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Look at the background in the upper right on the screengrab … Sacramento’s Tower Bridge
I don’t know a lot about Cesar Chavez (too young) but what I do know is that he was a civil rights and labor rights organizer and leader. And for the City of Sacramento to turn against his tireless legacy of working and speaking for the common average person who has legitimate concerns and grievances over how this country, state, and city are run is the ultimate irony. To arrest people joining together to give voice to political speech against economic injustices would be unconscionable to those who founded this country — and no, I don’t mean the ones you’re thinking of — I mean these ones — really
If this behavior continues, the city needs to rename the park something along the lines of Sacramento’s Un-Free Speech and Un-Peaceably Assemble Park i.e. Sacramento’s Fascist Park
The people in that park are the essence and legacy of those who made this country great. And I say this again: These are families with tents. These are normal average ordinary people who see wrongs that need to be righted. Who see suffering and try to heal it. People who asked for change and are still waiting
Shame on Sacramento. Shame.
22 Comments
I will be there again at the protest either tomorrow, or Sunday, or both
I have video from yesterday but I have to go buy a cable that goes from the vid cam to the pc
Gotta run and do some things, will check back in L8r
We have the power!
And the Sacramento Bee headlines a story that “finally arrests are made at Cesar Chavez park”
The Nobel Peace Prize awarded today showed solidarity with the Occupy movement, and decried the War Crimes of President Obama:
http://my.firedoglake.com/normanb/2011/10/07/nobel-peace-prize-to-tawakkul-karman-for-resisting-obama-saleh-massacres-of-peaceful-protesters-premeditated-murders-democracy-suppression/
thank you John!
This is awesome, John! Great work.
Any interest in live streaming? We’re putting together a schedule of livestreaming at various #Occupy events across the country.
That place is a hellhole… you’re very brave to stick around and fight.
Thanks John.
I’ve been boycotting grapes since ’69 because of solidarity with Chavez ad the Farmworkers Union . . . high school in San Mateo, this was a big deal even with that other major upheaval about Vietnam n all that.
Sadly, Sacramento, the state capitol, reared it’s ugly red state head per our city manager (and the moneyed interests who bought her office) and shit happened.
We know where the money is in this town, developers.
There are 3 of them who lord over the county like the big money vultures they are. N of course, state and national business interests (Koch+) are gonna heavily invest into keeping Occupy Sac meaningless.
First salvo’s been fired . . . let’s see where it goes from here, but man them rich fucks are out in force early in the game here in Sacto.
Have NOT read Sac Bee coverage on this, but as someone above suggests, McClatchy has gone all GALT on their front pages to smear Occupy and the protesters.
So, despite McClatchy’s oft occurring good reporting and investigating, they fully fail (as I expect they would) for the masses when it counts.
A pox on all their houses, Tsakapoulas, Benvenutti, McClatchy.
(I might have spelt them wrong, the first two, huge developers who own this town and have, for a long time)
Ok, my bad, Sac City Manager is a he, John Shirey. I left a message on the machine on that office to the voice of what was likely his admin, a woman . . .
Not A Nice Person.
I called your cop shop today and suggested they were setting a bad precedent by arresting people in a public park and banning them for life, told them it was not happening anywhere else.
They said they had had a few calls. . .
John,
I was there this morning and am writing a diary now. Here is the latest email from them:
It has been announced by the Police Department today that the permanent ban that was charged on our occupiers last night was a “mistake.” They have also issued notice that they will allow the protest tonight to go on until 12am. Afterwards, however, arrests MAY ensue.
We need as much support from all of you as we can possibly have. Bring yourself and all your friends and help us instill the changes that we all desire. We do not encourage the variety of civil disobedience that could you get arrested, however if that is something you choose, we will be holding a legal rights seminar to inform you of your civil liberties and how to deal with the police.
If you cannot make it, then please watch and share our livestreams, and keep us in your hearts and minds.
Thanks to everyone who has come, supported and/or donated to us. You are all amazing and helping to shape history.
With love and solidarity,
Occupy Sacramento.
Bless you, John of Sacto!
Thanks so much for that incredible video reintro to Cesar Chavez; it was quite moving and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be reminded. As a 71 year old somewhat disabled woman, and therefore not too young to not have known him, I do remember tangentially participating in the grape boycotts while at UT Austin some thousand miles away some fifty years ago.
I appreciated your marvelous irony suggestion for renaming the plaza. Thanks!
I was there at the Plaza on Thursday, passing out Health Care for All brochures and getting signatures on the Health Care for All petitions of support. It was a joy to talk with the great diversity of folks gathered there, whites, hispanics, blacks, and Asians who were professionals, blue collar folks, retirees and students. The event was organized by the Central Labor Council (I think) but the signs lifted high and sometimes dragging the grounds, most often reflected the signs we’ve become used to in the occupations from NY/Boston and westward.
Some signs and props were hysterically funny alternatives from those rather moribund reflections of our socio-politico-economic despairs that are the basis of the Occupy movement. I was really fascinated by the many individual personal and small group comments and agendum represented by the folks I got to talk with as I moved about the plaza. Becoming aware of the broad spectrum of personal and community interests, passions, frustrations, and effusive “ain’t it great to get together again?” type sentiments I heard was a real joy for me. At the Media Table, I asked the young folks there if they would be able to get it through the local media’s thick heads that there really is a purpose/agenda/cause for us all so they’ll quit bitching because we don’t have one sentence
declaration which they don’t demand from the Tea Partyers or the Dems or Repubs, etc. (Jesus, what a stupid,stupid petty demand!)
