By now, you’re probably aware of the people’s movement to occupy Wall Street, K Street in Washington, DC, and public spaces across the United States. Maybe you’ve read CODEPINK’s alert connecting the movement for social and economic justice with the need to end the US wars in Afghanistan and beyond. Maybe you’ve read some of our previous PINKtank posts about our own experiences among the people occupying Wall Street and Washington, DC. Maybe you’ve looked through some of the testimonies from “the 99%.”Maybe you’ve even experienced this movement firsthand. Wherever you are, and whatever your level of engagement with the movement, you may have noticed that news of these protests and occupations has started to reach the American “mainstream.”

For example, did you know that footage of Occupy Wall Street and other movements against corporate greed made it onto Inside Edition, a TV tabloid show I tend to associate with vapid celebrity gossip? As it turns out, the journalists of Inside Edition, after showing footage of police brutality against activists, interviewed some “Wall Street types,” one of whom had the following message for the movement: “Why don’t you go get a job or something? Don’t block traffic, [don’t] block the bridges.”

Another example has been posted and re-posted by several of my friends on Facebook—a quote attributed to New York Republican representative Peter King:  ”We have to be careful not to allow this to get any legitimacy. I’m taking this seriously in that I’m old enough to remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”

You may wonder why I’m focusing on such negative reactions, instead of simply waxing optimistic about the power of the people. It’s because these negative reactions are signs of the power of the people. If “Wall Street types” and politicians had no clue about the power of the people, they would not be so angry or so panicked.

So, yes, the corporations and the rich are starting to get the message: the American people want the rich to pay their share. But is it enough that the rich and powerful know that the people want them to pay their fair share? More to the point, would it be enough if policies were enacted to force the rich and powerful to pay more taxes?

Feeling the power and energy of the people’s demands to tax the rich, we still need to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room: war spending. Robert Naiman sums it up very well: “If we’re going to use the money to kill, imprison, and otherwise oppress people in other countries who have done us no wrong, I would just as soon let Warren Buffett keep his money. “

Ouch! Talk about a potential buzzkill, right? Well, it’s only a buzzkill if we don’t make the connection between war spending and income inequality. We would actually do well to ask ourselves what the point is of simply demanding that the rich pay taxes, when so much of that tax money pays for wars. We need to pair our demand to “tax the rich” with our demand that the US government bring our war dollars home: redirecting war funding toward creating jobs, educating ourselves and our children, increasing access to healthcare, protecting the environment, and other programs that meet the needs of the American people and people around the world.

If week one of Occupy Wall Street was about surviving, week two has been about finding our voice. Some of the organizing and facilitation processes we’ve developed to make our movement inclusive and participatory have proven not to be enough, and we are constantly adapting and regrouping to ensure that everyone’s voice in this broad and vibrant coalition is heard.

During Monday’s General Assembly I announce through the call-and-response system of people’s microphone that CODEPINK’s Medea Benjamin will be leading a media training session for women and gender queer/non-male identifying members of the demonstration:

This morning I watched // This morning I watched
News coverage of this protest // News coverage of this protest.
10 people were interviewed // 10 people were interviewed
1 of them // 1 of them
Was a woman // Was a woman
The 99% // The 99%
Is not 90% men // Is not 90% men

Reflecting briefly on the conversations I’ve shared since the occupation began – the countless sound, necessary suggestions and contributions that have been voiced amongst ourselves without making reaching the larger group or media – I add:

If you’ve ever thought // If you’ve ever thought
‘I have something to say’ // I have something to say
… ‘but it’s not that important’ // but it’s not that important
‘It can wait’ // It can wait
Or ‘someone else can say it better’ // Or someone else can say it better
Please join us // Please join us

The message is received enthusiastically. When we do our introductions in the training, we realize many people are not only finding it difficult to speak to press but also during the General Assembly (GA). CODEPINK members following from across the country via livestream have expressed similar concern that women’s participation in the GA seems limited to logistical report-backs from working groups that run the encampment at Liberty Plaza rather than more weighty discussions about our principles of solidarity and Declaration. As these important discussions have intensified, so has women’s insistence on meaningful inclusion and representation in the drafting of our “living documents.”

