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Sign from Occupy Harvard (Photo: WBUR, Public Radio)
Earlier this week, a few dozen students and others from the Harvard University community began an Occupation in Harvard Yard, setting up tents on the lawn inside the University’s main yard and remaining there. University officials did not move to expel the occupants, but they immediately closed the gates to Harvard Yard, allowing only persons with Harvard IDs to enter that area of the campus.
The “Yard” is a large square several blocks on each side and is completely enclosed by a tall, spiked iron fence. The closing meant that Harvard University police are now stationed 24/7 at each of the Gates, and no one is allowed to enter without an ID. This severely limited the size of the encampment to about 60 people or so, hampering its ability to gather strength from outside the Yard. Nevertheless, the encampment remains, and tonight they held their 3rd General Assembly (GA). It was an unusual event even for a GA.
The Harvard area of Cambridge is the heart of a vibrant university and professional community stretched out along the Red Line “T” – one of the main Metro subway lines serving the Boston region. Towards one end is Tufts University, then Harvard, then M.I.T. The Red Line then crosses the Charles River into Boston. You can transfer to other T’s heading to Boston University, Boston College and many smaller colleges, or continue on to the University of Massachusetts.
Boston is also a huge labor town. So this is a region where one might expect a lot of support for the Occupy movement. And sure enough, a main Red Line T stop in downtown Boston is South Station, a major transportation hub for Amtrak, commuter rail, buses and the T. Right across the street is Occupy Boston, where occupiers and many unions held a labor rally in support of Verizon workers a few weeks ago. So despite Harvard officials sealing off Harvard Yard to the public, there are many occupy sympathizers in the region who simply can’t get into the Yard, because they’re not Harvard students, faculty or employees.
One problem this creates for Harvard Occupy’s GA is how to connect those inside the Yard with supporters outside. It’s easy. They held the GA at one of the main iron gates and used a dual mic check, with repeaters on each side of the huge gate relaying the speeches. I’d estimate there were at least 60 occupants inside the Yard at the GA and about 45-50 just outside the tall Johnston Gate, with the two groups facing each other across the iron bars and repeating each other’s statements.
Tonight’s GA began about 5:15 and included two special guest speakers. It started with those inside educating those outside on the mic check communication rules and hand signals. When both sides got that, they introduced two of the more prominent members of the Egyptian uprising — Ahmed Maher and a woman named Esraa, who described their Cairo and other Arab Spring experiences and answered questions. Ahmed was introduced as “the Che of Egypt.” What follows is a very rough summary from my notes — not exact quotes — from their statements.
Ahmed Maher introduced himself as one of the the participants from the April 6 movement, which he described as starting from “youth like you” who had hopes for democracy, equality, free speech, and social justice and were united in their “struggle against a corrupt regime.” During their struggle, they were helped and inspired by youth from many countries, and “we learned from each other.” There were many experiences and beliefs, but they found “we had common interests.”
The most important thing, he told the Harvard occupants, was to believe that change is possible, that you can create it. “Believe in the fact you have common interests, and believe in yourselves,” he said. “I’m proud to be here with you,” he added, to the waving hand/finger signs of approval.
Esraa is a prominent activists in her own right. She told the occupants, “we are here to express solidarity with you and with those like you in other countries.” All of us, she said, “will be as one hand; united we are one.”
Their opening statements were followed by a short Q & A session, with questions alternating between the occupants on the inside and supporters on the outside. Here’s a sampling:
Q. Many students at Harvard don’t support us or disagree. What should we do to get more support?
Ahmed: We had the same problems in Egypt. The issue is learning how to talk to people. Find a new language, use cartoons, try different methods, search it out. But remember, it’s the people who create the real changes, not the elites.
Q. What is the next step to get more support?
Ahmed: It’s important to define your common goals and interests; you have to arrive at a clear vision of what you want. Without that, it’s very difficult. But believe in yourselves, that you can make change. Also, create a “schedule.” [agenda?]. Then use it to put pressure on government and pressure on those responsible. Constant pressure.
Q. What do you think about the importance of WikiLeaks and people like Bradley Manning? [At this point, I peaked through the bars to see who asked that question; the voice was familiar for a good reason: it was David House on the inside. David, with Jane Hamsher's help, had visited his friend Bradley Manning while Manning was imprisoned at Quantico.]
Ahmed: WikiLeaks was very important in Egypt’s uprising; it gave us evidence about the corruption and crimes of the regime. It helped us demand transparency from our government.
Q. Were you surprised to discover that America is not always the model for democracy from its image?
Ahmed: No. We knew that the American government supported our corrupt regime; so we had to search for real democracy. We believed we could create it, if we “made pressure.”
Esraa: Not all of us believed that American democracy was ideal. We believed there were limits, and the US government did not represent the ideal.
Q. How do you decide when/whether violence is needed versus non violence?
Ahmed: There are many forms of non-violence and civil disobedience. There’s a lot of history, experience with them. We learned from Ghandi, from Martin Luther King, from South Africa. And we watched movies, about Seattle, but we also saw V for Vendetta.
After this Q & A, Ahmed and Esraa wished the occupiers well to cheers on both sides. The GA then continued with other business, including reports from various working groups.
I spoke for a while before the event with several Harvard students, some opposed, some skeptical, some very supportive. Some had come to cover the event for student organizations and media. The skeptics questioned whether Harvard is the appropriate target for an occupation; after all, they say, Harvard does a lot in the local community. The supporters responded that even though most of them see themselves as “middle class” or at least part of the 99 percent, they see Harvard as strongly oriented towards protecting large corporations, which they identify with the 1 percent, and it was important to pressure the University to change that orientation.
