We are part of the Movement, creating and taking back democracy.
The wrestling of power away from corporate control has the potential for violence and chaos.
FEAR – ONLY IF YOU ARE KEPT IN THE DARK
In the years leading up to 2012, young people all over have been training each other in non-violent resistance. I pretended I was “young” and attended a full two-day workshop a couple of years ago. You meet the greatest people and come away empowered. (Actually there were a few my age!)
AN INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE OF THE POWER OF THESE KIDS: Two-and-a-half million people have viewed the youtube video.
- http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4880 2011-11-18 Police pepper spray peaceful uc davis students
The police are armed with some kind of gun and others with sticks and riot gear. A policeman pepper-sprays along a row of university students sitting on the ground, arms linked, in protest. Part of the protest is over Wall Street. Normally people would have been enraged by the pepper-spray and the protest would have turned violent. The casualties would have been written up and fear of protesting would have spread.
The police drag off some protesters, pinning down and hand-cuffing others. The protesters seemed to have built on Sgt Shamar Thomas’ and other examples. They mic-checked. (Human microphone, explanation at http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=3838 .) The police try to advance on the protesters. The chant begins: “Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!”. It continues relentlessly. The police position weakens. The chant changes to “Our University! Our University!”. The protestors then reverse the flow, advancing on the police, “Go! We are giving you a moment of peace. You can go”. The police start backing up, herded by the protestors, the chant becomes “You can go! You can go! You can go”. And the police do leave!
As I say, it’s a pretty amazing display of restraint by the protestors, and new tools of non-violent resistance that overcame the brutality of the weapons lined up against them. The protestors had resolve and showed no fear.
(The Sgt Shamar Thomas video is at http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4884. About 4 million people have viewed it. He basically did what these students did, but all by himself. Relentless repetition to the New York police of the message “There is no honor in this.” until the police retreat.)
This is state-side. Their victory is on our behalf. With Lockheed Martin lurking in Canada, failures to enforce the law, and now rigged elections, I hope more and more Canadians step up and join hands. Make the Government represent the public interest. Fight corporate takeover of our institutions.
Tell the truth, like Chris Hedges http://youtu.be/7zotYU21qcU. (A great interview!) And have no fear.
(Other “Occupy” postings, see www.sandrafinley.ca , on the right-hand side, under “Categories”, under “Corporatocracy”.)
Dear Sandra,
I watched the video and then another one about “what really happened” showing what led up to the pepper spraying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhPdH3wE0_Y&feature=related .
I would say, in this case, it is actually mainly the police who showed a lot of restraint and decency.
The students had some discipline, but I would not have been comfortable, myself, in being part of the way they did that protest. … I find the human mic idea interesting. On the one hand, it has been used very creatively, as a way to overcome not being allowed to use a mic and the way Naomi Klein started her excellent speech was very moving to me.
But in this case, with people repeating orders, the situation feels somewhat mob-like to me.
Even before watching the video I gave the link to above, I found the way the police were acting did not seem that alarming to me. They seemed, in many cases, to be open to speaking with the students as people. (That was not the case in Quebec City at the summit of the Americas protest in 2001. For the most part, police went off the deep end there, in my opinion.)
all the best, Jan