MEDIA ROOTS – The upcoming G8 and NATO Summits to be held in tandem in Chicago this year between May 19 – 21, will greatly influence the direction the United States is headed in, as well as determine Americans’ democratic fortunes for generations to come.  Chicago will be the first city other than Washington D.C. to host a NATO summit, and it will be the first time in 30 years that any city has hosted the events together.

As socioeconomic pressure mounts and political ineptitude grows, the fate of America hangs in the balance.  The Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWSM) may be at a lull, but its state of hibernation shouldn’t be mistaken for an end to populist activism.  Economic conditions have not improved and U.S. citizens are becoming increasingly fearful, anxious, and desperate.   Come spring, protesters will likely start pouring into cities once again to demonstrate their dissatisfaction.  

The phrase “The Global Crossroads” stands prominently atop the Chicago G8/NATO homepage.   Are the global elite aware of just how significant this theme is for the “99%”?   The world has yet to see the conclusion of last year’s fierce spurt of democratic action when civil unrest and political activism engulfed wide swaths of the globe, and the temporary quiet could be compared as simply a two minute break in between rounds during a champion title fight.  Instead of countries in the Arab Spring having the light shed on their revolutionary processes, the United States could very well find itself on the world’s center stage this year. 

Throughout the Arab Spring phenomenon, President Obama admonished countries like Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Libya for not protecting the civil rights of their respective citizenry and denounced every foreign leader for unleashing iron fisted tactics of repression on their own people that frequently resulted in bloodshed.  Although the United States purports to uphold these very lofty democratic protections and ideals that legitimate the moral superiority to forcefully export democracy abroad, the world began to see through this façade while observing the heavy handed police state repression against OWS protesters.  

Lt. John Pike, a.k.a. ‘The Pepper Spray Cop,’ became a notorious global icon of excessive police force against dissent in the U.S.  Unfortunately, last year’s events at UC Davis, NYC, and Oakland may have only been pre-game warm ups.  The G8/NATO Summit will put the Americas to the test, as the showdown sets up between the people’s desire to preserve and exercise their Constitutional rights versus the elites’ desire to squash them.  Just as in 1968, the whole world will be watching.

Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, who branded the 1968 Democratic National Convention a day in infamy for the American psyche, is also responsible for bringing phrases like “storm troopers” and “Gestapo tactics” into the popular vernacular when referencing the police response to large rallies.  Up until 1968, the Chicago DNC riots held the distinction of being arguably the worst acts of police brutality during the 20th century.   For its time, the show of police force that Daley summoned was akin to a tyrannical regime. The book Battleground Chicago details the assembled forces of the Chicago police:

“The usual police contingent of 6,000 officers on the streets grew to 11,900 on twelve-hour shifts, up from the usual eight. The city requested the mobilization of 5,649 Illinois National Guardsmen, with an additional 5,000 on alert, bolstered by up to 1,000 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers and military intelligence officers. Waiting for signs of trouble in the suburbs would be 6,000 army troops, including members of the elite 101st Airborne Division. The men were to be equipped with bazookas and flamethrowers.”

Although some of the protesters did antagonize the police by swearing and throwing small projectiles at them, the heavy handed police response and irresponsible conduct that resulted was completely unprecedented. Police indiscriminately beat protesters with nightsticks, sprayed them with tear gas, and trampled on people’s civil rights.

On the night of August 28, 1968, the hysteria exploded into a culmination of the infamous Hilton Hotel riots. On orders from Mayor Daley, the police were told “to shoot to kill any arsonist or anyone with a Molotov cocktail in his hand.” They rushed the crowds of protesters and unleashed a brutal onslaught of epic proportions, crushing skulls and leaving pools of blood in their wake. The mayhem unfolded in front of TV cameras as the whole world watched. Curiously, in the wake of the violent standstill, public opinion polls showed that a majority of Americans supported Daley’s tactics.

 

USA vs. DEMOCRACY – Chicago, Illinois 1968

Despite it being a global beacon of free speech, the United States doesn’t encourage a culture of dissent and protest, and it has a long history of quelling its political activism with violence.  Look no further than the union busting efforts of the Pinkertons in the 19th century.  From the first day we can say the word “flag,” we’re ingrained with nationalistic propaganda that the United States is an infallible and just entity, and the only option given to us as children is to toe the establishment line.

Furthermore, differences exist between the mindsets of populations in the U.S. and Europe.  Europe has a much more mature history of political unrest and revolution.  They have learned the difficult lessons we have yet to learn and as a result, European governments fear their people, whereas in the United States, people fear their government.  How much will the people fear Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago police force come May? 

For years, observers, such as economist Richard Wolff, have pointed out the stark contrast between the political diversity in European parliaments, with socialist, democratic-socialist, Greens, and other third-parties.  So, when economic meltdown occurs and austerity measures start to kick in to ‘bail out’ the banks, or siphon the people’s resources away, Europeans are more astute and well-informed to mount their resistance.  Whereas, in the US, prior to Wisconsin and Occupy, the two-party system kept everybody praying for the next election or the next saviour candidate.  Perhaps, this election year will be different with the Occupy Movement largely shunning the Wall Street Democrat Party’s overtures.

The anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters, one of the coordinators of OWS, put out a call to action to gather 50,000 protesters to descend on Chicago the weekend of the G8/NATO summit. According to their website:

“This time around we’re not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, 1968 … nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights.”

Unfortunately, Emanuel appears to be fervently following the lineage of Richard J. Daley by ‘rahmming through,’ if you will, a slew of draconian measures that will severely put the brakes on First Amendment rights.  Approved by the Chicago City Council in January, the new measures have affectionately come to be known as the “Sit Down and Shut Up” ordinances, already an ominous sign that points to tensions ratcheting up.  Evidently, Emanuel and other Chicago politicians have not learned history’s valuable lessons.

