Just
reading through Facebook. My friend May Hem
posted, “5 military choppers circling
new York city right now. Ray Kelly high terrorist alert my ass. How stupid do
you think we are ?” Listening out my
windows, I hear the sound of helicopters in the distance. Its usually like this in the city the day
before a big convergence action. In
the days before Feb 15th, 2003 when thousands converged on the UN
before Colin Powell’s infamous speech, the office of homeland security changed alert
level terror codes almost daily. Protesters
dream for democratic expression in the face of expanding income inequalities
while police strive for social control of the streets during days such as May
Day, the Republican Convention. Conflicting
images of urban living clash in the corridors, sidewalks, parks, libraries,
plazas, and anywhere else people gather.
These are days when the dialectics of the city turn the streets into a
living, breathing work of art.
These dialectics involve an
interplay those seeking to express their concerns about restrictions on
democracy and responses from the city which sees anything but “permitted” (translate regulated and
controlled) marches as “disruptive activities” which constitute a threat to
social order and quite possibly terrorist activity. Examples of potentially “disruptive”
activities listed by the NYPD Counterterrorism Unit include the Wildcat March,
Bike Block which would “attempt to tie up automotive activity”, and any unpermitted
activities taking place on May 1. In other words, first amendment protected
expression is deemed potentially ‘terrorist activity’ by the NYPD. Yet, for every restriction, a counter response
takes shape.
Walking home from Occupy Town Square in Union Square on
Saturday, someone passed me a copy of a broadsheet with the words: “STRIKE
OCCUPY.”
Ah-ha-ah
ha-ha, ho-ho!
Fly into the streets!
All who are still fresh and young
and no dehumanized – to the streets!
The pot-bellied mortar of laughter
strands in a square drunk with joy.
Laughter and Love, copulating with Melancholy and Hate, pressed together
in the might convulsive passion…
Long list the psychology of contrasts!
Intoxicated , burning spirits have raised the flaming banner….
The words, of course, are from the Anarcho Futurist
Manifesto of 1919. The passion they conjure
still lingers in the air, in the contrasts of the city on the eve of a proposed
general strike. Of, course, a general
strike implies workers propose to strike.
“Strikelujah” chimed in Gideon Oliver at tonight’s Reverend Billy “Night
before May Day’ show and rally tonight. Many at the show felt that way. The inequalities we experience today will
only continue unless more people fight back, express themselves, and reclaim democracy
of and for the people.
My union, the PSC, has called for a labor rally tomorrow,
not a strike. By laws of the state, we
are obliged not to strike (not that many of the members of our union were
around when the Taylor Laws were signed, writing off our most useful tool, the
general strike).
The chapter chair of
my chapter Robert Cermele notes:
This May Day will be historic in its dimension. The call for a
"general strike" may be... rhetorical. But there will likely be tens
of thousands of people or more in the streets. The Occupy Wall Street movement,
Labor Unions, Immigrant Rights groups and others have been seriously organizing
for this.
The heart of the May Day holiday is directly relevant to the students and
workers at CUNY. We are workers.
Participating in
the creative, militant, diverse May Day activities is an educational
experience. We all know
that education is not just, or primarily, something acquired in the classroom.
It is also gotten through real life experiences.
The labor
sector of the May Day March and Rally endorsed the following statement:
Legalize! Organize! Unionize!
We want to be heard! We need to be heard! We will be heard!
We are here to celebrate our power as working
people. We are here to assert our power as working people. We are here to
declare our solidarity with working people the world over.
We are here to declare our right to economic
security, to health care, to public services, to safe and healthy communities,
to quality education, and to civil liberties. We are here to demand all the
popular, administrative and legislative initiatives required to secure these
rights.
We are here to decry the rampant growth of inequality.
We want an end to tax breaks for the rich. We want an end to assaults on the
right to organize. We want an end to the mass incarceration of people of color.
We want an end to the demonization of the immigrant community. We want an end
to war and the unaffordable militarization of foreign policy. We want an end to
a political process bought and paid for by the 1%.
We are here to emphasize our growing unity of
purpose. We are Puerto Rico. We are Wisconsin. We are Ohio. We are New York. We
are Los Angeles and Oakland and a multitude of cities across the country. We
are the 99%!
