“The brief respite from the precipitation was mostly well timed for our loud and joyful casserole march through the streets of downtown Chicago…”
A report from Chicago’s action in participation with #globalNOISE
An occupier from Chicago reminisces on her first year in the movement as Occupy Chicago celebrates its anniversary:
“I now recognize our occupation, our movement to occupy every form of oppression everywhere, to be the only possible tide to rise against the financial-governmental machine of privatization, profitization, racialization and devastation of our homes, lives, bodies and thoughts. The one percent demands that we believe in their systems and institutions even as they crack and fall all around them, but the time has come for human beings to evolve. I will continue to use my skills as a writer, performer, and organizer to fuel the worldwide revolution for a sustainable culture until I wake up every last sleepy consumer. I occupy my art and other’s minds as best I can — I see no other way to be!”
“Lady, we don’t even have charges for that”
is what Nicole’s arresting officer told her as she was transported to One Police Plaza following an arrest for hula-hooping in an intersection early in the morning of #S17. She recounts her experience in jail:
“We shared stories, everyone having a good laugh … We stood shoulder to shoulder forming our own ‘Pee-poles Wall’ singing ‘Solidari-pee Forever’ whenever a sister had to use the facilities. It’s amusing to me that after all this time the NYPD still thinks arrest will drive us away from the movement. Some of the strongest bonds I have made since coming to Occupy have been forged in a jail cell.”
“Yesterday, I was free.”
An occupier reflects on his arrest on #S17:
It was wonderful. Each time I heard a new story of the actions taking place on the street after I was picked up I felt like I was missing something; but I also knew the community we formed in our cells was one of the most incredible things that would happen all day; one of the most liberating things I would ever feel.
Out of the Classrooms and Into the Streets!
An occupier takes part in several picket lines in support of the teacher’s strike in Chicago, then takes to the streets with thousands of teachers, students and supporters:
“What struck me about joining the picket lines was the power of having public spaces for communities to gather and discuss topics such as workers’ rights and the state of our public education system. It’s what I have spent the last year seeking out, with the help of Occupy. Want to talk about the economic crisis? Let’s meet in the financial district. Mental health clinics closing down? Meet us across the street and we’ll discuss why we need them to remain open and public. NATO bombing civilians without your consent? Time to show up outside their summit and bear witness to veterans decrying the War on Terror.”
As we approach our first anniversary, a time of storytelling & recollection knocks on our doors, inviting occupiers to remember the stories that they lived and imagining the stories that they wish to live beyond #S17.
In this celebratory date for the global #occupy movement, Occupied Stories & RevPlay invite all occupiers to share a story of what #S17 means to you; of what #occupy meant or means to you.
Everyone is welcome to take this loosely and write a story about an unforgettable moment, encounters, waking dreams; all first-person stories are welcome.
From North to South, East to West, New York City or Budapest, DC, LA, Sidney, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, MyTown, you name it! Come share your stories with everybody!
My Occupy Birthday
An activist reminisces on his past year at OWS, while reporting back on new projects to tackle in year two:
I’ve had my share of personal successes and failures in life, leading a more or less comfortable existence, and therefore have remained complacent (and complicit?). Last year, though, when I witnessed innocent young people, right here in New York City, brutalized and arrested just for publicly stating that they believed our world was in peril and that they wanted there to be a better tomorrow, it triggered in me an uncontrollable desire to help. This is something I hadn’t ever encountered before and I didn’t know how to start, so I went to investigate what these kids were doing in Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park), and found at least a sliver of hope in the bravery of these young’uns.
Ethan’s story tells of self-actualization while presenting some projects on how others may become involved with the movement moving into year two!
Denver police use intimidation to try to squash an anti-police-brutality march in solidarity with Anaheim, causing some arrests:
Sergeant Andrejasich barked at us that “if you go in the street again, we will arrest you.” This threat seemed absurd given that whenever we march, DPD’s vehicles that follow us essentially shut down traffic anyway. Sergeant Andrejasich was clearly hoping that by threatening arrest and possible violence, he could frighten our solidarity march into giving up and going home. He should know by now that Occupy Denver doesn’t play like that. Having seen DPD use violence or the threat of violence countless times to attempt to silence dissent, I figured someone should resolve Sergeant Andrejasich’s confusion about the relationship between his department and our subversive assembly.
99 Picket Lines: Justice for Jazz Artists
When people asked why we were marching, we said, “There is this agreement that jazz clubs made to pay into the musicians’ pensions, for which they get a tax write off. They got the write off, but don’t pay.” It’s so so simple it’s not even about music: it’s just about keeping a promise. People get that right away, and it’s hard to disagree. Then there’s clubs recording musicians and selling the recordings without paying them, that’s to tell the many musicians who walk by and understand in a sound-byte’s time how wrong that is.
Check out @CourtneyOccupied’s awesome photos from last week’s protests in Anaheim!
