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I feel more hopeful about Occupy and the global activist uprising than I did a couple weeks ago, as more and more news of May Day actions across the country and around the world. We may never meet but solidarity is a powerful boost to morale.
At the same time I agree with Keori, an activist who wrote on Twitter:
#Occupy has focused on protest so far. Good. Keep calling shit out. But, esp since camps are gone, we’re losing community. Time to rebuild.
Occupy Austin meets multiple times a week, often at Austin City Hall. We received great local coverage for our May Day parade and related actions. An ally of the Occupy Austin OccuQueers, was quoted extensively talking about queer worker discrimination at a teach-in where we didn’t even anticipate attendance by members of the press. Yet we’re not so visible anymore without our camp. Unless we’re meeting (as we do for hours some days), no one driving by city hall has a reason to be reminded of our presence.
Now that summer is all but here, and we have shown we can ignite the popular imagination (if not the mainstream media), it’s time to focus on outreach. During and after May Day, we’ve connected with new organizations like Get Equal Texas and Under the Hood Cafe & Soldier Recovery Center. These new coalitions we’re building will bring us new numbers, new energy, and new ways to build a better world.
But this outreach is crucial if we want to continue to be a movement and not just a rabble rousing social club.
Who are you connecting with today? What’s on your mind? This is the newest open thread.
8 Comments
It was great to hear about Under the Hood at the May Day Picnic and Teach-In. As a vet myself, I’ve grown more and more anti-war over the years, realizing how our military is simply being used as a commodity of sorts and to protect the interests of the wealthy.
Who am I connecting with? Well, Occupy at the moment but trying to work with other groups as well.
Community does not require a place. It’s an attitude and mind set. Radio operators – especially Ham Radio – have had a very strong community that goes back to the early days of wireless.
Reminds me of a ZEN quote.
“Any place is your temple as long as you treat it as such.”
Hi Michael, it’s great to see you on here! The IVAW teach in at our May Day picnic was fabulous. And they seem to be really valuable allies. I hope we can return the favor.
Thanks. I’ve experienced a similar kind of community through Twitter in communicating with other citizen journalists and Occupy tweeters so I definitely see the point of what you’re saying.
interesting article .. thanks!
Cmaukonen,
One of the major beefs here in Boston is that the majority of the Occupiers are NOT on Twitter. The “core” group of 18-35 yo people seem to be, but many of the older activists, and those who are NOT young, white millenials, aren’t. It’s actually been a wedge issue for a lot of people.
We who are on Twitter, like HAM ops, have a great community amongst ourselves, but it’s not enough for either the movement as a whole, or good for long-term sustainability and actual societal change. Humans are herd animals; most of us need face-to-face interaction. Here is the whole series of Tweets I posted on the subject:
“#Occupy has focused on protest so far. Good. Keep calling shit out. But, esp since camps are gone, we’re losing community. Time to rebuild.
If we’re going to be the viable, long-term movement this country needs, we MUST offer viable alternatives to exploitative systems.
We MUST also focus on long-term radical mutually sustainable community building that works within the constraints of our current world.
I don’t mean communes. OB is in a city, ffs. But service exchanges, urban garden co-ops, all neighborhood-based. Mutual aid, mutual support.”
My whole point was that in order to be a viable movement, in addition to rabble rousing and drawing attention to the crimes against the people perpetrated by the corporate-owned government, we also need an arm focusing on radical community building to effect long-term SOCIETAL change. We have to change society’s mindset if we’re going to get more than a band-aid. And that requires a long-term commitment to “another world is possible.”
Hm. I may have to write an FDL diary on this subject.
I think you should. But I also suggested to Occupy Cleveland that they needed a good way to communicate so most (if not all) were on the same page.
You’re absolutely right — the Twitter community is great but just a rabble rousing social club. Back when we had a camp we had a lot of discussions of ways to keep everyone in contact and connected and up to date on what is happening, even those without phones or Internet access. Now that the camps are gone, the challenge is even greater.
I think Chicago has been an amazing example to other occupations with what appears to be a strong network of neighborhoods, each holding their own general assemblies. It’s not an example we’ve managed to emulate here in Austin, but are beginning to change with plans thanks to the Welcome Wagon group’s plan to hold community outreach picnics in different part of town on a regular basis.
Keori, please do write that diary!