During the training Medea offers some suggestions on how to make sure everyone’s voices are heard – we tell her about the speak-easy caucus of the General Assembly, which is a safe space for women and non-male identifying members of the GA, and the group responsible for calling the Colbert Report out for doing a piece on Occupy Wall Street that featured interviews with three men and a shot of a topless woman from the demonstration, who apparently was not deemed worthy of interview. That evening a new group, the “Safer Spaces” Committee, will announce its formation to address the problem of sexual harassment:

Please keep in mind // Please keep in mind
Not everyone // Not everyone
Wants to hug you // Wants to hug you
You might need a shower // You might need a shower
If you want to dance with someone // If you want to dance with someone
Or talk to them // Or talk to them
You should find a way to ask them // You should find a way to ask them.

When we get to the practice portion of the training my partner, Anna, is shy and says she doesn’t want to try it. I ask her why she’s here. She freezes up. I tell her to imagine she’s on the phone with her best friend, someone close to her, who’s wondering what all this is about. Without so much as a pause or an “um”, Anna tells me she’s here because she’s been unemployed for two years and she’s tired of seeing media blaming young people for being jobless. Another young woman says she’s here because she grew up homeless and although she was able to escape that lifestyle (I later learn she’s earning a PhD), her family has not been so lucky. We immediately bring the livestream camera over to record these stories, which are more compelling and personal than any I’ve heard covered thus far.

—

Since the demonstration began two weeks ago, I’ve been coordinating with members of CODEPINK, the Granny Peace Brigade, and the Speak-Easy Caucus looking to take the demonstration to the “next level” by staying overnight, and wanting to generate a critical mass of trusted friends to create a safe encampment for the night. On Friday we gear up for our first Occupy Wall Street sleep-out. After last Friday’s was rained out, this time we are ready. At least most of us are – I still don’t have a sleeping bag.

I receive an email from Eve Ensler – she wants to pay a visit and is wondering if there’s anything we need that she can bring. Problem solved. I notify one of the founding members of the Speak-Easy caucus. Her eyes well up – “Omigosh! Are you serious? HERE?! When?!” She tells me about how her closest group of friends formed around a highschool production of the Vagina Monologues and still lovingly refer to each other as “The Vaginas.” When Ms. Ensler arrives she tells her “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Eve and Alicia – one of the V-girls – arrive at the encampment with bags of supplies – including a wonderful sleeping bag that I gratefully accept. Eve tours the ground, interviewing people, and says they will return tomorrow night with the rest of the V-girls – for now she just wants to take it all in. Her face glows with awe, praise, and curiosity: “A second wind is coming.”

CODEPINKers come and go from the square throughout the day and gather for the march against police brutality at 5:30. After the march more members stop by to offer support and delicious home-baked chocolate chip cookies. As night falls I go to the nearby fast-food restaurant that has become our bathroom. It’s packed with young women from Occupy Wall Street. One [Nicole, 20] watches me take out my toothbrush and nods knowingly. I ask her how long she’s been staying in the square – since last Saturday. She tells me she didn’t planning on staying, just came down one day to check out the scene, met some cool people, and didn’t want to leave. “You can’t capture that on camera, that sense of community. I’ve never felt so close to the people around me.” A woman who I recognize from the encampment’s medic committee reminds us that our cell phones will be the first thing taken by the police and instructs us to take down the National Lawyers’ Guild number in case of emergency. We obediently pen the number on our forearms in pink sharpie and wish each other luck.

As I’m consulting with the Safer Spaces committee – identifiable by their pink armbands – where to set up camp, it begins to rain. I run over to where the General Assembly is meeting and duck under a big red umbrella with Sara Beth, a member of the speak-easy caucus. We reminisce over how the umbrella originally brought us together in a moment that seems years ago but was probably last week, when I asked to trade my red umbrella for her pink one. The rain gets harder and louder. A young woman in a poncho tours the square with a cardboard sign shouting like a newsboy: “FREE HUGS!” People huddle under tarps and shout jokes across the square to keep spirits up: “Two fish are swimming in a river. One slams into a concrete wall. Dam!”

Alli, a CODEPINKer from DC, somehow finds us in the labyrinth of tarps and umbrellas creating a patchwork shelter throughout the square. She is down for the weekend to help out and to prepare for DC’s own occupation in Freedom Plaza beginning on October 6th. We discuss what to do if the rain continues and decide to stick it out. I duck from tarp to tarp trying to cover my belongings and rally together other speak-easies while Alli bravely bolts across the square to the Comfort Station to see if they have any extra ponchos. Eventually we seek refuge in the WikiLeaks truck, owned by fellow Bradley Manning supporter Clark Stoeckley. Referring to our Occupy Wall Street-induced evolution from twitter-following to friendship, I joke that I’ll thank him on twitter. There’s about 7 people in the van already, only one of whom is a woman. They welcome us in joking that it’ll make her feel better. This is not exactly the “safe-space” we were envisioning, but it is warm, cozy, and most importantly, dry.