Some of the new “Sit Down and Shut Up” ordinances are: increased fines for civil disobedience (now $200-$1000 up from $25-$500), inclusion of passive resistance as a form of resisting arrest, the power to “deputize officers,” and requirement of $1 million in liability insurance for any large parade or protest, with each contingent needing to register one week in advance with the City.  Perhaps, the City of Chicago hopes that the increased fines will offset the enormous security costs of the event.

The total costs of the summit won’t be known until weeks after its completion.  However, the security cost is coming into focus.  To begin with, the Department of Homeland Security awarded a $54 million grant to Chicago.  The grant might only cover the basics, as there is an expectation that the host committee must additionally raise “between $45 million and $60 million in outside funds for supplemental security costs, delegation social events and related matters.”  The urgency for further financial backing may be fraying Emanuel’s nerves.  He will need sufficient funding to not only cover potential property damage but also to feed and house out-of-town cops.  Emanuel might look to corporate pockets for the extra millions needed, but is there a risk of the tab eventually being picked up by taxpayers?  He would be well-served to not drop the bill on the back of the “99%.”

Perhaps, Emanuel’s moniker of “Mayor 1%,” will be the new historical mark he’ll leave in the wake of the summit.  He’s well on his way, after receiving $4.9 million from the financial services industry for his mayoral campaign war chest.  This financial windfall continues his history as a beneficiary of the FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) sector.  During his tenure as a member of the House of Representatives he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from UBS, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America, among others.  There will clearly be a conflict of interest between his “99%” constituency and his “1%” vested interests come May, if it’s not already evident.

On the homepage of the G8/NATO summit, Mayor Emanuel states:

“Chicago is a magnet for those that think big.  There’s no better place for leaders to find solutions to the world’s biggest challenges than right here in the President’s hometown.”

Ironically, the real leaders, the ones who aren’t ideologically bankrupt or suffer from a lack of imagination, will be out in the streets and not in convention halls, fancy hotels or behind velvet ropes.  Come spring, the protesters will endeavor to water the seeds of democracy and grow organic ideals of freedom. The powers that be will try to stop this new generation of leaders with their battalions of paramilitary storm troopers, their LRADs, ADSs, and armored vehicles.

Chicago’s broad shoulders will be burdened, not only in terms of the city’s legacy, but in relation to the “global crossroads.”  How can America’s ‘Windy City’ still blow hot air about being exceptional, democratic, and free if those in power are viciously cracking down on its citizens who dare to exercise their Constitutionally-protected rights to free speech?

Democracy is not a right, it’s a privilege, and in order to maintain our rights healthy and strong, to prevent them from atrophying, they must be exercised.  The simultaneous G8 and NATO summits in Chicago will set the stage for what could be a very rambunctious summer and a scalding hot Republican National Convention in Tampa.  Despite whatever ordinances are passed, the people on the streets will not sit down and shut up.  The smallest indignity, like the one that occurred to Mohamed Bouazizi, has proven capable of catalyzing massive, widespread tilling of moribund lands, yearning for democratic change.  On December 17, 2010, Tunisian authorities confiscated Bouazizi’s fruits and vegetables and reportedly slapped him, leading him to commit self-immolation outside the governor’s office.  The first domino of the Arab Spring had fallen.  The American domino wavers, the disgruntled and angry masses will continue to fight for America, as their rights become eradicated, as their unions become busted and their public services privatized.

But will U.S. liberals and progressives line up to rationalise another four years of Obama-style US imperialism and domestic repression?  Without a radical and critical electoral analysis, protest movements render themselves supplicant, enabling an unresponsive Democrat Party to continue to handily take its constituency for granted and leave them organising another four years of protests to bemoan business as usual.

Polish activist Rosa Luxemburg once wisely said “those who do not move do not notice their chains.” So, will the chains come off or will Chicago succumb to the second pity? The stakes are high. So high that Chicago, and the fabled “city on a hill” might just come tumbling down.

Written by Adam Miezio

Photo by flickr user cikaga jamie

MEDIA ROOTS — On January 28th, 2012, Occupy Oakland moved to take a vacant building to use as a social centre and a new place to continue organising.  This is the story of what really happened that day as told by the participants.  The video features raw footage of police brutality and interviews with Boots Riley, David Graeber, Maria Lewis, along with several other witnesses to the events.

MR

The Battle of Oakland by Brandon Jourdan

***

Photo by Abby Martin

MEDIA ROOTS — As U.S. imperialism abroad goes unchecked, Federalised police platoons are cracking down on political dissent at home.  The militarization of local police consists of hundreds of cops in riot gear from multiple forces, aerial support for coordinated assaults, plans for launching surveillance drones against dissenting demonstrators, police brutality, unwarranted methods of crowd control, kettles and mass arrests.  Facial recognition methods seem to be utilised by police to target particular protesters labelled as persons of interest, as done in the U.K. during the recent Tottenham uprisings.

Berkeley Copwatch discusses the continuing violence led by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and the OPD, elaborating on who’s really in charge of the increasingly Federalised police operations against Constitutionally-protected peaceful protest.

MR

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FLASHPOINTS — “You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  My name is Dennis Bernstein.  This is your daily investigative news magazine.

“We’re going to start off by taking another look at what happened over the weekend in Oakland and the incredibly violent Oakland Police Department, cheered on by Mayor Jean Quan.

“And joining us to begin the discussion is our good friend Andrea Pritchett.  She is the founder of Berkeley Copwatch.  She’s been out there watching those folks in Oakland.

“Andrea, welcome back to Flashpoints.”

