[Peace-discuss] Fw: [socialistdiscussion] latest developments

Thu Oct 27 07:04:55 CDT 2011

----- Original Message ----- 
From: John Reimann 
To: socialistdiscussion at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 2:15 AM
Subject: Re: [socialistdiscussion] latest developments

I just returned from downtown Oakland. The turnout at the general assembly was overwhelming. The GA was held in the amphitheater of Oscar Grant Plaza. The entire "seating" area was packed from side to side. The depressed area between it and the stage was packed. The facilitators had to keep requesting that people move back because the stage area was packed full as was the walkway behind it and the City Hall steps.

We put a proposal to the crowd that one week from today we have a shut down and general strike in Oakland. Many concerns were raised - whether we could organize that in time, could we get workers to strike, etc. Boots Riley (of Boots and the Coup - an excellent radical rap group in Oakland) made the point that thousands of union workers are looking for some point of inspiration. Others pointed out that we have to strike when the iron is hot. In the end, the vote on the proposal went as follows:

"yes" -- 1,484
"abstain" -- 76
"no" -- 44

If comrades want to spread this message as far and wide as possible, and launch a call for a global general strike/day of action on that date, I think it would be great.

John

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 6:30 PM, Sonja Engelhardt <sonjaengelhardt69 at gmail.com> wrote:

  It looks like Downtown Oakland is (almost) re-occupied again right now. There are 2000 people down there in the middle of Oakland, (nearby the re-named "Oscar Grant"-Plazza) at this moment. The police brutality of last night has brought out a lot of more people, and the mayor doesn't know how to react. She even stated now that she "supported" the movement. A recent poll showed that almost 50% of the US population is supporting the "Occupy Movement" right now. The media coverage has dramatically changed too. The police brutality is shown on all channels and the reports in the papers and on TV about the movement are becoming increasingly supportive (of the movements and at the same time critical about what is going on in the US). I think a major factor is that middle class people are getting more and more involved - all the students who will never be able to pay back their student loans, for example. 
  They had a report today on the news about a student who won't be able to pay back her student loan before 2032 - exactly the year when her child will start going to college...
  People are in debt and unable to find jobs. The fact that President Obama "was in town" as well this weekend, was only a secondary fact on the news. The media has its priorities right this time. It seems as if it is really about the people (and them taking action) instead of about politicians (pretending to take action).
  Interesting developments!

  On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 5:32 PM, Sonja Engelhardt <sonjaengelhardt69 at gmail.com> wrote:

    I just watched a report in the news showing (on a major TV channel - you can probably see it on youtube as well) how other people were trying to help ths guy, laying emotionless on the ground and someone from the police threw another tear gas bomb or something like it just in the middle of the crowd, next to the Veteran who didn't even move anymore at this point. Horrrible. The Mayor of Oakland was giving a press conference about that right now. The event is supposed to be "investigated"... The people here are very upset right now...!!! 

    On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 2:13 PM, John Reimann <1999wildcat at gmail.com> wrote:

      I have just been told that one guy, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was hit in the head with a rubber bullet last night, that he's in the hospital and that he may die.

      John

      On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Felicity Dowling <feldowling at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

        Thanks John for all these reports.Well done indeed. We are living it with you. Each group even each individual will be experiencing this differently. Keeping in touch with the participants  is a good idea even if things go quiet for a while. discussions will be very important. Felicity  
        From: John Reimann <1999wildcat at gmail.com>
        To: socialistdiscussion at yahoogroups.com
        Sent: Wednesday, 26 October 2011, 20:03
        Subject: Re: [socialistdiscussion] latest developments

        A couple of additional points:

        1) A number of occupations were raided about the same time. I figure the word must have been put out by the tops of the Democratic Party that this movement was causing too many problems and focusing too much on Wall Street and it had to come to an end. This was coordinated from the very top of the Democratic Party, in my opinion.

        2) The police presence in Oakland was more overwhelming than anything I've ever seen, including during Vietnam War protests in Berkeley in the '70s. I don't know what if anything happened to spark the use of tear gas and stun grenades, but they were clearly primed for that. I think that overall the strategists for US capitalism are watching events such as those in Greece and know that sooner or later there will be riots in the US and they are practicing for that. The night before last was such a practice.

        John

        On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 8:44 AM, John Reimann <1999wildcat at gmail.com> wrote:

          Thanks for the notes. When you're part of a movement and some in the movement decide to subject themselves to arrest, it's a very difficult thing to decide not to do so. In retrospect, I think I did the right thing based on one fact: All the "non political" young black guys I know did not get arrested. I think they saw that it was not matter of principle. I had lost track of them in the minutes and seconds leading up to the blitz krieg, but if they had been arrested I'd have felt very bad not going with them. The fact that we were more or less on the same page says something, in my opinion.