At around 11 pm I receive a text from my partner asking where I am. I reply “still in Liberty”, expecting him to text back that I should come home before I catch a cold. Instead, he joins us about half an hour later wielding a huge Tupperware of freshly-baked brownies. More people stop by the truck as the night progresses, including members of the Security Committee, who leave us with one of their yellow walkie-talkies in case we need anything. Like many of the committees, they mention they are looking for more women members. A figure dressed in garbage bags drops off bottles of water and someone else pokes their head in asking if anyone would like a pair of clean, dry socks. A few of us hold back out of politeness before accepting – he has a whole bag of them. Wiggling our toes with glee in the too-large white tennis socks (“they feel like a hug!”) we all agree: they are the best socks we have ever worn in our lives. Alli returns from a bathroom run with an armload of hotdogs and falafels and reports: “ We have occupied McDonalds!” The venue is full of occupiers escaping the rain, playing guitars and singing “this little light of mine.” We keep a running tally of the number of people in the truck, joking that we should adopt the restaurant’s slogan: 17 served. Everything is funny to us. Max, the sock-bearing carpenter from upstate New York, says his next cardboard sign will read: “For the first time in my life I finally feel at home.”

At 5 am I return to the 24-hour fast food bathroom. It is as hot as a sauna, and we pack in, taking turns using the hand drier to ease some of the night’s saturation. Some are changing clothes, some cutting each other’s hair, some just sitting on the floor to get some warmth into their soaked bones. People tell each other they’re beautiful, reunite, hug, and compare horror stories of the rough night we just survived. One jokes that tonight we should all just sleep here in the bathroom where it’s safe and dry – “let the guys figure out their own thing.”

I arrived at sunset as the downpour ended.
Melanie is moving through the community as if it were her living room.
She has made friends and allies and nurtured relationships of mutual support.
And of course her headquarters is the Wiki-Leaks truck!

As she departs for a good night sleep and some dry clothes my son shows up with dinner just after I got my 30 seconds on the live feed.  We both agree it is shades of burning man.  Mostly because we feel that yummy sense of aliveness, community, support and love.

He offers himself fully to the task of call and response of the general assembly but after an hour wonders how everyone has the stamina.  Yet he comes up with a great idea to organize an early morning action to circle wall street with 5,000 people and is curious if we can make that happen.  He is insistant that Wall Street feel the effects of our presence.  What will their tweets read he wonders?  This is followed by an arrest of a young woman on her bike.   It is awesome to watch as those who are responsible shift from GA to monitoring the event at hand.  Cameras out, people up and like a dance the cameras move forward and those without withdraw.  The police are surrounded by those who are sharing the story in multiple forms globally.  Many in the crowd are telling stories of their recent arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge and the dry night of sleep they got in jail.  No one here is exercising power, instead they are taking responsibility and following through on it.  Beautiful to behold.

The night is full of long conversations about what this is, where it can go, what can be done as the cold moves in, how to be most effective and how to encourage others to join.  All bathed in the richness of the general assembly on one end and the non stop music and dancing on the other.  The General Assembly greeting table has a collection of our pink peace cranes as decorations and the guy from the music side came to complain that we are playing favorites and he wants his own.

The vinyl banners Kristen mothered into being were a big hit tonight, multiple requests to hold them for the cameras as they did their night stories and lots of opportunities to do photos with them.  I did meet a female corporal in the army who had come in solidarity but couldn’t hold the sign because she was in uniform.  But she likes all the messages.

The wiki-leaks truck leaves in the morning to join us in Washington on Thursday.  There is excitement in the square at the news of a push in DC.  Love and curiosity were the threads of my night.  Tomorrow more crane folding to make the welcoming table on Trinity Street feel supported.

Please join us in NYC or whereever you are.

As the 10^th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan approaches, and as the deficit-cutting debate heats up, the rich and powerful in the US have taken an opportunity to throw themselves a massive pity party. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has documented a small fragment of their grievances here. Something that he didn’t mention is that war profiteers, also known as “defense contractors,” have some grievances of their own: the so-called congressional super-committee, which has been tasked with finding $1.5 trillion in spending cuts in order to reduce the national deficit, might not reach an agreement on what to cut. If that happens, a procedure known as sequestration could take effect, triggering $1.2 trillion in cuts across the board—including $600 billion from the Pentagon budget.