Of course, most everyone who has been through a round or two
of convergence actions in the city is weary of these moments. Tonight, Reverend
Billy talked about the reality that some would be arrested and spend the night
in the tombs the following day. We’ve
all seen it before, as if from the ghosts of the Haymarket Martyr’s of labor’s
past. The
police fear another bomb and react to signs of anarchists, the Black Bloc, or
radicalism, seeking to sweep their images from the street and the public
commons. I recall a friend being swept up by the police standing in Union
Square with a black block mask. Four
years later, friends with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra had their instruments smashed
by the NYPD on August31 2004 while standing in Union Square during the
Republican National Convention, when the City of New York became a paramilitary
zone; innocent people were swept off the streets for doing little more than
occupying the sidewalk, liberals remained quiet, and the city fell further into
the grips of an expanding censorship
zone.
Of course, these convergence days of action have produced
amazing things over the years; but just as often, they culminate in arrests,
criminalization of dissent, and lawsuits. This is part of why it is so
important to have lawyers around to push back. Just today, I received a press release
declaring:
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While they rarely slow the NYPD, these lawsuits help those
who have been swept from the streets feel like there is some recourse after
experiencing the raw end of the often unconstitutional rule of force often exercised
by the NYPD. The City of New York is
still paying out those swept from the streets during the Republican National
Convention eight years ago. A few years
ago, a group of us swept from the streets and arrested protesting the Carlyle
Group, were rewarded a settlement from the city. While the city rarely admits guilt, the
lawsuits help hold the city in check. They
help those arrested feel like the system is not completely stacked against them.
Days and Rage and Wildcat
strikes.
For much of this year, activists involved with Occupy have
engaged in a debate about a diversity of tactics. Embracing direct action, OWS has not asked
for permits for rallies. Echoing the IWW
before it, OWS does not seem to view those in power as sources of legitimate
authority.
And asking for a permit for a right to peacable assembly
which already exists strikes many as counterintuitive. Yet, the NYPD sees things differently,
sometimes violently attacking those engaging in first amendment protected
activities. As the arrests by the NYPD
have escalated, some have debated other approaches to engagement. Such debates are not unfamiliar. The
history of social movements is full of activists who have entertained a range
of approaches. Today, much of this debate has surrounded the
unpermited May Day Wildcat Strike scheduled for May Day.
We were told by a bosses, by activists, by union leaders we
couldn’t strike. Perhaps, they suggested, if we wanted to protest we could
carry a sign and walk within police barricades, safely cordoned off in a free
speech zone. On May 1st, we aren’t working and we aren’t protesting. We are striking.
We call on all fellow wildcat strikers to join us for a massive unpermitted march at 1pm at Sara D. Roosevelt Park (corner of 2nd and Houston). Along with striking rebels all over the world, we will show the bosses and cops of the world that we are many and we are only getting stronger.
Bring drums, banners, music, and an affinity group. See you on May Day.
http://
We call on all fellow wildcat strikers to join us for a massive unpermitted march at 1pm at Sara D. Roosevelt Park (corner of 2nd and Houston). Along with striking rebels all over the world, we will show the bosses and cops of the world that we are many and we are only getting stronger.
Bring drums, banners, music, and an affinity group. See you on May Day.
http://
Yesterday before the Times
Up! Polar Bear ride, a friend approached me about the action, noting that
journalists had been told not to attend the action. Rumors about the action abounded and I was
encouraged not to attend. “If May Day comes and goes and it's a peaceful
demonstration, no one's going to remember it"” noted a conservative source in the Wall Street Journal seeming to provoke a
violent reaction from the movement, which to this date, has steered away from
such approaches. After all, when
movement strays too far from the Ghardian repertoire of non-violence, the state
usually steps in fast, crushing most everyone involved. They did this with the Young Lords, Weather
Underground, Earth Liberation Front and many others. As it has done in other years, the NYPD seem
to be demarking good protesters from bad, contrasting those engaging in
unpermitted rallies in contrast with those, such as labor, who have applied for
a permit for their action.
 |
| “I came here for community," noted Mark Adams, with the author overlooking to the top left. Photo by Stacy Lanyon. |
In the meanwhile,
others have simply committed themselves to building a more compelling image of
democratic social relations. “
For the last six weeks, I have attended the Spring Training
sessions taking place on Fridays at Zuccotti Park. These are training sessions for May Day done
with group exercises in which groups of hundreds of learn to move, supporting
each other, while holding space. Last Friday, the final session, was a great day at Spring training. Zaps of Chase
Bank, Trinity Church and the MTA, and a
gesture of civil disobedience in front of the Stock Exchange. A marching
band accompanied us as we wondered from Zuccotti down through the labyrinth to
Bowling Green. “Occupy and Shut it Down, New York is a working town!” and
"Hey, Hey MTA, How many fair hikes did you have today?" some chanted.
Others fell back to the vintage: "The system, its Broken, Hella Hella
Occupy!" and "One, two, three four, lets have a class war, five, six,
seven, eight, smash the rich, smash the state!" The Human Gong and civil
disobedience at the closing bell was thrilling.
