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| Tar Sands Blockade. Solidarity in New York. #N17 |
When I first heard that earth
eviction was the theme for the November 17th day of action, I was excited and a
little saddened. I was excited because
the day continues a push back against Wall Street we saw escalated by Occupy. “Wall Street is Drowning Us” would be our
main theme. “Climate crisis = economic crisis.” Saddened because we have been pushed out so
many times, sometimes by developers or the city, or today by planet
itself.
Last year on N17, we planned a direct action on Wall Street. I was
part of the shrub block.
Times Up! held a planning for
this year's N17 action at ABC No Rio. If
earth eviction was the theme Times Up! would highlight a few of the other
evictions which happen every day, especially in New York. Life here involves a constant process of
navigating between spaces where we organize and build community, and the ongoing
displacements, when we are forced to flee from spaces where we have slept and connected,
which are just part of life in this neoliberal city. So, Times Up! organized an earth evictions ride in which we would
revisit a few of these sites on the way to the N17 action beginning at the New
York public library.
Riding over the action I
stumbled upon police parked in bike lanes, as they texted and chatted. That these spaces represent opportunities for
safety for riders seems to mean very little to them. The police are more than comfortable
occupying community spaces, rendering them functionality useless. It is a phenomena taking place all over
Brooklyn and New York.
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| Police car parked on Bergen bike lane. Photo by Paco. |
 Bikes parked on Hoyt and Stanton Streets, photos by B. Shepard |
The earth eviction ride met at
ABC No Rio, a squatted arts building on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side
of Manhattan which has eluded eviction, though its been under constant threat. Riding up Avenue B, we passed East 7th St site
of Esperanza Community Garden, a place where people shared space, a coffee,
warm moments by a bon-fire during its eviction defense and subsequent
bulldozing by the city in 2000.
Trees outside the Lower East Side Ecology center were still suffering after branches has been ripped from them during the storm. Up Avenue B, we rode past Kate's joint, a veggie dive which provided food for the encampment at Esperanza back in the day, before it finally shut its doors, a victim of high rights and changing times. Further up B we rode past Charas, a community center, and Chico Mendez, a garden. Both were spaces where Lower East Siders converged, battered about ideas, and exchanged resources before their subsequent evictions by the Giuliani administration. Spaces where we meet for cross class contact are always a threat to the powers that be. Over and over again, the neo-cons of the world dismantle "the institutions that promote communication between classes, and disguising [their] fears of cross-class contact as "family values." Unless we overcome our fears and claim our "community of contact," it is a picture that will be replayed in cities across America." Spaces where we connect are always facing evictions. These evictions take multiple forms.
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| Scenes from arriving at ABC, riding out, buildings where once there were gardens, and injured trees in the Lower East Side Ecology Garden. |
Trees outside the Lower East Side Ecology center were still suffering after branches has been ripped from them during the storm. Up Avenue B, we rode past Kate's joint, a veggie dive which provided food for the encampment at Esperanza back in the day, before it finally shut its doors, a victim of high rights and changing times. Further up B we rode past Charas, a community center, and Chico Mendez, a garden. Both were spaces where Lower East Siders converged, battered about ideas, and exchanged resources before their subsequent evictions by the Giuliani administration. Spaces where we meet for cross class contact are always a threat to the powers that be. Over and over again, the neo-cons of the world dismantle "the institutions that promote communication between classes, and disguising [their] fears of cross-class contact as "family values." Unless we overcome our fears and claim our "community of contact," it is a picture that will be replayed in cities across America." Spaces where we connect are always facing evictions. These evictions take multiple forms.
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| Chico Mendez Mural Garden, eviction letter, and 1997 bulldozing. Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space |
Today, it seems like the earth is evicting us.
At least this is how it feels riding past the dislocated neighborhoods, ravaged
by Sandy. Our ride continued past the
Museum of Reclaimed Urban Spaces, whose basement was flooded by the storm. The museum's opening was supposed to take
place last weekend, but it is being pushed up to December 8th.
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| Openning for MoRUS is December 8th! |
And of course, a year ago this
week, we were evicted from Zuccotti Park, by the NYPD.
All these evictions zoomed
through my head riding up to the NY Public Library for the N17 Earth Eviction
Defense. The call for the action stated:
People of
the World: Rise up for Climate Justice!