          Yes, feel free to pass this around, but within limits. I'm still trying to work with this young anarchist crowd, although I'm becoming less optimistic about the possibilities there.

          John 

          On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 8:32 AM, Julian Silverman <jsilverman at btinternet.com> wrote:

            I agree with Tariq. Keep writing about all this. With your permission I will show this to our anti-cuts people....it offers valuable lessons

            John Reimann wrote: 
So here's what's happened in the last 24 hours:

It was clear early yesterday morning (around 3:00 a.m.) that the cops were
massing and a police invasion was imminent. The occupiers started erecting
"barricades" of wooden shipping pallets, trash cans, etc. around the
occupied zone. Most of them - the young anarchists - also fashioned
bandannas to hide their faces. People rushing around in the dark,
rearranging barricades, their faces partially obscured. Almost all got
caught up in the emotions of the moment. This included me to an extent,
which is how I knew that others were also being caught up in the emotions.

It was extremely tense. I started walking around asking people what they
were intending to do and whether fighting the cops really was wise. I
expressed my view that there were only two instances where I thought one
should fight them: If you simply have no other choice or if you think you
can win. People agreed, but seemed reluctant to break the general flow.

In other words, there was not general and conscious plan.

At one point, a young black guy got into a loud shouting match with one of
the young white anarchists. "Y'all aren't serious!" he shouted. He attacked
them for their bandannas, saying this would just provoke the cops. Much of
what he said was right, but his way of presenting it was wrong.
(Interestingly, I kept waiting for him to attack them for being white and
not knowing about the cops, but he never did that.) I was standing some 20
feet away, just observing. I don't know why, but after several minutes he
came over to me and started talking. I told him I agreed but that we were
all under a lot of stress and it was important not to add to the stress. He
immediately calmed down and we had a great conversation. I ran into him
several times later in the day and now we're best buddies.

The cops arrived in a blitzkrieg and nearly surrounded the square literally
in a matter of seconds. I have never seen such a massive show of force and I
immediately decided that it was best to vacate the premises as quickly as
possible. I and quite a few others found a corner of the square that wasn't
blocked off and got out. We were quickly driven up the street to at least a
block away. From that vantage point we saw all the police forces from the
surrounding towns arriving. This included what looked like armored personnel
carriers.

I wasn't able to see it, but the reports were that the cops used tear gas
and percussion grenades before driving in and arresting those who refused to
leave or couldn't get out in time. There is a report of one person with a
broken hand.

Unfortunately, there was no plan to immediately regroup somewhere nearby so
everybody more or less scattered. With the concentration of cops in the
square, it would not have been all that difficult to conduct hit-and-run
occupations of nearby street intersections. Later that morning, I went down
to the other park that had been occupied. There were a few people - former
occupiers - still there. There was also a clean-up crew from the City of
Oakland. I went over to them and gave a little speech about how their
pensions, etc. were under attack and how our occupation was also for them.
This was completely unplanned and in retrospect I think I should have also
commented that we know that in the past we, union members, have been too
passive in allowing a select few to run our unions and how we can't afford
to do that anymore and from there commented that we need to join together,
that there should be a strike of all City of Oakland workers against what
just happened and against the cuts in city workers wages and benefits.

Instead, as planned, we regrouped at 4:00 p.m. There were well over a 1,000
people there and the mood was very angry. Several speeches were given. I had
met prior to the protest with some of the "insiders" who are the real
leadership of this thing. I proposed to them that we go to the City workers
the next day and start to make the links. Everybody nodded wisely and then
the meeting proceeded.

The rally and march was something of a let-down. At one point, a few cops
got into a scuffle with the crowd. They had arrested a couple of people, for
what reason i don't know. Some people spray painted the cops and things got
pretty ugly. The cops started shooting off tear gas and the crowd retreated.

The rest was simply a let down. The crowd marching from one point to
another, now confronting a line of cops, then retreating to march elsewhere.
I finally went home, but reports on the news showed a crowd of maybe 3-400
continuning on until late into the night.

Something has changed, and there were some huge opportunities here -
especially to link up with the City workers. It hasn't been done, and it may
be too late for now, but it will inevitably happen. This evening there is to
be a march of parents opposed to the closing of some schools and the
occupiers will be participating. We'll see what happens.

John

          -- 
          "Poems don't belong to those who write them; they belong to those who need them" - from movie "Il Postino"
          Check out: http://worldwidesocialist.net/blog/ 

        -- 
        "Poems don't belong to those who write them; they belong to those who need them" - from movie "Il Postino"
        Check out: http://worldwidesocialist.net/blog/ 

      -- 
      "Poems don't belong to those who write them; they belong to those who need them" - from movie "Il Postino"
      Check out: http://worldwidesocialist.net/blog/

-- 
"Poems don't belong to those who write them; they belong to those who need them" - from movie "Il Postino"
Check out: http://worldwidesocialist.net/blog/

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