Andrea Pritchett (c. 2:02):  “Thanks, Dennis.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 2:06):  “Well, you were out there.  Tell me a little bit.  Give me your overview, as somebody who’s used to watching and documenting and filming.  I know you did some filming of police actions.”

Andrea Pritchett (c. 2:20):  “Yeah, well, Saturday afternoon it was really quite a celebration.  It seemed like, from the amount of stuff that people were carrying, they were quite prepared to move into a building.  And, so, it was, in fact, Move-In Day. 

“So, with the celebration and that atmosphere going on the first thing that happened was that there was a sound-truck that got jammed up by the police.  They got surrounded and they were being detained.  So, that didn’t bode well for the whole attitude of the Police Department towards the protest. 

“The protest, the march went and surrounded the sound-truck and sort of ‘liberated it’ from that situation.  And the march began.

“But what was real clear, with significant air support from the helicopters above, that the police were determined to stop the march at every turn.  And, so, it happened time and again where we would march down the street and meet a line of cops.  And then the march would try to go a different direction to achieve their objective. 

“And what had been laid down pretty clearly is that [liberal Oakland Mayor] Jean Quan and the police had said, ‘You’re not taking anything. You’re not taking any buildings’ and, apparently, they made a decision to say, ‘by any means necessary, we’re gonna stop you from doing that.’

“Now, theoretically, being in an empty building could possibly constitute trespassing or something.  But the use of force, the decision to use force was made long before the protest.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 3:50):  “And you’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  Andrea Pritchett of Copwatch in the studio.

“Lali is on the phone.  She just got out of court.  She’s on the line with us.  She was in the line of these arrests.

“Also, joining us is an activist, very active with Occupy Oakland, Christoph.

“But let me start off with you, Lali.  You just got out of court?”

Lali (c. 4:13):  “I did.  I’m actually, right now, standing in front of the Court House on 7^th and Washington and we just came out.  And I can give you an update on what’s happened.

“As we know, somewhere around 400 people were arrested on Saturday [28 Jan 2012], most of them in the mass arrests when they were trapped into Broadway around 24^th Street in front of the YMCA. 

“And some of those people were cited out through the weekend.  And, for most people, actually, most of these people were held cuffed for up to eight to twelve hours during the actual arrests and were not allowed to use the bathroom.  Many people reported to us that they were forced to urinate on themselves.

“And all of these 400 people, many of them were not even processed 48 hours later.  Basically, they kind of just disappeared into a black hole of the criminal justice system.  Even as of today, there were people that we still weren’t able to find in the system.  And we came to court for the arraignments of those people that they have held in custody and found, at the end of the day today, that they did not file charges on anyone, except four people for felonies and seven people for misdemeanours.  So, out of 400 people on Saturday that were arrested, most of them had been held for days before being cited out.  Some are still being held.  Close to a hundred are still being held.  And out of all of those, the district attorney was only able to file charges on eleven people here today.  And the rest are gonna be, we assume, released tonight at Santa Rita.”

“So, we have a case here of close to 400 people, and this has been happening to us week after week, with a dozen here, a dozen there.  But now we have 400 people who have been held, many of them two, three nights and no charges are being filed, with the exception of eleven of them.

“And the stories that we’re hearing from the conditions that people are being held in are just absolutely terrifying.  There were a number of people who had serious, serious injuries, that were beaten very badly and we were unable to get medical attention for them.  We had people who needed serious medication that they were on, everything from bacterial infections to all kinds of other issues that were denied their medication.

“There were people who reported that when they refused to be interrogated without a lawyer, that they were placed in solitary.  Many, many of the women we spoke to have said that they were forced to take pregnancy tests in open bathrooms with male guards around.

“So, we’re getting all kinds of stories of what people have experienced in the past few days.  And what we need to remember is that these 400 people, with the exception of 11, have been really, brutally punished by the City of Oakland with no kind of criminal basis.  And I think it’s absolutely atrocious and something needs to be done about this.  OPD cannot continue to file these, kind of, bogus, conflated charges, and hold hundreds of people, and a really dangerous situation when the District Attorney is unable to file charges because there’s actually no legal basis.

“There were up to 50 people who were charged with felony burglary for being inside of the YMCA.  Those people all of them are still being held right now, but no charges were filed against them.  None of those charges were filed.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 7:51):  “So, they are still being held and no charges are filed?”

Lali (c. 8:05):  “We only have eleven people out of those 400 for whom those charges were filed.  And they had to file charges today because their time is up to hold these people on custody.  So, they have to release them.

“I do want to say, though, that we still are a little bit concerned because they still have up to one year to file charges.  And we’ve now had incidences where people were held in jail for several days we came to the situation.  There were no charges filed ten weeks later.  The District Attorney issued warrants.  So, it’s not that we necessarily know we’re clear and the situation is over.  We’re gonna have to continue to monitor it.  But the police did not provide anything that they were able to actually legally file charges for somewhere around 390 of the people.”

MARJORY COHN ON U.S. VIOLENCE ABROAD AND DOMESTIC REPRESSION AT HOME, NDAA, OM

Marjory Cohn (0:00):  “

Dennis Bernstein (0:00):  “

Marjory Cohn (0:00):  “…U.S. drones are flying over Baghdad to protect the largest U.S. Embassy in the world.  And it still houses 11,000 Americans protected by 5,000 mercenaries and Adnan al-Asadi, the acting Iraqi Interior Minister said, ‘Our sky is our sky, not the U.S.A.’s sky.’ 

“So, here we invade Iraq, an unnecessary war, an illegal war, a tragic war that killed untold thousands, tens of thousands, wounded, even more, and then committed war crimes, such as the Haditha massacre.  There were other massacres, such as in Fallujah, a number of them. 

