This from an Occupy Oakland member...
I started coming regularly to Occupy Oakland to report on it, spending ten or twelve hours there, doing interviews and watching the community. I was very impressed with what I saw. What really sucked me in was when I began to understand the kitchen, and how it became a focal point of what makes OO unique among the occupieds. Many people I spoke to–the unusual suspects in terms of activism, poor, and unemployed–had been drawn to the camp by the kitchen, which was running 24 hours a day. They then became real participants in the camp. The kitchen also allowed them to become part of the camp immediately, allowing them to cook, serve or wash dishes, and interact with others in a tangible way, not just sitting in a or meeting. . . .
It may sound corny, but the camp has given me the chance to use all of my human skills in the service of others, from conflict mediation, to crisis management, to writing and oratory, and simply providing an ear for troubled people, who can nevertheless be functioning members of society if just given a chance. I actually feel like I do that about ten times a day. There are a lot of troubled people there, they represent the people who’ve been turned away from society. There’s a lot of pent up hostility and resentment, but it comes out in the open, we wrestle with it, we are allowed to understand it and begin to know one another.
The camp has given my life real purpose, and brought out the best in me and allowed me to befriend the widest breadth of human experience anyone can imagine. While other occupies are focused strictly on the 1% issue, I think at OO a lot of us are excited about finally being able to talk about systemic problems in an atmosphere where the public will listen. We are talking about homelessness, about the right to dignity, the right to be free of harrassment and violence from police and others. I really feel like we’ve forced Oakland to have conversations its put off for a long time about violence and poverty and the city’s response to it, which is to marginalize it and ignore it, while crying crocodile tears.
Its difficult to describe, but the social construction of the camp has been part of the political movement, and our success has already been in declaring that middle class teachers, union workers, homeless people and even mentally ill people can inhabit the same political space as equals. This is the strength that we used to launch an unprecedented action at the port of Oakland, where tens of thousands responded to the call and shut down the port of Oakland as a clarion call to the nation and city. It was the largest human mass I’ve ever seen in my life. We’ve shown mainstream people that the right to assemble is a right that they can take without mediation or permission, and that the power of assembly can even push police back, as we did when we retook the camp two weeks ago. Despite the fact that it was fenced off, people took down the fence, and replanted tents. I just feel like we’re transforming society with each person who comes to the camp and becomes a part of it. We’re changing long held views about who matters and why, and what a just society should actually look like, and what powers people have to change all that.
As we prepare for the end of the camp again, I’m reminded of just how special all of these people are to me. We expected an imminent raid last night. We know that we can’t resist the demolition of the camp, and that we have lost some support due to media and city propaganda. So it looks like we’re really looking at the end again. We’re all exhausted, but it really still feels like a family. Someone I don’t even like much hugged me last night and it was so genuine and real that I had to choke back tears.
We also know that even if Occupy Oakland ends tomorrow in its current incarnation, the assembly of people gathered there will continue on in another unique social and political movement. That’s the legacy of the camp, no matter what happens tonight.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/ows_inspired_activism/singleton/