#OccupyLA – The Occupations Spread from Coast to Coast

Vincent Vibbert, Political Fail Blog-

I had to leave New York City for work. My last day in New York was Friday the 30th. The evening before, when I left Liberty Park, there were about three hundred people. I came back downtown the next afternoon and was amazed to see that there were easily three THOUSAND people trying to fit within the small park which is the occupation's base. We then marched silently, en masse to One Police Plaza with massive union support to protest the police brutality we had recently seen.

It was sad to leave the occupation in New York for a job I don't especially enjoy most days. I do work a job that consists of constant travel, which I do enjoy, and found myself in Los Angeles Monday Oct. 3. I looked online and found that Los Angeles was in the third day of it's occupation. I decided to head down there and see if there was any advice I might be able to offer OccupyLA, based on the my participation in OccupyWallStreet.

I walked to the Information Tent and let them know who I was and that I had been involved with the New York movement as much as possible since the first day. I was immediately swarmed by people with questions about how they should proceed in their occupation. There is no “people's mic” in Los Angeles because LAPD has learned from NYPD that dealing with these occupation in a heavy-handed, brutal manner will only cause it grow exponentially. I was handed a bull-horn and announced to the crowd of approximately two hundred people that I had come from New York and I would love to answer any questions I could and possibly help Los Angeles avoid some of our mistakes and hopefully learn some things from them that I could take back to New York.

The first thing I told the crowd as we sat in a large circle of sixty or so was that I did not speak for the New York General Assembly. I was just a participant and could only offer my personal opinions based on the my perceptions of and involvement with the OWS movement in New York.

The first thing that struck me was that people were frustrated with the process. The general assembly wasn't as organized as they would like. It wasn't moving as fast as they would like. The assembly's conversations were being derailed by off-topic conversation. Sound familiar? I told them that these were exactly the same problems I had in New York on our third day.

It warmed my heart to be able to honestly tell them that it will get better. Every day will be a little more organized, more focused, more efficient than the day before. I let them know that building a directly democratic egalitarian community from the ground up won't happen overnight. It surely didn't in New York.

I told them about the how the process worked in New York. I explained our hand signals and our methods of consensus. I told them about our working groups. Many of the questions I was able to answer because I had either been directly involved with the applicable working groups or had paid attention to their report backs at the beginning of our general assemblies. The questions I couldn't answer I was usually able to get them in contact with their counterparts in New York for advice.

There was much discussion about whether the different occupations should join together and adopt whatever resolutions New York had come to consensus on or whether they should remain autonomous. I told them that personally I thought this movement would be more effective as a plethora of autonomous occupations all acting in solidarity with each other. If we're all autonomous we can't be “managed”. We also can't be co-opted by Democrats, Big Unions, celebrities, etc. This also helps insulate us from any potential misdeeds perpetrated by one individual occupation. Every location has it's own issues and they should come up with their own statements of occupation and demands that reflect the constituents of the general assemblies.

Many had joined the OccupyLA movement primarily because of the police brutality they had seen from the NYPD, although LAPD has been amazingly respectful of the protesters first amendment rights so far. A lot of these people were seriously pissed off. Many desired confrontations with the police. I reminded them that the New York occupiers have been peaceful since day one and it was precisely because of this that the brutality inflicted upon us stirred up so much outrage. I told them if the police are respecting your rights then antagonizing them is likely to be counter-productive. They too are the 99%. The police are losing their pensions and jobs just like the rest of us. This isn't to say you shouldn't participate in civil disobedience. This isn't to say that issue of police brutality doesn't need to be addressed, but I suggested that they use the LAPD's hands-off strategy to allow them to build up their infrastructure and build their community. I also told them that NYPD didn't ramp up their aggressive tactics against us until our numbers started growing.

I talked to many who were concerned that not everybody was on the same page regarding tactics and purpose, and that several people there were downright loons, if not actually mentally ill. I assured them that we had plenty of wingnuts in New York as well. I told them they must have faith in the direct democratic process. They must have faith that the majority of the people who had shown up were intelligent and reasonable and through the process, their voices would drown out those that had simply arrived in order to attempt to steer the movement towards their own personal, fringe causes.

I was only able to stay a few hours, but before I left, I was asked if I would introduce the General Assembly to the crowd. I was honored to be asked and humbly accepted. I stood on the steps of the city hall with a microphone and told a few hundred people I had came from New York and that I spoke only as an individual, but their was one thing I did feel comfortable saying on behalf of the New York General Assembly; that we stood in solidarity with them and that we love them. I told them what an amazing inspiration it was to see this same miracle reoccurring in Los Angeles, just as similar occupations were forming in nearly a hundred other cities. I told them I too was frustrated with the process in New York three days in. I begged them to get involved with working groups and have faith in the process. It's a constantly evolving, but the more they get involved with it the more successful it will be.

http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/10/occupyla-occupations-spread-from-coast....