“And then the Iraqi’s see that there’s no accountability for what happened.”

Dennis Bernstein (0:00):  “Amazing.”

Marjory Cohn (c. 54:11):  “And, of course, this makes people in other countries resent us even more, this and the torture.  And then we wonder why people would want to do us harm.

“By the way, I should say, Dennis, the 24 victims of the Haditha massacre are buried in a cemetery in Iraq, it’s called Martyrs Graveyard.  And there’s graffiti on the deserted house of one of the families.  And it reads:  ‘Democracy Assassinated the Family That Was Here.’

ON THE NDAA (S.1867) AND THE RIGHT TO DISSENT IN THE U.S.
Dennis Bernstein (c. 54:41):  “Wow.  Let me tell people:  You’re listening to Marjory Cohn.  She is a Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, a former President of the National Lawyers Guild.  She’s the author of a number of books in this context.  Her most recent book, The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse. 

“We only have a couple of minutes left, but I guess what really makes me nervous is we’re seeing in the United States the militarisation, the organisation of local police departments in regional structures.  And now they’re getting equipment from the military directly.

“There’s a new Federal law.  We see extraordinary training programmes that cover entire regions.  We see police departments now buying drones. 

“Are you concerned about this militarisation and what we see in Haditha we might be seeing in Oakland some time?”

Marjory Cohn (c. 55:43):  “I am very concerned.  And if you saw the excessive force and police over-reaction in Oakland recently, the Occupy Movement.  I understand they will start using drones for surveillance.  I don’t think they’ll be armed; of course, that comes next.

“And then we have the National Defense Authorization Act, which Obama signed on New Years Eve, which authorizes the indefinite detention, even of U.S. citizens.  That means the rest of your life locked up with no charges.  This is illegal.  It’s illegal under the International Coven on Civil and Political rights, which we ratified.

“And this is the kind of thing that we criticise other countries for doing.  And, yet, Obama said, ‘I really didn’t wanna sign it, but I had to.’  You know, just did not show any backbone at all, just went ahead and signed that law.  That’s very, very worrisome.  And it’s more in a long line of restrictions that started, well it’s happened throughout our history, but it really reached, kind of, an apex during the Bush Administration under the guise of the ‘War on Terror.’  And, now, Obama is continuing a lot of that as well and preventing accountability, both criminal and civil accountability for people who were subjected to extraordinary rendition, torture, etcetera.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 57:06):  “You know, Marjory, we have a Council Member here, Ignacio De La Fuente who is already talking ‘terrorism,’ talking ‘national security,’ talking, this liberal, this Democrat, talking like maybe it’s time to use these new Federal Defense Authorisation against Occupy.”

Marjory Cohn (c. 57:30):  “That’s what I’m saying.  I mean it could be.  One of the things that’s really important to know about torture, and this is just covered in the preface to the United States and Torture by Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was a Catholic nun who went to Guatemala in the ‘80s and was viciously tortured.  The Americans were leading the torture there.  You know?  We were supporting these vicious dictatorships in Latin America.  And she says, ‘It’s done openly, notoriously, and it’s done to send a message to people that this will happen to you, if you challenge the status quo.

“And the stronger Occupy gets and the more influential and the more it spreads, you’re gonna see the repression grow commensurate with the strength of the Occupy Movement.  That’s gonna happen.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 58:19):  “Okay, we’re out of time.  I’m sorry Professor Cohen, but we’re out of time.  This is a subject we wanna come back and talk to you more about. 

“Again, I recommend if people wanna check out you latest book, it is called The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse.  You teach at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law down south in Southern California.  Thanks for joining us.”

Marjory Cohn (c. 58:41):  “Thank you, Dennis.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 58:45):  “And that does wrap it up for another edition of Flashpoints.  My name is Dennis Bernstein.  I produce this show with Free Wheelin’ Franklin Sterling.  And we are very privileged to have these free speech airwaves. 

“Tomorrow, tune in.  We’re gonna go back to our foreclosure on-air clinic.  If you’re getting closed out of your house, if you have a friend who is, check us out tomorrow on Flashpoints.”

Transcript by Felipe Messina for Media Roots.

***

MEDIA ROOTS — In apparent small-scale warfare waged by Oakland police against First Amendment activity, hundreds of people were kettled, brutalised with batons, tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and arrested during Occupy Oakland (OO) demonstrations on Saturday, January 28, 2012, in the first major action by OO since the Oakland Port shutdown. 

Participants have charged they weren’t given clear dispersal orders by police, preventing many from avoiding arrest, as well as kettling people and using the hammer and anvil police formation.  According to Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan, almost 400 hundred people were arrested during Saturday’s OO demonstrations.

Occupy Oakland reported:

“Many people who have medical needs were unable to prevent themselves from being arrested, or to retrieve their medication, because the police did not give a dispersal order—they just kettled.”

This tactic of kettling is a consistent tactic used by police against the Occupy Movement to corral all demonstrators, even passersby and journalists.  This is apparently intended to discourage participation by those unable to risk arrest or those interested in witnessing the demonstrations as neutral observers or independent journalists (corporate press often rely solely on police accounts, rather than direct observation).  OO has noted the tactic is illegal; indeed, it amounts to entrapment when people are ordered to disperse and, yet, not allowed to do so.  U.K. courts have found the tactic to be clearly illegal.

The activities on Saturday were intended to kick off “a weekendlong festival,” according to OO, starting with “the takeover of an empty building where it will host workshops, panels, a film festival, live music, assemblies and more”—“including former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown, anarchist anthropologist and member of Occupy Wall Street David Graeber, feminist, revolutionary & historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz…”

Pacifica Radio’s Northern California sister-station, KPFA, also covered OO demonstrations. 

