Sunday in the Park Zuccotti - A New Phase

Groups were meeting all over the downtown area where they could find space.

Occupy Wall Street, the Second Stage

Revolutions always begin, he wrote, by making impossible demands that if the government met would mean the end of the old configurations of power. The second stage, the one we have entered now, is the unsuccessful attempt by the power elite to quell the unrest and discontent through physical acts of repression.

Chris Hedges in his article This is What Revolution Looks Like. - thanks to Seattle Education 2010

The recent attacks on the Occupy movement - both physical and ideological along with the press emphasizing whatever negatives they could find - lots of people are thinking of the next phase now that there is on longer the need to run a small mini-city.

Repression didn't stop the Arab spring and it won't stop OWS - why? because all the issues that spawned it will only get worse - the 1% will get even more - more money, more bought politicians - and more people will get screwed and see the only answer is in grassroots political action.

The lasting effects of OWS will be felt in the actions of the people who have been taking part - people who never would have met without OWS. There are so many subgroups on so many different issues it is hard to keep count.

Today I saw lots of signs of where we are heading: groups being formed dedicated to developing a democratic bottom-up decision making process to keep the maximum number of people involved, something so antithetical to the operation of unions, especially the UFT, which is trying to glom onto the movement - I should say coopt it (Monday they are holding a 10:30AM "dialogue" with OWS where they will probably try to convince them the most important thing they can do is go to Albany for lobby day.

I went into the city for the 12 noon meeting of the Occupy DOE group which has been meeting in the atrium at 60 Wall St. only to find the sudden cleaning bug has bitten there too. With half the atrium closed the meeting had to be moved to Zuccotti Park where we met at the notorious west end where the drummers used to hang out. They had things to do with a visit to Bloomberg's neighborhood (Sunday 2PM: 24 Hour Drum Circle at Bloomberg's Mansion).

When I got there I asked a cop how to get in since it looked all fenced in and he had the nerve to say, "I'm not sure if we're letting people in." I usually don't get nasty with cops but that ticked me off - a sign of how much good will towards cops has been worn away. I found my way in - and noticed lots of Brookfield properties private security guards in yellow vests walking around.

Zuccotti was having holiday decorations put up and there was also some noisy cleaning going on. Most of the action was on the east (Broadway) end so we were able to find a space in the northwest corner of the park. It was a smaller group than usual. We had people from ICE, GEM, NYCORE, GEM and Teachers Unite along with non-affiliated people. I won't get into the details of the meeting - the group will try to meet every Sunday - next week it will be at 4 or 5PM with an attempt to try 60 Wall Street again.

Which is where Gloria and I headed over to hold a short meeting about GEM stuff after the ODOE meeting. The north end of the atrium was not being cleaned. We noticed at least 2 fairly large groups meeting - we didn't find out what their focus was. And right outside another group was meeting on the sidewalk - everyone standing and waggling fingers.

If there is any sign that the Bloomberg invasion of Zuccotti has not made a dent in the activities going on behind the scenes this was it. People gathering all over the place to start doing the real hard work of educating, organizing and mobilizing - and no mater how much the press and 1% try to brand the people who are taking their Sundays - and probably many other days - to do grassroots political work - they cannot stop this movement. Having had a brief dose of the Obama mania in 2008 where all kinds of people were racing around to work for Obama, that work came to an end with the election. The 1% will continue to get a bigger share of the pie and continue to buy their politicians and this movement will see that lobbying people who are bought will get them nowhere. My mantra is to show up at their offices with a thousand people. We may be pockets of 20-50 but I saw lots of these pockets today - the continued growth of the movement no amount of billy clubs, pepper spray, or smashed computers with hammers will stop.

See Raging Horse blog for some great pics: Occupy Wall Street Is Alive and Well at Zucotti Park

Want a little fuel for your fire?  See this post from Perdido Street School:

Somebody From The City Smashed OWS Laptops With Bats

This is what some of the laptops the NYPD confiscated from OWS protesters last Tuesday look like.

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