We had a good meeting through pounding rain last night thanks to a large tarp over the 2 EZ ups so that rain would not drip in between them.
We always had at least 16 people, at my count 21 people involved throughout the evening, and we got a lot done!
As Occupy Berkeley, we have had a struggle around a couple issues common to other Occupies. First, quite naturally, houseless and street people are attracted to the encampment as a place where day to day they get less harassment from the cops than they usually do. Additionally, they see us as an easy, available source of food and water. Many who have not been camping I think do not grasp how difficult this issue is. Do we just go, “Okay, go ahead and keep stripping the occupation of resources, from food to water to t.p. to bowls and spoons and everything in between such as tents and bedding, tarps and boxcutters, hammers and tape, rope and mallets?” Some say, “Well, we need to share it if we have it.” Sounds great except when you are there, seeing that some of the people coming in to swipe bottles of water are not contributing to the occupation in any way, only using it. There is a lot to be said for our sharing as we can but we have to look at the long picture, not just the moment at hand. If we keep having money stolen, other supplies stolen, people coming in to fill up on food and water donated for the Occupation (there is a water fountain in the park but trying to collect water for the Occupiers from a water fountain for cooking, tea, or coffee is more than tedious), soon there will be no Occupy Berkeley as it was originally developed, only a homeless encampment, but one with no one cooking, cleaning, bringing in supplies, or camping here other than those already without housing. That kind of encampment would be swept away overnight. We all know this is true.
We cannot be all things to all people. Thankfully, in Berkeley, there are many good food sources for those who need food. Perhaps in some other city or town there are not other supports for those without housing. In such cases, the mere act of helping people without homes in this way would be revolutionary, but any irate person on the streets cussing and swearing at any of us not letting them walk off with our supplies does not have my sympathy for these actions. I have worked for almost 27 years, as have so many, to keep People’s Park available for all people, including students, residents, people without houses, and visitors. I worked for years with Food Not Bombs and two Catholic Worker communities cooking and supplying healthy food to people on the streets. And many of us encamped at Loniville in the mid-80′s to protesting by squatting and also encamping at the same park to highlight the city and individuals jointly keeping about 150 houses and other buildings vacant, often for years, lying in wait for developers to buy them all up to do developments like 4th Street developed with the 1% in mind. At least in Berkeley, we have shown solidarity with the houseless with years and years of work and devotion.
This occupation is for everyone who wants to contribute, but is not for those only there to take, like the woman who stole one of our Occupiers’ cancer meds and kept coming in smoking and refusing to leave until I would sit down next to her, sort of crowding her out. An asthmatic with Chemical Sensitivity, I had to endanger myself to get her to leave. No way. That woman surely has problems, but I will not put out the welcome mat for someone who is so strung out and selfish that she will only drag us down.
I am interested in more talk about this issue, but am especially interested in non-campers who are part of Occupies to help weigh in on this, not just from some utopian view of what could be down the line but looking at the lack of material support we have faced as all the attention has been on Oakland, and S.F.
How do we sustain this thing if we have 1) lack of resources; 2) let people who are not part of working for the occupation, whether by thinking together at G.A.’s or picking up the endless trash non-occupiers are strewing about, or cooking, use up our resources, particularly keeping in mind that as hard as life is on the streets, in Berkeley, Oakland, and S.F. many good people such as Food Not Bombs, The Catholic Worker, and other groups, have always supplied food, sometimes healthcare support, clothing and showering support, and help getting into shelters or transitional housing?
To sustain, we have to be honest about what we can do shortterm which we feel will change the landscape of this whole society so that no one will be denied housing or other human needs.
For one thing I think we should distinguish between people who are being aggressive/ disruptive, and stealing; and people who are looking for a meal.
I understand the sentiment, but I think it is a mistake to lump everyone in together.
Perhaps encouraging people who drop by for food to get involved: make a sign, clean a bit, come to the GA… could help us to grow. A “welcome: join us!” type of thing.
This is supposed to be a “free space”… how can we limit who is allowed to be part of it? (unless of course they are violent/ dangerous)
In order to revive OB, we need a presence at the bank during the day. Signs, chants, educational materials to hand out, etc.
If you want to be successful in your movement, you need to get your “troops” under control. The park is currently an embarrassing mess. You are destroying my local community park and I (and many others) will not support your “movement” because of it. You are killing the grass and leaving trash all over the place. When you leave, the “99%” will need to pay to clean up your mess.
I do not think that non campers/non occupiers should use camp resources. I come during the day often, and I don’t stay the night because of the problems with some people. This is a problem in the SF camp, the Berkeley camp, and even in the original Wall Street camp.