“The Morning Mix” aired a special broadcast with Dennis Bernstein this morning.  It was reported that many demonstrators were badly beaten, at least one was hit with a stun gun, another had teeth knocked out by a police baton, another was thrown through a plate glass window, people were thrown down the stairs, and another was hospitalised for internal bleeding as a result of rioting cops swinging their batons at people, in violation of their own policies.

Franklin Sterling “was out there in Oakland where the police deployed hundreds of officers in riot gear over the weekend, so as to prevent OO from putting a vacant building, which has sat vacant for six years,” and for which the City of Oakland has no current plans.

Dennis Bernstein also invited various guests to discuss OO “and why the violent Oakland Mayor” Jean Quan “feels so much camaraderie with the Oakland Police,” which have been working overtime to undermine the First Amendment rights of the people, as she turns “her back on the people who elected her.”

“Letters and Politics” was also on the scene Saturday capturing audio for today’s broadcast. 

Note:  Pam Drake, the conflicted OO member interviewed by LAP this morning who wrote an article about breaking up with the Occupy Movement, claimed OO didn’t ratify the Move-In Day occupation of an empty building.  Yet, Occupy Oakland indicates, the “Occupy Oakland GA passed a proposal calling for the [vacant building] space to be turned into a social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement.”  In conclusion, Drake, a ‘SaveKPFA’ faction-aligned KPFA Local Station Board Member said she still considered herself a member of OO, oddly rendering her entire position moot. 

Although, there have been reports of OO demonstrators breaking into Oakland’s City Hall and causing damage, even by the ostensibly radical KPFA News (aligned with the less radical KPFA faction above), audio reports from LAP today describe how the doors were left open, people were hesitant to go inside, with only a few entering.

What is not disputed are the flag burnings that took place after U.S. and California flags were taken from Oakland City Hall and burned by demonstrators in a Constitutionally-protected act of free speech, albeit with appropriated City Hall property.

Ultimately, OO was prevented by police in riot gear from occupying the building, which has been vacant for six years now, and which OO decided to convert into a community centre and new home for the OO Movement.  Mass actions in solidarity with the police state repression against OO have been planned in dozens of cities across the nation.

MR

***

Occupy Oakland demonstrations, January 28, 2012

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ANOTHER OCCUPY OAKLAND MARCH ATTACKED BY POLICE

Oakland, CA–Saturday, January 28, 2012, Sheila and I joined about 1,500 members of Occupy massed at 14^th and Broadway in downtown Oakland. Occupy Oakland’s announced intention was to march to and occupy a long vacant building “somewhere” in the city to re-create a living, working, and coordinating center for this young “politics on the fly” movement for the rights of the 99%. As you probably know, previous occupations of public space from coast to coast have been destroyed and precluded by Government ordered police actions, making community development, collaboration and participatory mass democracy yet more difficult.  

The atmosphere was festive and gay, resembling what the counter culture of the 60s used to call a “be-in.” People of all ages, got up in all kinds of costumes, wheeling large platform dollies with furniture, mattresses, sleeping bags, grills, electronics, crates of canned foods, loaves of fresh bread and almost anything you can think of you might need in your new home, through the streets of the city. A drumming corp and a brass band separately did their thing. Within the march itself, music also blared from a powerful high quality sound system on a flatbed truck draped with young people. A famous recycled and refurbished AC Transit “Occupy” bus was ambushed out of the demo and occupied by the police. When one of the marchers’ platform dollies lost a wheel in a BART grating dozens of people came to the rescue, each picking up something from the load of materiale and carrying the stuff along the march. Sheila grabbed a box weighing about 15 pounds, which may have contained large plastic bags (at least according to its original printed label). We saw an old friend, Helen, in the drum group, pounding out a pulsing beat on a large drum strung from her waist. Young people smiled, swayed and danced their way snakelike through downtown until the march reached Laney College. There were also bicyclists, children in carriages pushed by parents, people of various ethnicities often in small social groups, and the always present minority of young anarchists with shields and masks.  

Slowly the police began to mass around the march perimeters. At Laney the march was blocked by a police line to the left and had to enter the campus; and when it tried to exit we found most of the ways off campus barred by battle ready police lines. Exiting at the Southeast edge of campus the march tried to track back toward downtown, only to be fenced in and blocked by chain link fencing and police lines. With nowhere to go the march stalled for a short while until, without provocation, Oakland’s finest began lobbing numerous (probably about 10) smoke/flash grenades into the dense crowd. People scattered briefly without any panicking and then reassembled. About 10 minutes after the smoke cleared, the police from a cruiser speaker declared an unlawful assembly and issued a disperse order. We left the demonstration, backtracking our way out at that point to avoid arrest or being beaten. However, the police apparently did not attack the full demonstration at that time (from what we later learned) and you’ll have to find out what then transpired from some other intrepid reporter. One of those, still among the crowd when we left was Mitch Jeserich (in his wheelchair), undaunted and apparently recording for his KPFA Letters and Politics program (Mondays-Fridays 10 a.m. at 94.1 FM the SF Bay Area).  

A 5 p.m. local newscast on Channel 7 (ABC) stated that police were forced to use grenades and teargas because an unruly crowd attacked them. If this happened it wasn’t while we were there. Although we were right in the middle of the crowd, we saw no attacks against the police, only the smoke grenade attack by the cops, although a few young men pushed down parts of the chain-link fences in a couple of places. From the way the crowd was blocked an uninvolved observer might well conclude that any confrontations were in response to the police decision to trap the march. The police and the ABC media coverage suggest that the aim of the 1%’s armed and responsive police was to create just enough chaos to: 1) prevent the Occupiers from reaching their objective location, 2) to justify some arrests, 3) provoke some skirmishes that would allow demonization of the 99% movement via the 1%’s wholly owned corporate capitalist media. We’ve all seen these tactics used against the Black and Latino communities and against immigrants.  