Call for mass direct action
A Renewed Sense of Urgency for the Autumn of Unity
Call for mass direct action
A Renewed Sense of Urgency for the Autumn of Unity
People of the
World: Rise up for Climate Justice! Call for mass direct action A Renewed Sense
of Urgency for the Autumn of Unity LOCAL ACTION / NEW YORK CITY - Join hundreds
of New Yorkers from upstate and downstate as they converge on the steps of the
NY Public Library on 42nd st and then march to Times Square as part of a global
week of action protesting the social, environmental and climatic devastation of
the fossil fuel industry, in solidarity with actions by Green Umbrella, Tar
Sands Blockade, Push Europe Climate Justice, Occupy Melbourne, 350.org, and
many grassroots organizations all over the planet. The group will march to key
locations that include bank headquarters and media centers, all of whom are
either actively responsible for climate change or are complicit in spreading
climate disinformation. More than just a march, this gathering will perform a
whole range of informative and eye-catching spectacles including everything
from eating a giant mountain-shaped cake to staging a news report in a public
fountain to mining for coal in the decorative gardens of New York’s financial
centers.
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| Greeted by CJ and Eric - two of my favorite people in the Occupy Movement. |
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| Garden activist and iconic New Yorker JK, one of the most dedicated and caring activists around. |
Arriving
at the NY Public Library, a mob of college students and members of Occupy the
Pipeline were there to connect the dots between environmental struggles. Moving down the now sanitized 42nd street we
staged a street theater performance outside of the JP Morgan Chase "to prevent
the 1% from foreclosing on the planet," noted the Tar Sands Blockade.
"The Earth Eviction Defense is occurring ahead of UN climate talks in Doha
this November. As the Kyoto Protocol expires this year, what happens at this
gathering will have a long lasting impact on the future of the earth."
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N17 Earth Eviction action. Photos by Eric McGregor             |
The
connections between environmental problems and free trade policies are
many. As
Adam Weissman explains: "free
trade agreement investment rules can potentially be used to attack bans on
hydrofracking. On Friday, our
worst fears were realized - a
corporation is challenging Quebec's ban on fracking using the investor rights
provisions of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement... if we succeed
in banning fracking in New York state, NAFTA grants foreign corporations
invested in NY fracking to sue our government, claiming that our ban violates
their "investor rights." In
2008, Barack Obama said "I will make sure that we renegotiate [NAFTA],
in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about. And I think actually
Senator Clinton’s answer on this one is right. I think we should use the
hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get
labor and environmental standards that are enforced. And that is not what has
been happening so far. " But since being elected, he's completely
reversed course. Instead of working for a more environmentally responsible
NAFTA or pulling out, President Obama is instead working to EXPAND NAFTA to
many more countries via negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement
(also known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership), which will give corporations
in 11 countries the right to sue the United States in an international
tribunal outside the jurisdiction of the US court system for unlimited sums
if New York bans fracking." Every
activist I know who is paying attention is terrified of this trade pact. In this way, the struggle extends an arena
of contestation dating from the global justice movement days a decade prior
through today's environmental battles.
A central piece of this activism has recently
involved the mutual aid networks expanding from those evicted from Zuccotti
Park to the relief stations organized via Occupy Sandy in Staten Island and
the Rockaways. My group, Times Up! has
been
organizing Fossil Fuel Disaster
Relief Bike Rides to carry
food and supplies from 520 Clinton Avenue to the Rockaways. In the days after the storm,
cycling increased citywide, as cycling came to be seen as a solution to a
myriad of problems. As the group's
press release explains:
Time's Up Delivers Foods, Blankets, Bike-Powered Charging Stations, and Mobile Bike Repair to Neighborhood Devastated by Sandy. The weekends of Nov 10th & Nov 18th Times Up! organized Fossil Fuel Disaster Relief bike rides to deliver food, blankets and other much-needed supplies, over 10 bike-powered charging stations, and mobile bike repair units to neighborhoods in the Rockaways devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Using human power & their fleet of bike-trailers, cargo-bikes & baskets they picked up heavy loads of supplies from Occupy Sandy's main distribution center at 520 Clinton Street in Brooklyn and cycled them over to the Drop-off center in the Rockaways run by Rockaway Taco & Veggie Island at 183 96th Street. From there the volunteers distributed individual packages to home-ridden families in hard to reach areas, helped with clean-up, demolition and construction, and provided free bike repair and bicycle-generated power - sustainable solutions to the devastation caused by climate changed from the burning of fossil fuels. The Time's Up! energy bikes, used to generate bike power for OWS last year, will stay in the Rockaways to be used by the community as an alternative to the gas generators currently being used to charge devices operating only at 1% capacity and pollute the air we breath. These rides highlight the need for relief not only from the immediate disaster, but also the root-cause of this disaster and others - the burning of fossil fuels. |
Throughout the week, Keegan
and I had talked about the similarities between Shakespeare's Tempest of the
efforts of Occupy Sandy. New York
really was hit by a tempest. Yet, in response,
we have started creating a new world based on care, mutual
aid, and innovation. At Judson on Sunday,
Michael Ellick suggested
that such a world requires a
framework for radical forgiveness of not only debts but of sins and
personal flaws. It imagines creating a
new form of ethics, something new of our social relations. It also requires care.