The GA needs to vote on the issue, which someone should put forth as a motion. We should establish guidelines for who can ask people to leave, and under what circumstances. If we don’t, our movement will lose its active and passionate members because the encampment will be miserable.
This issue you bring up, Elizabeth, was, in fact, part of the heavy discussion at G.A. this evening. It is a messy challenge considering how we prioritize scant resources at Berkeley Occupy. So much attention to material support has gone to Oakland that we have been left like the poor stepchildren in the corner; yet, we have a wonderful, vibrant group of people from every walk of life imaginable, working to figure out how to move about a variety of issues. For instance, from today’s G.A., how do we prioritize how donated resources are used?
Some feel that when tents and tarps come in it’s okay for them to be taken by people who have not been part of the Occupation and have shown no sign of interest in what we are doing, or why, and sometimes come yelling at various of us saying, “You’re the 1%.” It is very tempting to say, “Let’s look at our responsibilities in the world and how we each use money and then consider who may be closer to the 1% in terms of feelings of entitlement. Obviously, that is the side of which I am not proud, wanting to stoop to that. But I insist on honesty in looking at the feelings which arise, which we need to consider.
To try to move discussion along into what I felt would be a more “real” place for those not actually living in the encampment who spend a great deal of energy trying to defend donated resources to be available as intended by most of those donating who say they are donating for the Occupy movement encampment, today at the G.A. I asked people who are not encamped how they suggest we deal with this issue. After weeks of more utopian suggestions from some while others of us kept trying to point out that we watch hundreds of dollars of resources walk away weekly (from tents to mallets to lanterns to stakes, to radios, to everything possible you can imagine in between, including one man’s cancer meds, causing him to end up in the hospital), I feel that tonight we had really productive discussion and true to real consensus decision-making, we are moving toward coming up with solutions with which we all can live, with give and take from many sides.
I’m feeling hopeful after this meeting, realizing that as we grow, we are working out many of the issues which have been most difficult. I pointed out that when there is not a specific, stated process, quite naturally a hierarchy develops and if we want to avoid hierarchy, we have to take decisive action. We have to determine who we are as a group, both campers who create a visible base for actions and community building, and those who cannot camp with us but are concretely committed to what we are building as a movement. We have to state our commitments publicly, and we need to figure out how to represent them with potential new Occupiers. If we don’t have a clear framework to offer then of course we are at risk of becoming a raggedy mess of an occupation which speaks to no one in particular.
As Oakland has had such stress we are seeing some of their campers coming this way. We need to establish clearly who we are as a group of Occupiers about to celebrate a month together in camp, along with the committed activists who are part of the G.A., so that people coming to us know what to expect and either decide they like what they hear/ see, or decide we’re not the right occupation for them.
It’s great to know we have so many Occupation choices around the Bay Area. There is an Occupation to fit just about any personality.
I’m glad we have some discussion happening on the site, some honest discussion about the challenges of the day-to-day in our corner of the Occupy movement.
To ‘unhappy neighbor’ I would respond that, yes, there is a lot of trash around, and that an astonishing amount is created by the high school students who are in the park throughout the week. As a parent of three children at the occupation, I shake my head daily as I look at both the trash these young people are leaving in the park and the insane numbers of teens smoking. All I keep thinking is, “Who parented these kids?” I guess the answer is, “No one.” Just like with many of those who are living on the streets.
But what is the root cause? The simple answer is Capitalism which has served to convince parents that it is important for them to work to support fancy houses or cars, or if they are on a lower economic rung fancy clothes and shoes. The end result is the same: rich and poor, kids are abandoned by their parents and thrown at institutions, whether schools or boot camps, to be “finished” like cows knee-deep in their own feces.
So there is an answer to your concerns, ‘unhappy neighbor’ and that is that you can come on out and grab one of our couple trash grabber tools or one of our few brooms, and a dust pan, and you can help us keep this place in better shape. We’d all be happier! Many of us collectively put in hours daily to clean up at the camp and to try to keep up with the high schoolers’ trash. We’ve even had one resident scrub down the decorative trash containers with soap and a scrub brush.
If you want to suggest that things were neat and pretty before this occupation set down some roots, I’m thinking you weren’t really looking at what has been happening in this park for years. And as one of our longterm occupiers pointed out, this grass is someone’s hybridization dream from decades ago. If it does not survive, perhaps that’s not really a big deal in the larger picture. Large green lawns are not an environmentally good idea, though if we’re going to have grass I would agree that in parks is better than in people’s home yards. But if need be, areas can be replanted in the future and a lot of water can be dumped on to get grass to grow and stay green again. Right now, we’re saving the city money and saving precious water.