In a perhaps unrelated provocation a couple of counter pickets held a huge printed sign at the start of the march with the slogan: Occupy attacks Workers Rights. No one paid them any attention. Later I overheard one marcher tell another: “The media and politicians always claim we are costing the city all this money for the police. But why are they calling out hundreds of cops? We aren’t destroying anything or hurting anyone. We don’t want them spending public funds on cops to attack us and prevent public discourse either. They do it to protect the monopoly of power of the 1%.”

Written by Marc Sapir

[Marc sent this via email to a mutual KPFA friend (whilst sending it to the Berkeley Daily Planet).  This is taken from that email.]

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Photo by flickr user Mark Z

MEDIA ROOTS — As the Occupy Movement coalesced globally, tents and bodies were brutalized by the state and press credentials were swept aside with sweeping arrests of journalists, we may have taken comfort in the thought that they couldn’t jail an idea—the idea of the 99% resisting the tyranny of the 1%. 

Yet, under Obama, powers that be are trying to do just that—imprison ideas, as key books of the Chicano literary cannon have been, essentially, arrested and taken into indefinite detention at some Book Depository.  Not only are scores of innocent immigrants profiled and held arbitrarily to bolster a bogus war on imaginary enemies, but books, too, are imprisoned in the info wars of propaganda for corporate imperialism and tyranny, what Dr. Carlos Muñoz calls the colonisation of the mind.  Dr. Muñoz spoke with Flashpoints earlier this week about this blatant display of racism and state repression in Arizona as well as the historical underpinnings of the Brown and Black struggle for equality in the U.S.

Messina

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FLASHPOINTS — [17 Jan 2012] “Today on Flashpoints, the Tucson School District bans key books by Chicano and Native American authors.  That’s right.  That’s what I said.  Bans the books.  They box them up, ban them, and put them in the Book Depository.  We ain’t gonna see ‘em.”

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FLASHPOINTS — [18 Jan 2012] “You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  My name is Dennis Bernstein.  The outrage and disgust continues over the decision by the Tucson School system to ban books by Chicano and Native American authors, such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Winona LaDuke.  The decisions to ban the books followed a 4 to 1 vote on Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District, the Board, to succumb to the State of Arizona and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the State decision.

“Students said the banned books were seized from their classrooms and out of their hands after the vote came.  And they are troubled.  They are saying that it’s sort of like Nazi Germany.  And they were unable to sleep after it happened.  Some of the books also include Suzan Shown Harjo We Have No Reason to Celebrate and many others. 

“Joining us to talk about this very important and troubling situation is Dr. Carlos Muñoz.  He’s one of the key pioneers in ethnic studies and Chicano studies in the country.  Dr. Muñoz was the founding Chair of the first Chicano Studies Department in the nation in 1968 at the California State University at Los Angeles and the founding Chair of National Association of Chicana/o Studies.  He is a pioneer in the creation of undergraduate and graduate curricula in the disciplines of ethnic studies.  He’s the author of numerous pioneering works on the Mexican-American political experience and on African-American and Latino political coalitions.  His book Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement won the Gustavus Myers Book Award for outstanding scholarship in the study of human rights in the United States.

“Dr. Carlos Muñoz, welcome back to Flashpoints.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 2:59):  “Thank you for inviting me.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 3:01):  “Well, it’s good to have you with us, although it’s a terrible situation.  And this thing, believe it or not, started to unfold on Martin Luther King’s birthday celebrations.  Let me get your initial response to what happened here.  What were you thinking?  What went through your mind?” 

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 3:17):  “Well, you know, I don’t have the words to express my anger at what’s taking place in Tucson, Arizona.  It’s just simply unbelievable.  I mean never did I expect, at this point in time in history, after 40 years of scholarship that has been generated and published and being taught in universities around the country, specifically on the Chicano experience in the United States.  For scholars of Mexican-American background and other people of colour, scholars of colour have collectively made a profound contribution to the body of knowledge of people of colour in this country and have rectified and documented a history that speaks the truth of what this country has been historically as an empire, a promoter of imperialism throughout the world, as a racist, White-supremacist nation, as witnessed by the so-called founding fathers, who were, for the exception of one, all slave owners. 

“This kind of truth doesn’t speak well to what’s going on in Arizona because I think that the people that are there responsible for this particular tragedy in public education are, either, ignorant and never attended the university, never were educated, and/or are members of the Tea Party or some other extreme racist organisations that are promoting anti-Mexican, racist, hysteria.

“So, I think what we see here, as I see it anyway, a situation where right-wingers have collectively organised and made this an issue because it’s a manifestation of the perceived threat of, what I call the, quote ‘Brown Invasion,’ as has been encapsulated by a lot of the right-wing politicians in this country.  Increasing what are called demographic [] that we are witnessing right now has become a threat to many people in power and, of course, especially in Arizona, as you know.  That [either] once they [started] this whole process of criminalizing Mexican undocumented workers and have set the tone for other states to follow that are under the tutelage of right-wing political folks.  So, I think, it’s something that needs to be protested, people have to take to the streets and say [don’t end] in Tucson.  It’s an issue that has become very, very critical and deserves the support of all Americans, regardless of race or ethnic background.  It’s just ridiculous.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 6:10):  “One of the things that people who work within the system, we were speaking with teachers and students, is that it was an incredibly effective programme, in which students were succeeding, students who were dropping out before were staying in school, going on to higher education. 