War profiteers are in a panic over the prospect of losing $600 billion in funding, and have voiced their concerns:

Here’s what Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), had to say about the matter:

Defense has been cut into the bone, and we cannot have that continue. As far as defense is concerned, the cuts have been taken that could be absorbed.

This is no joke, people: if defense spending is cut any further, we might not be able to afford to keep fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—or start any new ones. And we can’t have that, can we? Just listen to this dire warning from Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing:

If we had additional cuts of $600 billion … I would question whether or not we will have a fighting force that’s capable, or an industrial base left.

In other words, the war industry needs to be given billions of US taxpayer dollars each year, so that the US can remain in a state of perpetual war. And perpetual war is precisely what is required to continue lining the pockets of war profiteers!

Don’t believe me? Just ask industry lobbyists themselves. Actually, you don’t even need to ask them; just check out the website Second To None:

American leadership in aerospace and defense is being threatened by forces in Congress and the administration. The security of our troops, our technological future and our economic stability are all at risk. We must preserve jobs across the nation that keep our nation strong. Join us and act now before it is too late.

Well, thanks for the reminder, Second to None! If it hadn’t been for your slick website, I might have forgotten that terrorists want to destroy America, and that lining the pockets of war profiteers is the only thing standing between the United States of America and another 9/11.  It’s a good thing you’re not being too subtle about it, or else Congress might reduce your funding back to the level it was at in 2007!

Or not. Here’s what Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) had to say about the prospect of these horrific threats to war industry profit margins:

When we had our first meeting the chairman asked, “Well, what do we think about defense spending?” and I said, “I’m off of the committee if we’re gonna talk about further defense spending [cuts].”

Well, that’s a relief! Now that we know both parties on the super-committee have strong ties to the “defense” industry, you can definitely rest assured that you’ll still be able to profit from war, greed, and corruption, while the rest of us—you know, the American people you’re so passionate about “defending”—are suffering.

That is, unless the people come together to defend their healthcare, education, infrastructure, and job opportunities from devastating cuts, stand up to corporate greed, and demand that the super-committee bring our war dollars home!

And yet, when President Obama takes the podium to lecture the world on creating peace, it can feel like we’re living an Orwellian nightmare. How can the United States use Al Qaeda and 9/11 as legitimate reasons for declaring war on Iraq? After ten years and countless lives lost, how can the U.S. claim the Afghan War is making anyone more secure?

From U.S. imperialism to the possibility of the inhumane execution of Troy Davis, today is a sad day to celebrate peace. We who are dedicated to creating a peaceful world usually feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. And I suggest that it is as important to honor our work and our commitment to peace as it is to challenge the system.

You may be occupying Wall Street to demand an end to war or waiting anxiously for news that the Supreme Court stays the execution. Whatever you’re doing today, take a moment to celebrate yourself and our community. We must nourish our souls as we work for a peaceful world. Take time to raise a glass (of sparkling grape juice or wine) for the world’s peacemakers. And join us in spreading the message of peace: Create, Not Hate.

C.J. at LA town hall: Make Bridges Not War

Today, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa held a town hall meeting in West LA. I attended the meeting to ask him how he’s going to use the lobbying weight of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and the Los Angeles DC office to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring the money home. Think that’s an odd mouthful to ask a local leader? CODEPINKers know everything local is connected to the federal government’s funding choices. And it helps that Villaraigosa is the president of the USCM, which passed a historic resolution calling on Congress to Redirect Military Spending for Domestic Priorities. A few weeks after that, the Los Angeles City Council passed an anti-war resolution. Villaraigosa supported the passage of both resolutions, so now we’re looking forward to working with him to see the resolutions implemented.

Alas, I wasn’t called on to ask my question publicly. I was able to learn that my neighbors don’t want more digital billboards, think the promised new rail line needs to have more stops, and want more money for arts education. All worthy issues. The best part was how the mayor chose to close the night. He noted that “this country has to find its soul again. The poverty rate is growing and there really isn’t an investment in people like there should be.” And he reminded the gathering that he believes we need to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring the money home. He repeated his line “that we should build bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar and not Baltimore and Kansas city absolutely boggles the mind.”

So now the work really begins: we must help our neighbors remember that as a community we can do great things, but the myth of individual resilience is a lie. We must save the social safety net from draconian cuts. We must remind people that tax cuts to the rich and unfunded wars caused the national debt and it can’t be paid off on the backs of working people. We must gather our mayors to elevate our voices for change. We must work together to completely end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring all of the troops and contractors home. Are you ready to Create, Not Hate?