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Day 9 Occupy Wall Street September 25 2011 (Photo: Shankbone, flickr)
I am innately shy….not prone to stepping out in the public eye. I wanted to be involved in the Occupy movement, but it took the stories of other FDLers to encourage my enthusiasm…..and I wasn’t sure that my community would/could be organized to Occupy anyway.
Imagine my surprise when while driving to drop some bills at the post office I saw a big “Occupy Oxnard” sign in our city park.
I dropped the bills in the slot and circled back around to the park and walked over to the crowd of mostly older white folks. People were very welcoming and enthusiastic. We had speakers before the march. A Rabbi who had walked with Martin Luther King, Jr., for civil rights encouraged us to continue the good work and reminded us that MLK was about social justice for all. Several older folks spoke about marching against the VietNam war and how that had empowered them for a lifetime.
A member of our City Council spoke about the need to reach out to the Hispanic population….almost 70% of our community. A member of our School Board encouraged us to speak out against the devastation of NoChildLeftBehind and other intrusions that are damaging our school systems…..and also taught us how to say “This Land is Your Land, This Land is Our Land” in Spanish…..and he’s a white guy of Irish descent.
We had a contingent of young Oxnard Police to assist us as we walked on Oxnard Boulevard (Pacific Coast Highway).
When I sucked down my shy and joined the group there were about 25 people…..by the time we were ready to march there were about 100. It’s a start.
I thank the many FDL folks who encouraged me by their own actions. And, yes, I’ll be out there again and will bring friends and neighbors.
If you know California at all, you’ll be amused that my son-in-law told me that he saw that there was even an Occupy Lompoc group going on.
If you haven’t overcome you own inner shy, do it!
When I first came to FDL those many years ago I had to ask, “What does ‘DFH’ stand for?” Walking with the Occupy Oxnard group, I feel that I finally earned my cred as a DFH. And I will never give it up. I stood up and I’m glad that I did.
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I’ll be following suit tomorrow, M’dear…! Recc’d…!
Thanks for the boost, CT. Let us know what you experience! Gotta love the FDLers……wonderful community.
tweeted and recommened — thanks for your reporting dearie. you *are* a dfh!
Thanks, Girl……it was FDL, indeed, that gave me the spunk to overcome my shy. I’m grateful to popyeye and others for encouraging outreach. I hope that the wonderful people I met at Occupy Oxnard will keep coming out….and that we can encourage our large Hispanic population to join us.
Plus! We had a number of black males who joined the group….several who had experience marching back in the day.
Hope their wives, daughters, sisters will join us next time.
AND! I learned that my best friend marched as a child with Cesar Chavez out here in Santa Paula while I was a young mother raising my kids grapeless in Chicago.
Dearie! Look at you, now.
Occupy the Beach! The desert, the foothills, the farmlands – Occupy is Not Just For The Cities!
I’m proud of all the fire dogs too.
Lompoc, you say? Just Wow.
I’m so happy to see folks posting diaries about their communities’ actions. I’m especially glad to see so many of these diaries getting Front Paged too.
Power to the People, Right On.
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Thank you for sharing your personal experience Dearie. I’m certain your words and descriptions have encouraged other to also join this important movement.
I share your amazement with the involvement of the people in your community as well as the people in my own community of Dallas Texas. People are finally standing up and not only protesting, but actually beginning to work on real solutions.
After last Wednesday when Congress sold out the 99% by passing three unfair trade agreements they told us loud and clear who they represent and it’s not us.
The Korean trade act alone will raise the trade deficit by $16 billion and will ship no less than 169,000 American jobs overseas.
Thank you Dearie! No need to be shy!
Thank you Dearie! No need to be shy!
thank you sister for occupying !
you *are* a dfh, now we must confer a FDL Croix de Shrill for doing so publicly !
Oxnard, Lompoc, Santa Rosa and all the other non-major city Occupation sites – that’s what should scare the crap outta the MOTU’s – although I know it wont . . . until it’s too late – and that makes me smile
All Power to the People !
Woo Hoo, Dearie!!!! Way to go!
I have my own story. The most ‘subversive’ gathering I have ever been to is an art dance in the park.
On Saturday, in a park at the very fountain that was the stage for one said art dance years ago, there was the first GA for #occupyOttawa … Canada, that is, yeah, baby!
This is only a block away from my survival job so I planned to catch the first hour of the first day!!!! And it’s only 1.5 blocks away from Parliament Hill.
I was so thrilled to walk up and see -hell, it could have been at least 500 people, but I haven’t check on the *official* stats- already engaged in the GA process with the human microphone in action.
Sweeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
People were milling about with signs and chatting to inform others about the details of the most egregious corporate thievery we have experienced here it Ottawa which has damaged our local economy and led to my own un/underemployment.
I was thrilled. Checked back later to see what the night camping was looking like. Very rainy, ugly night. Wish I could make the weather better.
I met some lovely people in the building community exercise and was able to pass on some of the knowledge I have learned from following the protests here at FDL ~ including the fact that the methodology being used here is the same process that is been used at #OWS and the other protests. Disorganized? Pfffftt!
It’s totally amazing!!!
So pleased with the coments….and hope others will diary about their own experiences. I am energized by the enthusiasm of others all over the world!
I so hope the OWS movement will continue to grow.
PS to Dearie
Love love love the title of your diary.
There are probably readers here who don’t know what Oxnard means.
(PS – I’m So Sad that the state is closing down McGrath. It breaks my heart. Well, there’s a growing list of that.)
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