“Could you talk about how that happens, why it was so important for these students—and the school system there is 61% Mexican-American—why it’s so important?  Say a little bit more about that.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 6:45):  “Well, you know, in any places of education, if you’re a student and you don’t hear about people like yourself in the making of history in this nation, you’re bound to feel somewhat inferior.  You know what I mean?  I’ve gone through that when I was a kid.  I mean, my god, all this White history.  You know?  And all the heroes were White.  And you never hear about the good things that were done by folks of colour in this society and during the building of this nation. 

“And, so, it’s been.  Before, prior to the emergence of ethnic studies and Chicano studies in universities, there were no books about the Chicano experience.  And the consequence of that, as I witnessed it, as I experienced it, was an inferiority complex. 

“You know, my god, all we hear about Mexicans, for example:  they’re criminals, they’re drunkards, their women are whores, they.  There come all these racist, negative stereotypes that are promoted in the movies and television, newspapers.  So, the consequence of that was, historically, what I call the colonisation of the mind where the young people of Mexican descent were pushed into thinking that they were inferior, that their culture was inferior.

“Now, what’s happened in Tucson has been a remarkable, remarkable process of [deep colonisation].  You know?  Where the issues that have been presented there in public schooling have been taken on by teachers, by staff members in the school district, who have had the courage to develop a programme of Mexican-American studies, the first, by the way, and the only one in the whole country at the public school level, a remarkable feat that ought to be celebrated and be set up, you might say, as an example of what other public school systems, including those of us here in California, those systems here, ought to pursue.

“And the consequence has been remarkable, as you mentioned.  In fact, that particular Tucson Mexican-American Studies programme has resulted in the radical turnabout in terms of many people taking pride, becoming proud of the fact that they learn that they come from ancestors who have made contributions, profound contributions to civilisations throughout the Americas—that fact alone is incredible, a tangible contribution to boosting the feeling of being worthy as human beings.  And that kind of feeling is very, very important to have in order for young people to succeed in life beyond public school.

“So, I think what has been done in Arizona by these White politicians has been an effort to return to the days of the 1950s, previous to the Chicano Movement and other Civil Rights Movements in this country.  They try to ‘Americanise,’ quote-unquote, and ‘re-colonise’ the minds of young people in the State of Arizona.”  

Dennis Bernstein (c. 9:56):  “You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  My name is Dennis Bernstein.  We are speaking with Dr. Carlos Muñoz. 

“You know, banning this programme in Tucson is almost like banning the speaking of Spanish in Mexico.  Anybody who has spent time in Tucson or Nogales, Arizona understands how prevalent—”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz:  “Right.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 10:14):  “—I mean it’s Mexico, but it’s called the United States.  Now, they did this in front of the students.  The decision was made for the teachers to be boxing the books up in front of the students, shipping them out for storage.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz:  “Right.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 10:29):  “Kids were crying.  I remember when I was down there in Tucson and we were broadcasting from there.  One young student told me that she was really thinking about suicide and had actually tried to take her own life once until she got into a programme like this and began to feel alive.

“Could you comment on that?”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 10:50):  “Right.  Well, this is an example of what I was referring to is when young people are awakened by educators to who they really are and where they come from and why it’s a source of pride, or should be a source of pride, I mean it’s incredible.  You cannot put the value on that kind of intellectual discovery and awakening of a young mind.  It makes a world of difference to a young person to find meaning in their lives that carries them forth toward a positive direction in society to become good citizens and critical-thinking people that are going to make contributions to the betterment of the society as a whole.” 

Dennis Bernstein (c. 11:45):  “You know, one has to believe or gets the strong feeling that they really don’t want the students to succeed because the programme was so successful, the amount, the percentage of students who ended up going to college as a result of this kind of study was overwhelming.  And one has think that this is an attempt to cripple, undermine, and keep these kids down, rather than to cheerlead the fact that they’re getting better, things are getting better, and they’re really succeeding.

“It’s racism at the core, wouldn’t you say?”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 12:25):  “I agree.  I wholeheartedly agree.  And I think, to add to that, what I see here is that with regard to the demographic is becoming more Mexican than ever.  They envision that out of all these young people developing a critical thinking capacity and proud identity that they are going to become the future politicians of Arizona.  And that is a scary thing; that is a scary thing for these guys.  They say, ‘my god, we’re not just going to have undocumented workers who are poor and are a cheap labour source. We’re gonna have people now getting into powerful positions in this country that are going to take away from what belongs to us,’ unquote.

“And, so, I think that’s the bottom line here that they want to put a stop to this process of producing young leaders that are going to be speaking truth to power and that are going to make a difference in the future of in terms of turning the tide against racism and other things that are negative out there in Arizona for Mexican people as a whole.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 13:43):  “Some of the people who have been banned are labelling this, sort of, an inquisition.  We thought, maybe, that was an overstatement.  But maybe now I’m thinking it’s an understatement.  I’m thinking about books that were banned.  Can you imagine The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire, Occupy America: A History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuña, a good friend of yours.  We actually had the both of you on the show not too long ago.

“Talk about what the White people might be afraid of that’s inside these beautiful books.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 14:20):  “You know, they’re afraid of the truth.  You know?  The truth hurts.

“And I think that as I said earlier, the fact that the scholarship [] Acuña [] really incredible, back-breaking book.  It was the first one to put out a history, a true history of America, in the sense that he documents, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the nature of our society and how, in fact, Mexican-Americans, in particular, have struggled for social justice throughout the history here in this country.

“And it’s just remarkable that all this knowledge that Occupied America represents, they don’t want to acknowledge it.  They have problems with it because Rudy Acuña speaks the truth, as do all scholars. 