The three pickets
were samples of some of the 99 similar pickets called for for May Day.
The 1% crashed our economy,
foreclosing on millions of homes,destroying jobs, and wrecking our city budget.
Enough is Enough. As we approach May 1, we will be setting up 99 Picket Lines
to expose, disrupt, and shut down the 1% who rule our city.
Description
As we approach May 1,we will be
setting up 99 Picket Lines to expose, disrupt, and shut down the 1% who rule
our city.The 99 pickets will be an effective way for people to plug into the
morning activities on May Day. A few other pickets will happen in the coming
weeks to build for the May 1st, but the focus of this project is May 1st. This
is an opportunity to fight back against austerity, union busting, the attacks on immigrant rights and the entire
system of the 1% rule with a tactic and framework that is in solidarity with
the May Day call to action. The recent General Strikes in Spain and Greece show
us that when we all fight back together, against austerity we are stronger. The
picket line is a tactic with a rich history. It can be diverse and does not have
to be symbolic.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picketing_(protest)
How will we get to 99 picket lines?
Good question- We are off to a great start. Right now, Unions, Worker Centers, community groups, and affinity groups are selecting and bottom lining targets. We already have over 20 locations. We have an outreach plan to encourage many more organizations to participate.
In order to get to 99, but we need more unions, community groups, OWS working groups, affinity groups, and workers to step up and pick a target.
Ready?
Pick a target you want to picket, ideally at 8 am on May 1, in midtown. Can you get at least 20 people to join you in picketing? Great! (We can help by publicizing your target, if you want. There will also be some upcoming trainings on picketing and mobile tactics) If you do not have 20 people, no problem come to an OWS action spokes council to plug into existing pickets or just come at 8AM to Bryant Park on May 1st and recruit folks to join you. Either way, You are also strongly encouraged to participate in the affinity group spokes councils and existing May Day planning which happen every Wednesday at 6PM at 33 West 14th St. This tactic and project is in solidarity with the all of the exciting plans for May 1st. This action will be distinct but also compliment the amazing mass march from Union Square at 4pm.
If you would like to register a picket line and or have any questions or need support email: 99picketlines@gmail.com.
How will we get to 99 picket lines?
Good question- We are off to a great start. Right now, Unions, Worker Centers, community groups, and affinity groups are selecting and bottom lining targets. We already have over 20 locations. We have an outreach plan to encourage many more organizations to participate.
In order to get to 99, but we need more unions, community groups, OWS working groups, affinity groups, and workers to step up and pick a target.
Ready?
Pick a target you want to picket, ideally at 8 am on May 1, in midtown. Can you get at least 20 people to join you in picketing? Great! (We can help by publicizing your target, if you want. There will also be some upcoming trainings on picketing and mobile tactics) If you do not have 20 people, no problem come to an OWS action spokes council to plug into existing pickets or just come at 8AM to Bryant Park on May 1st and recruit folks to join you. Either way, You are also strongly encouraged to participate in the affinity group spokes councils and existing May Day planning which happen every Wednesday at 6PM at 33 West 14th St. This tactic and project is in solidarity with the all of the exciting plans for May 1st. This action will be distinct but also compliment the amazing mass march from Union Square at 4pm.
If you would like to register a picket line and or have any questions or need support email: 99picketlines@gmail.com.
San Francisco writers James Tracy and I had coffee
today. We talked about the ways Occupy
has plugged into countless local campaigns, including struggles for workers at
Sotheby’s or people losing their homes. Staughton
Lynd has argued movements thrive when they go local and join such campaigns
over the long term. Days of action
are important ways of bringing people together, yet they lose their vitality
when people lose the capacity to connect with changing everyday mechanisms of
power. May Day is tomorrow. See you tomorrow at Continental Army
Plaza at 10:30 am. From there, we move
into the abyss, between protester ambition to take on corporate control on a
march over the Manhattan Bridge to the Lower East Side, Madison Square Park,
Bryant Park and back to Union
Square.. Along
the way, we’ll probably end up trickling past the Wildcat Strike and encounter
the Bike Block, already drawing the attention
of the NYPD and its Counter Terrorism Bureau, which equates democratic
expression with Terrorism. But what really matters is what we all do on May 2.
Its 11 AM, the night before May Day.
 |
| May Day bat signal. Photo by Gideon Oliver. |
I just got a text message declaring:
“Occupy NYC: MAYDAY All Civilians Stand by for a General
Strike at 8:00, No Work, School of Shopping.”
Looks like the game is on. Time
to enter the breach between the streets and history.
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