To those participating in Occupy _______

 

Dear valiant ones building Community,

 

We (the 99%) are moving through a predictable set of phases experienced activists cannot help but recognize from being students of both history and human nature. As we make our transitions, it is essential for those who feel moved/called to look at the movement and our behavior in it through different lenses like gender, race, class, etc. For instance, from the angle of class, we see working & middle class police being positioned to physically violate and be thereafter demonized by working & middle class activists - as in the Union-breaking of every decade since industrialization - i.e. "look how they fight amongst themselves".

 

From without, the pressures are as they have ever been - a grinding, strategic campaign to undermine direct action and preserve the inequalities and priviledges associated with the status quo by the entrenched, industrially sophisticated, extensively capitalized, elite who benefit most from its continuance. The core tension within the movement, as is ever the case, is on what to focus as we stand up for everyone's right to their individual needs, issues, and right to free speech. It is here that we oppress each other and potentially lose our claims on working for Justice.

 

A study of successful movements and actions reveals that the best way to build community capable of going the distance through loss and abuse is to do conflict well between us, as that is the single end we seek in every cry for social justice around the world. I don't want to take your place as the dominant oppressor, says the activist to the 1%. I want peace, a thriving community where differences are encouraged and we work into the future together with an ongoing process of interaction that is itself an art, full of celebration of the human spirit and compassion for our own universal ignorance and vulnerability.

 

A friend and comrade wrote the following in a longer request [I have altered some bits to preserve privacy] for suggestions:

I'm having "a dark night of the soul," regarding Occupy _____. It's bothering me enough, that I walked out and erased the Agenda-items I was going to propose. I'm feeling a little troubled, to say the least. I hope you don't mind if I bend your ear...you may be the best person for counsel.

I've been in meetings all day, since 9:30. I've was nearly ready to offer 4 controversial proposals, but pressure was put on me to drop them, as "too divisive." And it's this dynamic that is really getting to me...that all other concerns--women's safety; poor folk extorting food; some folk leaving from the crime--all these concerns, get subsumed under the right to camp.

At this point after meetings all day: I feel pretty dis-empowered. Crime is getting rampant in the Camp; no one's working food services because they get extorted for food; the [powers that be are] trying to get us to report on our security situation (even as [we] largely mistrust ALL govt-types), meaning that we can't "quite" tell the full story...even though it's fine to grandstand about the eevel City; and I can't suggest a "controversial" topic at a GA, like packing up camp and meeting [later]...even though other locations for a "camp annex" are being looked into...it all gives me pause.

I'm in this for the economic issues. I can also see the merit of protesting against the sleeping ban. But the real reason I'm here is to work with activists in consensus. But what does it mean, if I feel that the process is too dysfunctional to even propose an agenda...because it it "too controversial??"

Personal and specific responses are required for each Occupy, which are only forthcoming from the shared experience of those participating in each community. This is Localism and is essential to our success. Also a general pattern is emerging across our camps that can be addressed by a focus on and dedication to process as an art. Where to draw the lines between what gets heard and what behavior is acceptable? What will we exclude in our devotion to inclusivity? What to do when someone's behavior/speech prevents the group from learning/organizing/functioning as a group and makes us vulnerable to infiltration and control by those who do not demonstrate sensitivity to the need for shared decision-making? You are not alone. I've been talking to lots of other Occupiers and the problems they outline and struggle to resolve are happening in every camp. Our survival challenge from this point forward has to do with process and making group co-creativity our art form.