Infighting. It is as inevitable as it is frustrating, and if the #Occupy movement is to last, we should address it swiftly and calmly. The last two nights I have been both heartened and frustrated at general assembly meetings discussing a sexual harassment and general violence policy, and the way the discussion has veered into a number of people’s personal feelings about the occupy protest and what it should be doing. I understand the frustrations people feel about action, especially when they feel like they, personally, are not helping to advance the agenda.
When you see the people we stand in solidarity with getting arrested on television every weekend, your immediate thought is probably something in the range of “I want to do that too.” I’m certainly not arguing against direct action projects that get people arrested. The thing that matters to me, though, is that the arrest actually symbolizes something. If we want to have a vibrant, thriving movement with a powerful message, we need to have focus. Part of having focus is making sure things operate smoothly at our site. Part of that is making it a safe place. It’s a cyclical issue to be sure, and it won’t be the last, but once it is dealt with, we’re another step closer to an ordered space.
Bottom line: keep your cool, don’t rush off in a huff every time you don’t get your way at a general assembly. Breathe in through your nose, breathe out through pursed lips. Breathe deep and slow. Consider why a topic has an incredibly long stack, realize that everyone on that stack is just as passionate about speaking as you are about moving on. Let your ego subside and learn to accommodate the views of others. If you want to change the order of agenda items, speak to a facilitator, but please don’t ever presume to preach to others something as basic as their safety is not important.
In other news, we had the Baltimore Marathon on site at Occupy Baltimore this week, they had a permit for our space but didn’t see any reason to start a conflict, so they just fit themselves in. They wound up donating a bunch of water and shirts afterwards. We then had a march on the banks, hitting Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and the still being completely finished worldwide HQ of Legg Mason. Yesterday we had Max Rameau from Take Back the Land talk before our general assembly. He discussed some really great ideas. I’ll expound on those later. That’s it for this update, expect something more akin to waxing intellectual next, as I have an exam tonight and will have more ability to reflect afterward.
FYI, I edited together some footage and included below.