I read an article regarding how Occupy London was dealing with similar issues, that provided some good ideas. They issued an open call to the community, to the experienced social workers, counselors etc to come down to Occupy London and offer their assistance.
As you say, Berkeley has many long time, highly experienced community based resources available to assist the houseless . Many of them can also offer experience on how to de-escalate conflicts and work with people who have multiple problems besides being homeless. Even if you were to set up a resource tent and have people come by one night a week, it might offer a more open way to match homeless people up with community based centers, rather than their getting hassled by the police etc while elsewhere on the street.
As idealistic as people are, Occupy Berkeley doesn’t have the resources, staffing and experience to help more than a few people beyond a temporary safe haven and some food. If it can draw on the broader resources of our community it would reduce the tension for everyone.
Good points. I spent part of this evening talking with an old friend who has been part of Occupy Oakland from the beginning. He pointed out that a mobile services unit was kept for a week and one half from going into the occupation to offer services such as you have mentioned. This was politicians doing their playing around with people’s lives.
I feel like we are on the brink of getting stabilized, having gotten some of the alcohol and drug addicts to leave the camp. Again, a messy situation each time but we continue to evaluate each incident based on knowing people, or not, and figuring out how we can intervene in ways which will result in people either stopping their usage (happening in at least one case) or at least, say, being out of sight, out of mind, when they are imbibing, and after. The number of fights we break up is perhaps impressive, but obviously having to break up even one fight is a shame all around. We have, though, had some really important “security” or “dragon” support happening, and though exhausting, it is working to crowd out those who are trying to use Occupy Berkeley as a party zone of the alcohol/ drug variety. We are succeeding, one of our strengths, but it is a situation requiring constant vigilance. My kids have gotten yet another lot of illustrations in life about the ugliness of alcohol used in excess. They see people turn mean and then see them not remember a thing the next day, such as when one man threw a chair at me and tried to slug me one night, and a couple mornings later, not too drunk, obviously not remembering a thing, polite as could be saying, “Thank you, Ma’am,” when I was serving up some food.
I have the Mental Services # and have not made the call but I think we may work toward just that kind of support to catch the few who might use it. Sometimes it takes the shifting of energy of just one person to tip a balance.
Max
I think you all are headed in the right direction and I am happy to see it. These are difficult issues and certainly going to be a challenge in an encampment. I like the idea of using health service already in the area … so many non profits that already work on these issues. Trying to connect people up with resources, etc. I have lived in the Bay Area long enough to know that this won’t solve the issue entirely, but at least you’ve tried to help. I also think that if a person wants to join the camp and use camp resources they should be contributing, at least in a small way. Those that can’t contribute due to mental health or addiction issues should be directed to places that are equipped to help. I do think the camp should at least have a list of resources and try to direct those in need to those that can help. It sounds like this is the direction you are going though and I like it. I had no idea your camp was struggling so much. I will come down to the next ga that I can and see if at the very least I have some items that may be of use. I also believe some basic structure needs to be in place in light of arrivals from other camps and want to make sure this camp stays on a path I can support. I am working 9 hour days and have a family to take care of but I am interested in being more involved, even if it is only in a small way. Keep up the good work.
Hi Christy,
By the compter again as my older kids are at Aikido preparing for their black belt tests after over 7 years of hard work. Then back to the Occupation for the night. Unfortunately, we’re missing the G.A. as I write.
Another tough day, alcohol being at the root of problems. While many are busy criticizing out one side of the mouth they are demanding that some of us meet all their needs and then flip out when we say that we cannot. They might be criticizing for not getting propane refilled when tarps and stakes and rope were bought with scant money, or have anger that money was spent on food when propane was needed, or are hopping mad that no one bought coffee or walked blocks to fill up water jugs… you name it and there’s someone yelling about it… but not lifting a finger (funny how that goes hand in hand).
Of course we’d like to do what we can, and do so, but this is an issue coming up all over the country. Some of society’s most vulnerable people are looking for Occupiers who clearly are of the activist variety to stop everything just for them. The fact that any of us is not willing to do so on a daily basis, sometimes demanded many times a day by any one person, is most exhausting. There is so much need.
One friend has offered some hours weekly as a counselor ready to listen to people, perhaps the biggest need. I’d love to see more counseling services at the Occupation but we also need people coming to G.A.’s to divert people who disrupt meetings (a regular occurrence of a couple people trying to commandeer meetings). An easy, effective way to do so (which quietly I do regularly) is to engage the person in talk and bit by bit move further and further from the circle. Invariably, the person so wants to be heard and so wants the attention that, she/he will follow. The person intervening does miss out on some of the meeting, but if we all do it sometimes, no one will miss out on too much, and we’ll all be helping the larger whole a great deal. Many hands makes light work.