As Keegan wrote
everyone in Times Up!
Last weekend was magical.
Over three days, I worked with over 50 of you, biking heavy loads of goods 18+
miles each way, back and forth from the Rockaways, which were devastated by
Hurricane Sandy. We used our legs, bikes, and trailers to transport much-needed
goods from Brooklyn to Queens, then to home-ridden families and individuals in
the Rockaways. We used our muscles, hands, and know-how, to help with clean-up,
demolition, and construction. And we used our passion about the environment to
spread knowledge and action about sustainable transportation and energy with
free bike repair lessons and energy bike charging stations and tutorials.
I was humbled by how eager
and energetic all of you were to step-up and provide mutual aid to communities
we rarely interact with. What's more, looking at each of you, and noticing the
caliber of individuals in this group – from founders of other amazing
non-proftis, to energy experts, to tireless volunteers – I felt reassured that
I'm doing good work. I struggle with this, as I'm sure all of you do – wondering
if what I'm doing actually matters. But when I notice all of you incredible
individuals working alongside me, all my doubts disappear. Thank you, all.
Now, let's keep up the good
work this weekend!
More disaster relief rides
will leave the Brooklyn Space tomorrow and Monday at 9am. In addition to the
work we did last weekend, we have built ten energy bikes, received a donation
of 15 new bicycles, and secured a storage space for all of these materials at
Veggie Island, where we stationed ourselves last weekend. Not only will we
provide relief from this disaster, but we will work to prevent more disasters
in the future.
Please check out Peter's
video from last weekend, and Brennan's palm card about the intention of our
energy bikes in the Rockaways this weekend and beyond.
Big love, -Keegan
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| Flyer on the rationale for bike generators. Br Brennan Cavanaugh |
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| Romping around Judson and the Village with Scarlett Shepard, who was by the way born on the 37th anniversary of Stonewall. |
After celebrating my birthday with friends all weekend, running around the
village with Scarlett, and enjoying dinner parties, I dropped off the kids on
Monday and rode up to the Times Up space
in on 99 S. 6th to take part in the Monday ride.
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| Peter and Keegan were at the Times Up! space to greet me when I arrived. We all left for 520 Clinton shortly afterward. |
Arriving at the Times Up! space Peter Shapiro and Keegan greeted me. I said hello, introducing myself to a few of
the other riders. One man worrying about
his knees before the ride, when Peter chimed in that he needed not worry about
he knees or feel like he needs to rush.
Afterall, "even a crotchety guy" like him "could find this
ride to be transformative" after he took part the previous week. The Rockaways are full of lovely oxygen,
great air we can all enjoy. Air that
will revitalize us, he explained. Throughout the trip from 99 S. to 520 Clinton
Ave, we all talked, enjoyed the air, and the convivial social relations.
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| Signs and literature on mutual aid at 520 Clinton Ave. |
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| Pamphlet on Mutual aid. Photo by John Speck |
When we got there, we all enjoyed the mutual aid signs seem all ov the church. Mutual aid is a different set expectations; it asks us all to share, to be fully human. It helps highlight who we are and can be. And most of all it is direct action.
Gandhi implored his followers to spin their own fabric in defiance of British colonial rule. In doing so, he suggested they could create their erown power. Energy emanated from spinning their own clothes. "The spinning wheel represents to me the hope of the masses," stated Gandhi. The same thing happens people powered energy, Times Up cycling events and energy bikes, recharging people's phones, while sharing our lives with others. Through these rides, we divest ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels, while sharing what we have with others. The joyous rides, in which we pull trailers of supplies from 520 Clinton to Veggie Island, are our form of mutual aid.
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| Gandhi by Margaret Bourke White |
Gandhi implored his followers to spin their own fabric in defiance of British colonial rule. In doing so, he suggested they could create their erown power. Energy emanated from spinning their own clothes. "The spinning wheel represents to me the hope of the masses," stated Gandhi. The same thing happens people powered energy, Times Up cycling events and energy bikes, recharging people's phones, while sharing our lives with others. Through these rides, we divest ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels, while sharing what we have with others. The joyous rides, in which we pull trailers of supplies from 520 Clinton to Veggie Island, are our form of mutual aid.
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| Scenes from 520 Clinton, the bikes, and Stephen, Peter and Keegan laying out the route to the Rockawasys. |
"I just really enjoy it," explained one of the riders. "You can't say I am not getting
something out of this."
