Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Where Did Occupy Go?

That's what one of the parents asked me, yesterday, as we waited for our children to run and scream and roll out their pent up energy after school.

He's a nice guy, a parent of one of ProtestKid's dearest friends.

And I wanted to scream at him.

Where did it go? Where did IT go? Where did YOU go?

You pleasant person with the nice job and comfortable apartment.

Where were you when cops took the carbon fiber tents down with chainsaws and smashed puppies in the night?

Where were you when the NDAA defined me and my children as "terrorists" for questioning the government?

It's not pleasant and it's not comfortable and without the protection of your attention Occupy couldn't continue to operate in Liberty Square.

But Occupy isn't gone because the problems it addressed aren't gone. The principles of mutual aid aren't gone-- even if you personally didn't benefit from them, other people had reason to thank Occupy Sandy.

Speaking of Sandy, I just watched Parents of the Revolution, a documentary that ProtestKid and I briefly feature in. One of the issues I had with it was the tidy ending the filmmaker tried to slap onto it, with Kirby, a passionate activist, hugging a genial cop after Occupy Sandy brought them together.

One occupier's one hug does not a reconciliation with the violence (both physical and psychological) that destroyed the occupation at Liberty Square make. To suggest anything else is kind of belittling of the struggle every one of us went through to be there and make a stand.

And here's the thing-- we are still struggling. Whether I march or not, I am dealing with the consequences of having marched-- a knee jerk distrust of police, a new set of passionate friends and acquaintances I hold very dear--and as long as I struggle to breathe free, to make a stand, I will occupy that struggle, trying to help others stand up, too.

Wish us luck.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Contest #2 Winner

Deep apologies that I was not able to post the winner of the free book sooner. I spent my birthday sick on the couch, so I'm hoping that burns off some of my bad karma. ;)

!ProtestDaddy picked a random number, and @LavLobster is the winner. I will be contacting her shortly to see how she would like her copy sent to her.

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Cheers,
alia