for grievances.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on Sept. 17 has ignited pockets of collective frustration across the country. At press time, there were 1382 “Occupy” communities registered on the website Meetup.com, the largest in San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Portland.

Santa Cruz’s movement started Oct. 4, a drizzly Tuesday, with a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people at Laurel Park. The meeting began with a reading of the manifesto written by Occupy Wall Street before goals specific to Santa Cruz were established.

At times, there was some conflation about where the protestors were directing their anger—some were frustrated at corporations and banks, some blamed city government and the county government, some sloganeered “Vote with your dollars” and others advocated abandoning dollars altogether to subvert the economic hegemony.

A mild-mannered octogenarian proposed occupying the former Borders on Pacific Avenue, a suggestion that was countered with arguments that it would disrupt local businesses and put protestors at a tactical disadvantage to law enforcement. Several other proposals—the Veterans Memorial Hall, Chase Bank on Water Street, the Rittenhouse Building—were raised and voted down before the group finally reached consensus.

The crowed ultimately decided to reconvene Thursday at 10am to occupy the Santa Cruz County Courthouse and San Lorenzo Park. The date, Oct. 6, was chosen in solidarity with other “Occupy” actions happening around the country.

On Thursday morning, protestors began erecting tents in a thicket of oak trees beside the lawn bowling courts in San Lorenzo Park. Literature was distributed among the crowd before the meeting began, including a nine-page handbook titled: “OCCUPY! Your Guide to the International Occupation Movement of 2011” and a map of Downtown Santa Cruz delineating the route Friday’s march would take (Dakota to Laurel to Pacific to Cooper to Front to River to Water to Ocean and back to San Lorenzo Park).

“I think it’s going to be a long process and I know there is a wide range of demands, but two of the things I’d like to see are campaign finance reform and a return to higher taxes like before Reagan,” said Noah Shepherdson, an in-home support services worker who cares for two quadriplegics. “People who are making more than $250,000 a year and paying less than their secretary, that’s just ridiculous.”

By Monday some of the realities of an extended protest were becoming clear. “It’s hard. It’s not just consensus that’s hard, but sleeping outside on the ground is hard,” said Lemaster, adding that she has hopes the protest will make inroads to connect poor people in Santa Cruz with the rest of the community. It’s already happening, she said, and Rooney, the UCSC grad, concurred.

“Regardless of everyone’s political beliefs, the unifying thread is that economic inequality is unacceptable,” said Rooney, “and that big money still has to be taken down.”

With additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.

Occupy Santa Cruz Learns The Ropes

A movement finds its footing

Read More: News,

By Tessa Stuart Wed, Oct 12, 2011

• • A
  • A
  • A
• 0 Comments
• Email
• Share2
• 0

Credit: Chip Scheuer

‘There are liberals. There are Marxists. There are Libertarians. The beautiful thing is that there is a lot of diversity,” said Occupy Santa Cruz protester Patrick Roooney, a 2010 UCSC graduate.

The ideologically mixed crowd remained patient and focused on the speakers Monday evening at the fledgling group’s sixth general assembly meeting. They seemed unfazed by the dizzying array of committees, subcommittees and various interest groups forming. “This is more practical and more functional. They got good practice already from the weekend, and you can see they’re learning,” said Linda Lemaster, a community organizer and one of Monday’s speakers. They discussed whether or not to protest against counterprotestors and Ron Paul supporters. They also covered what to do when police arrive.

“There will be no way to discuss a goddamn thing if there is no protocol for what to do when the police get here!” warned Robert Lewis, a Salinas resident who has been active in camping out. The group eventually decided to leave how to handle the police up to the protestors’ discretion for now.

While the body count has dwindled in the week since the first general meeting in Laurel Park on Tuesday, Oct. 4, there are unmistakable signs that the Occupy Santa Cruz movement is beginning to coalesce after a week of gestation. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, a dozen demonstrators ranging in age from their early twenties to their late sixties sat in camp chairs or milled around the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse.

“The facilitators are getting better,” said Fred Schmidt, adding that while meetings were getting better at staying on track, some members were frustrated at the slow pace imposed by the consensus process. To them, he quoted Jerry Garcia: “‘All good things in good time,’” he said, adding, “Things will happen if you hang out long enough. It’s just the hanging out that takes time.”

The location of the latest demonstration is itself a sign that the group is beginning to focus on its audience. Late last week, protestors were tucked away in San Lorenzo Park; the group decamped for one night to Mission Plaza before re-settling on the courthouse steps on high-traffic Water Street, near the corner of Ocean, and retaining a base in the park.

Many drivers honked or hollered supportive messages to the demonstrators, and several passersby picked signs up to show their support. Two women with young children held official National Nurses United signs that read, “Take it Back. Tax Wall Street;” other handmade signs bearing the messages “Boycott China,” “End the Fed,” and “Stop Funding Wars” were arranged on the steps of the county building.

Scrawled in sharpie on one cardboard sign was a list of demands: free all political prisoners, tax oil companies to pay for healthcare and education, end GMOs, no militarization of the border, end the sleeping ban—a hodgepodge of demands, and a microcosm of a movement that that has become a clearinghouse for grievances.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on Sept. 17 has ignited pockets of collective frustration across the country. At press time, there were 1382 “Occupy” communities registered on the website Meetup.com, the largest in San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Portland.

Santa Cruz’s movement started Oct. 4, a drizzly Tuesday, with a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people at Laurel Park. The meeting began with a reading of the manifesto written by Occupy Wall Street before goals specific to Santa Cruz were established.

At times, there was some conflation about where the protestors were directing their anger—some were frustrated at corporations and banks, some blamed city government and the county government, some sloganeered “Vote with your dollars” and others advocated abandoning dollars altogether to subvert the economic hegemony.

A mild-mannered octogenarian proposed occupying the former Borders on Pacific Avenue, a suggestion that was countered with arguments that it would disrupt local businesses and put protestors at a tactical disadvantage to law enforcement. Several other proposals—the Veterans Memorial Hall, Chase Bank on Water Street, the Rittenhouse Building—were raised and voted down before the group finally reached consensus.

The crowed ultimately decided to reconvene Thursday at 10am to occupy the Santa Cruz County Courthouse and San Lorenzo Park. The date, Oct. 6, was chosen in solidarity with other “Occupy” actions happening around the country.

On Thursday morning, protestors began erecting tents in a thicket of oak trees beside the lawn bowling courts in San Lorenzo Park. Literature was distributed among the crowd before the meeting began, including a nine-page handbook titled: “OCCUPY! Your Guide to the International Occupation Movement of 2011” and a map of Downtown Santa Cruz delineating the route Friday’s march would take (Dakota to Laurel to Pacific to Cooper to Front to River to Water to Ocean and back to San Lorenzo Park).

“I think it’s going to be a long process and I know there is a wide range of demands, but two of the things I’d like to see are campaign finance reform and a return to higher taxes like before Reagan,” said Noah Shepherdson, an in-home support services worker who cares for two quadriplegics. “People who are making more than $250,000 a year and paying less than their secretary, that’s just ridiculous.”

By Monday some of the realities of an extended protest were becoming clear. “It’s hard. It’s not just consensus that’s hard, but sleeping outside on the ground is hard,” said Lemaster, adding that she has hopes the protest will make inroads to connect poor people in Santa Cruz with the rest of the community. It’s already happening, she said, and Rooney, the UCSC grad, concurred.

“Regardless of everyone’s political beliefs, the unifying thread is that economic inequality is unacceptable,” said Rooney, “and that big money still has to be taken down.”

With additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.