“And Shakespeare speaks the truth.  You know?  Talk about this gets really absurd when even people like Shakespeare, an English White guy, you know, who had the audacity, for his time, to speak truth to power, of the British Empire and put out the issue of colonisation and oppression in that regard.  Even there, they can’t tolerate that particular scholarship.

“So, basically, it’s an ideological struggle.  It’s a cultural war that is what’s happening in Arizona between those who espouse the racist framework of analysis that White Eurocentric thought should be predominant in public education and those of us who have struggled against that and have created, and have been teaching now, a more truthful history of our society.  And who had gone out of their way collectively to put forth a more, you might say, visionary process of education that is inclusive of not just Mexican-Americans, but all people.  We don’t do what we are accused of doing, of being divisive, un-American.  On the contrary, we have been most American in the context of continuing the process of creativity and intellectual thought that our ancestors started here in the Americas long before the White man arrived to conquer and engage in conquest.

“We have ancestors that generated civilisation way back when and are people as a whole have continued that process.  And I think that we are remarkable in the context of what we represent as a people, not just being indigenous people, but also inclusive of all the other dimensions of the reality that we represent, as a multiracial, multiethnic people in our society.  And this is what is not acknowledged by these people.  They don’t want to acknowledge that.  It’s scary to them.  And rightly so.  It should be scary to them.  And, so, that’s the whole issue now.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 18:03):  “We are speaking with Dr. Carlos Muñoz, one of the key pioneers in ethnic studies and Chicano studies in this country. 

“I’m wondering, Dr. Muñoz, I don’t see your book on the list yet [] Power: The Chicano Movement.  But I guess it’s gonna become sort of a diploma that you put on the wall alongside all the other ones that you have.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz:  “Yeah.”

Dennis Bernstein:  “I was banned in Tucson and I’m proud of it.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz:  “Well, you know, this is the thing that I tell people that all these people, all these banned books represent quite an honourable group of people.  It’s incredible.  I feel kind of bad; I want that honour of being identified by this right-wing.  I hope I do get that honour down the road.

“But in the meantime, I’m very proud of Acuña and Rodriguez and all these folks down there who have gone and supported in defence of ethnic studies in Tucson.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 19:08):  “And it is troubling that this comes in the context of, really, what is the new Civil Rights Movement, which is the rights of migrant workers, immigrant workers, the workers who do the hardest work in this country, that we all depend on, it’s a way to sort of build the borders higher, even those who are citizens in this country, it’s building walls around their lives, and condemning their kids of a life less than they deserve.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 19:41):  “Yeah.  No, I agree.  I think what’s happening is this effort to get the put down of Mexican-Americans in Arizona, to criminalise them, to put them as social outcasts and not worthy of being ‘American,’ in quotes.  Unless, of course, they take the path of assimilation into the dominant culture, which by the way won’t be so dominant pretty soon down the road.  I made reference to this earlier. The demographic revolution is a reality, whether some White people like it or not.  We are going to be the majority in this country.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 20:18):  “Well, here in California, Whites are already the minority, right?”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 20:22):  “Exactly.  Right.  In Hawai’i and here.  And, so, it’s happening.  Now, mind you, we don’t want to romanticise this fact because I always provide my critical analysis of the demographic revolution in the context that unfortunately that is not gonna be cause the consequence of profound change.  And I cite President Obama as an example; big deal, we have a Black President.  But where are we?  We’re worse off than we were during the Bush Presidency.

“So, the point here is not so much to romanticise that people of colour are going to ‘take power,’ in quotes.  It’s a question of looking at the reality that indeed there is that potential that out of this diversity there will come about a more humanistic society that is going to place its emphasis on social justice and peace and not war and violence throughout the world.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 21:26):  “And, finally, I want to get back to the revenge aspect of this action that we’re taking in Tucson, what it looks like, what may need to happen in terms of fight-back.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 21:00):  “Right.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 21:00):  “We understand that White politicians took this action starting with the fact that Dolores Huerta was in Tucson and talked about how White people hate Brown people.  And White politicians there hate Brown people.  And those politicians never forgot it.  They are in positions of power now and they are punishing the people.  Now, that’s horrible.

“Respond to the fight-back that you’d like to see.  What should it look like?”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 22:11):  “Well, I think there should be a revolution.  I mean this is the time for the revolution to really emerge in the context of Dr. King’s call for a revolution of values.  I’m not talking here about a Hollywood version of a revolution or whatever with violence and all that, but rather a non-violent revolution as Dr. King called for that’s going to transform the value system that we have now in our society, away from the process of individualisation or what’s best for the individual or what’s best for the 1%, but rather what is best for the 99% of our society, that includes the majority of people of Colour and poor Whites and, even, the White middle class.  Right?  ‘Cos we know.  I think this is what I’d like to see happening there. 

“And I think also we have to definitely make clear that it’s not all White politicians there are some good allies.  But it’s a kind of White politician that we need to address this issue toward.  And that is the right-wing, Tea Party, White politician type of person that is out there that’s doing the evil deeds that are taking place in Tucson, Arizona.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 23:44):  “Alright, we have been speaking with Dr. Carlos Muñoz.  He is one of the key pioneers in ethnic studies in this country.  Dr. Muñoz was the founding Chair of the first Chicano Studies Department in the nation in 1968 at the California State University at Los Angeles.  And he is the founding Chair of the National Association of Chicana/o Studies. 

“We thank you very much, sir, for taking the time out, very informative, and we’d love to talk to you again some time soon.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 24:11):  “You’re welcome and have a nice day.”

Dennis Bernstein (c. 24:13):  “Thank you so much, bye-bye, now.”

Dr. Carlos Muñoz (c. 24:15):  “Bye-bye.”

Transcript by Felipe Messina

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