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Occupy Newark got started last week, and Mayor Cory Booker has since showed up and extensively engaged the occupiers. See this link for a livestream replay, which should be showing for a few days, yet (as Occupy Newark only schedules a few days per week). He comes across as completely empathetic, and hard-working for the good of Newark. He’s not allowing tents (which I don’t have a problem with), but he’s given orders to support Occupy Newark (basically, non-harassment by police; I think they also lifted the pre-existing curfew).
I’m posting this mostly out of gratitude and admiration for what Booker seems to be about. (I don’t follow local and state politics, much, so I’m judging based on my impression of what he said, and how he said it.) However, as it seems to me that Booker is thinking about how Occupy Newark and city-connected efforts that he’s pushing might be synergistic, there’s another reason for posting a diary. If he’s successful in facilitating synergy, Booker + Newark + Occupy Newark could serve as a model for other occupations and cities. E.g., he’s put his finger on a fundamental problem, that cuts across much of our predicament, and that is for people to get worked up by seeing something on TV, shake their fists, get angry, and then do exactly nothing. (Reminiscent of “blogging to the choir”, no?) He contrasted this phenomenon with statistics that show how helpful it is for young people to have mentors, but that Newark’s TV-agitated residents don’t, by and large, step up and become mentors.
Occupy Newark, by encouraging civic involvement, can help solve the lack-of-engagement-problem, which has EVERYTHING to do with how successful Newark is in dealing with it’s problem.
God bless Cory Booker. Occupy X, keep your eyes on Newark.
4 Comments
While it’s good he’s engaging, before you become wispy over him, do look up his policies. He’s a die-hard Neo-Liberal who wants to privatize everything under the sun in the guise of “private-public partnerships.”
So while he’s a charismatic, likable person who really does seem to care about people not in the 1%, his policy preferences are largely in service to the 1%. If there is such a thing as a “left leaning Neo-Liberal,” he personifies it. But he’s still a devoted Neo-Liberal. Nobody’s perfect, eh?
” Nobody’s perfect, eh?”
Quite true. Black Agenda Report has attacked Booker due to his education policies. Are you saying he wants to sell off Newark’s parks, water system, hospitals, etc.?
Aren’t tents kind of the backbone of the Occupy encampments? If he doesn’t allow tents, what does he allow?
The Newark City Council lifted the park curfew, I assume with Booker’s blessings, so he’s allowing greater access. From Curfew Lifted at Military Park: Occupy Newark Goes 24/7 on Friday
Also, a couple of councilpeople have shown up, in support, also. Don’t know which came first – interest and support by council people, or by Booker. But, it’s all good – and facilitates communication and ‘joint ventures’ between city government and Occupy Newark.
Isn’t that better than being adversaries? The dailykos version of this diary included a poll, with the question “Should Occupy X movements be proactively seeking out non-Wall Street issue related synergies with local governments, and vice versa? (In addition to agitating for economic justice vis-a-vis Wall Street, of course. )” Nobody has answered “no”, yet.
Mildred Crump is one of the councilpeople who showed up, and she announced that her church would try and provide a place to sleep for Occupy Newarkers. I think she also said that a union she was associated with would send additional bodies to occupy.
Even if “tents are kind of the backbone of the Occupy encampments”, I don’t believe that they’re the backbone of the Occupy movement. Occupying public space, and using it to facilitate cooperative actions on behalf of the 99% is what constitutes the backbone of the Occupy movement. Some people think it’s very important to occupy some space around the clock, but since most people spend 8 hours sleeping, anyway, I think 16 hour per day occupations are just fine.