With
these expanding mutual aid networks in mind, Alexandre Carvalho
i really see
the advent of #OccupySandy as the beautiful religare to occupy's spirit of
Zuccotti Park. a relational atmosphere that was missing from the scene in a
while and is the cornerstone of what we do - a deep respect and solidarity
with human beings in suffering, first and foremost.
meaningful
movements have Lost Paradises, certain lost times, which serve as ethical
compass for political dispositions. the park is our Paradise Lost. that eerie
smooth human atmosphere that is at the core of what makes us human.
the parks
and streets and communities of the world are our roving Paradises - this
time, Paradises that can be found and built together.
Aristotle
once wrote that #poiesis is to "learn by making". the new #Mutual
Aid network of OWS should stay even after the destruction of the hurricane is
over and done: there will always be natural disasters, and human-caused
disasters to struggle side-by-side against, such as poverty, oppression,
violence, environmental degradation, labor exploitation, injustice.
these silent
daily disasters also need a hurricane of mutual aid. a grassroots #MutualAid
arm, delivering direct [mutual aid] action from the people, by the people, to
the people. seems to be the rebirth of OWS, from a political and ethical
standpoint: always inviting and invited, respectful of differences, listening
first and talking last, non-controlling or mass maneuvering, and above all
making love the highest play.
if we are to
have dogmas - and maybe we all need to believe in something... maybe the only
one really worthwhile all along was love."
Making his
argument, Alexandre looked to the absurdist spirit of the Dada movement to
suggest:
"MADA this,
MADA that
NADA this
DADA that!
Mutual Aid as Direct Action is a
meme that wants to fly."
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Much of this spirit powered our ride down Bergin across Brooklyn on Flatbush
to the Rockaways. "It was a
wonderful ride," noted my friend JC as we crossed the bridge to Jacob
Riis, where piles of rubbage fill what was once a putt putt golf course. "That's so telling of our culture,"
mused JC. A peddi cab driver, he had
taken part in our puppy pedal parade earlier in the spring. The rambunctious ride was enjoyed by kids,
animal lovers and cyclists. "Love
seemed to emanate from that ride," he mused.
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| Water along the ride. Will is overflow these barriers? |
With piles of wreckage to the right and water to the left, we rode along
the waterline down to Veggie Island at 96th Street. "The sea looks like it wants to run over
the wall and up the street," Keegan noted looking at the water lunging up
to the sea wall. Rising sea levels are
transforming the way we understand cities.
And none of this phenomena is new.
Cities such as Venice, Italy have been coping with rising sea levels for
years now. New York's waterfront has
always been permeable. Battery Part was
once a landfill from the World Trade Center.
One day, the wreckage may be covered by sea once again.
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| Peter waxing poetic... as he is prone to do. |
"The earth does not have
opinions. It just does what it
does," noted Peter, overlooking the piles or rubble.
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| Piles of garbage along the shore. |
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Photo by John Speck |
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| Arriving at Veggie Island. Photos by John Speck. |
"It looks like a third world country," noted my friend Stephen,
who lead the ride, as we arrived in Veggie Island. Piles of trash lined the streets, houses
condemned, couches in the middle of the streets - scenes of Sandy along the
waterfront. It was all so reminiscent of
Katrina.
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| Arriving at Veggies Island. |
I dropped material off, turned around and rode back up Flatbush home, past
Brooklyn's neighborhoods, along the Botanical Garden, where yellow leaves line
the sidewalk, once mighty trees coping without broken-off branches, open skies
where there were once trees. Down Union
Street my ride took me through Park Slope, across the Gowanus
Canal, home and back to school to teach.
It's a good tired finishing a ride like this, a good tired of nearly
forty miles connecting my life with larger movements of people, hopes,
aspirations, tragedies, pleasures and anguish of a world far bigger than
myself.
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| Back to Carroll Gardens, crossing the Gowanus Canal. |
Keegan
posted another dispatch after he got home later that night. "Today was the
best day yet. Veggie Island was short-staffed so our volunteers manned the
dispatch hub, three locals who lost their home but have been doing volunteer
demolition every day since the storm ran the energy bike station for us, a US
Marshal gave one of our volunteers a hand-made bracelet for making him laugh,
and half of our riders stayed after the group ride left the Rockaway to
continue to do deliveries until the last ferry home. I'm so inspired and awed
by all of you. Thank you."
No thank you and everyone involved in cleaning up
the wreckage and rebuilding our city.
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Photo by Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Riding up Flatbush - Times Up crew — with Dave Bonan, Stephen Arthur, Times Up, Benjamin Heim Shepard and Peter Shapiro. |
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