The Media Table folks handed me the Occupy Wall Street assembly consensus statement I’d become familiar with and said that was the only document they’d be handing out. One astute young man (Sac State student)then went into his well rehearsed but passionate explanation that there was no real traditional leadership structure (and certainly not hierarchical!)and that the reality was simply an evolving process among those participating. Nodding in affirmation,
I assured him I understood and wished him and all other emergent leaders and non-leaders the best.
I had moved slowly through the crowd, hanging on to my walker, glad to be able to sit when tired from standing and moving about. I was glad to there were others with walkers, canes and even occasional wheelchairs among us seniors and younger disabled folks interacting with younger and middle-aged folks. Chatting with the young moms and their toddlers, were a special joy for they were quite anxious to sign my petitions along with so many others, some of whom who explained they’d been working for this legislation for years! Afterall, it had been passed twice and the Terminator had done his veto bits. Thank God he’s gone! We are assuming that if we get it passed in 2012, Gov Brown will sign it at long last. But even then, the folks who are and have been committed to this cause clearly understand that we’re into it for the long haul.
I wasn’t up to the crowd’s treks to the Capitol and downtown banks, even tho they were but a few blocks away, but I was glad I could stay behind and continue my day’s mission for my cause, while supporting the many other causes represented in the crowd. Had to rest today, but I’ll be back this weekend and hopefully several times next week. I am assured, through my hope and faith, that the Sacto occupation will continue in spite of some of the local media’s comments. The Bee article this morning was a pathetic exercise in total unawareness; but the editorial had some remarkable integrity. The couple of local TV reporters I’d seen were so pathetically stupid with their minimalist comments that were both discounting but also totally ignorant of what it was all about.
John in Sacto, having read some of your comments and posts over the last few years, I’ve often hoped that I could meet you and other Sacto Lakers and that we could all get together sometime, to get acquainted, if nothing else, but perhaps to work together on some common causes. Maybe this is the time.
And, here’s a special invitation to Sacto area folks wanting to know more about SB 810, please come by St. John’s Lutheran Church this Sunday and hear Sara Rogers, special consultant to Sen. Mark Leno, the lead sponsor of the single payer health care bill, speak at the 10:15 Forum meeting in Goethe Hall. St. John’s is at the corner of 17th and L Streets, and Goethe Hall has an L Street building front sign that says The Refuge. The Forum attracts the liberals of the congregation and we’re kicking off a three part series on health care issues; the next Sunday topic will be the development of California Exchange program of the ACA law; and then a third session review of a variety of health care issues to wrap up our series.
Our Sunday worship services begin at 8 for a contemplative service, a traditional service at 9, a Spanish/English service at 10:15, and a contemporary service at 11:30. All are welcome.
Finally, I shared a personal joy about my Plaza experiences yesterday at my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and was totally astounded by the spontaneous cheers of support from those mostly middle-aged and older over-weight ladies from small town West Sacramento. Who’d of thought? Maybe there’s hope afterall!
Blessings,
Bless you and thanks for your being there and giving counsel and support.
Blessings,
We did not have grapes or lettuce for years to support the work of Chavez. How ironic that people are getting arrested in a park named for him.
just checking in
Awesome comments. kairossue don’t know if I can make it Sunday (live in Citrus Heights and no car) Will read your comment more in depth when I get home
L8r all
I thought you were going to hark back to when Robert F. Kennedy came to California to check out Cesar Chavez’s grape pickers strike:
The root reason for the, “Occupy er’s” and the “99% er’s”. Gaze upon it if you dare. Maybe this will help make the danger of fiat money clear. Imagine you and me are setting across from each other. We create enough money to represent all of the world’s wealth. Each one of us has one SUPER Dollar in front of him. You own half of everything and so do I. I’m the government though. I get bribed into creating a Central Bank. You’re not doing what I want you to be doing so I print up myself eight more SUPER Dollars to manipulate you with. All of a sudden your SUPER Dollar only represents one tenth of the wealth of the world! That isn’t the only thing though. You need to get busy and get to work because YOU’VE BEEN STIFFED with the bill for the money I PRINTED UP to get YOU TO DO what I WANTED.
That to me represents what has been happening to the economy, and us, and why so many of our occupations just can’t keep up with the fake money presses.
http://photos.imageevent.com/stokeybob/followthemoney/Supersingle640x537.jpg
Great work John just great!! We must take back our country from the thieving MOTU and I DO mean as soon as possible!! Our children and grand children are counting on us. This just cannot continue the way it is!!
And of course recommended!
Thanks, Mary!
Terrific report. Thanks!
All right Senator!!!! You are leading the WAY!!
Excellent report, John.
I just got back from an evening spent in solidarity with the Occupiers in Cesar Chavez Plaza — and on the hoof as it were to the jail and back. There are volunteers assembling for likely arrests tonight. I had a wonderful chat on the march to the jail with a woman whose father was a labor lawyer during the formation of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and we were talking about how far conditions for many farm workers have deteriorated since those heady days. That’s one reason why the UFW continues to march on Sacramento, but I’m not sure their voices are heard any more; just as the rest of the voices of the 99% are not heard.
When I pass by the statue in the Plaza of Cesar leading the farm workers toward the Capitol, it brings back a lot of memories. And it convinces me more than ever of the absolute necessity of the Occupations here in Sacramento and everywhere (there’s an Occupation in Hong Kong now!). I am hoping — and I believe — that Cesar is smiling on us.
The growth of the Occupation in Sacramento is something wonderful to behold. There are several hundred who spend as much time as they can in the Plaza, forming a community, taking care of one another, working on that task of building a better future, demonstrating how to do it and why we must.
I don’t know how many will volunteer to be arrested tonight, but their fearlessness and sense of purpose is incredibly inspiring.
As they say: “We are the 99%. Expect us.”
Man, not only are you are horribly confused, but you post the same thing every time you post. Who is paying you? The banksters?