Has the occupation changed the conversation on campus? Yes, they all agreed. “Everyone’s talking about it,” even if most don’t support it now. By this time, ten students had gathered around to voice their views and others leaned in to listen.
For more on Occupy Harvard, including pictures, see these links.
Occupy Harvard tumblr
19 Comments
Thank you so much for this, Scarecrow. This makes my day.
Love your coverage and appreciate all the time and effort you make to get it right. Thanks.
Recommended
Thank you so much. I saw Bill McKibben the other night, and he mentioned you when we talked about going to jail.
I will post a link to our (Un)Occupy page, since we are trying to “Find a new language, use cartoons, try different methods, search it out.”
We are goingto try to have some meetings in the neighborhoods now, just starting, to try to involve people who are not comfortable meeting in the streets.
Thank you for reporting, scarecrow. Ahmed says: ” it’s the people who create the real changes, not the elites.”
It would be nice if these people had some information about the Harvard Endowment, historically one of the great sources of dirty money in the world. Ask any Russian oligarch. Harvard is a perfect target but the people gathered there do not seem to even know it. They do know that Harvard does things for the local community. I find this somewhat dispiriting.
I thnk the neighborhood non occupy meetings are a great idea.
Well, one of the supporting students in that discussion brought up the Endowment and other topic, which the others had not heard of before. I just asked a question or two and the students took over the conversation with each other. It was fun to watch that happen.
Recommended Scarecrow great article.
Thanks Scarecrow.
Who are the 60? Legacies? Scholarships? What kind of diversity if any?
I am glad it was fun. It is crazy that only one of them knows about the endowment and they seem to be speculating about whether it is a good place to protest. It is. Crack open a book, kids, and find out why. You are Harvard students. You can do it.
Couldn’t tell much about the group inside in the dark . . .just young people with Harvard IDs. The people I spoke to outside before the GA were all students. In the 15 minutes or so of discussions, the group that grew to ten or more included students from several ethnic backgrounds, likely countries, judging from the variety of accents. That’s very typical at Harvard . . . They are from everywhere. So some might know of or have views of Harvards history, others coming from very different backgrounds and perspectives. To me, these all seemed liked undergrads, but im old, as I told them when telling them about Berkeley, Mario Savio, etc, in the 60s. They may not know about Harvard Endowment yet, but they had heard of Mario Savio. Just like they all knew, Crosby, Stills, Nash . . . Teach your Children Well. Interesting what gets passed down in different cultures.
Thanks.
Did anyone see this. April 6 is the group Ahmed Maher formed and he is (XXXXX) in the cabal. just find it odd that he had close ties to the US govt back in 2008.
wikeleaks
Summary and comment: On December 23, April 6 activist
XXXXXXXXXXXX expressed satisfaction with his participation in
the December 3-5 “Alliance of Youth Movements Summit,” and
with his subsequent meetings with USG officials, on Capitol
Hill, and with think tanks.
Also odd is that egypt is living under a military dictatorship and as egyptian activist kareem amer wrote
The military has reactivated the emergency status, denied the press its freedoms, and tortured civilians. Its hands are stained with the blood of those who have been killed in the months that have followed. The regime has arrested activists, tried them before a military court, and imprisoned them under the false accusation that they are “thugs.” Moreover, the regime applied a mandatory virginity test for all the women inside the military prison, later confessing to it openly. The regime arrested a blogger, Maikel Nabil, because of his writings and sent him to a military court that sentenced him to three years in prison. Now he might die there after enduring a month-and-a-half-long hunger strike.
so activist being rounded up in egypt and this guy is free to come to the US and meet with @ occupy.
I am not sure what to make of it, but it does seem strange
I LOVE the Occupy spirit!!, and, it pisses off the RICH!!!!!HAHAHAHAHA
Absolutely. What gets me is that the “Arab Spring” uprisings are put forth as models for U.S. activists to follow. While Mubarek is gone, the military dictatorship is firming up its control. Tens of thousands have been subjected to military commission kangaroo “trials,” untold hundreds or thousands tortured.
In fact, today is a global day of solidarity against military junta’s trials, with demonstrations planned in more than 20 capital cities around the world against the brutal rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
The Egyptian protests, like the smaller but important protests in the U.S., and others in Europe, insofar as they challenge power structures will be met with repression and violence (even as those in power and their media puppets will attack the victims as violent themselves, as is happening in Egypt over investigations of the Maspero massacre of Copts, where 28 people were killed.
I do not have political confidence in those leading these protests, as they have not demonstrated an understanding or a strategy for actually taking on state violence. In the U.S., the Occupy sites being targeted for early shutdown are those that are either most radical (as in Oakland), or have close proximity to black and poor populations who know they have nothing to lose under the brutal rule of capital (Oakland, Boston, St. Louis, Atlanta).
Disorganization is not a strength, and the lesson to be learned from the mass rising in Egypt is that without political organization and a clear program saying what the organization stands for (besides out with the bad guys) means the movement is disarmed in the face of state power, with the state acting exactly as Karl Marx said it would, as the executive power for the ruling capitalist-financial elite.
It is not “odd” that Egypt is living under a military dictatorship… it has for decades now. What is “odd” is that activists of today would close their eyes to the lessons of hundreds of years of struggle and not see that one single tactic, e.g., “occupation” is insufficient to make the large structural changes needed. But then, many in the leadership of the Occupy movement don’t want that kind of large-scale change, and have turned into stalking horses for 2012 Democratic Party candidates.
I think Ahmed Maher should be asked what officials he spoke to, and what they spoke about. Keeping these spontaneous and democratic outbursts of protest within the bounds of capitalist rule is what the government is all about.
They are not “scared”. They are not even “pissed off”. This is what they do. Derailing or oppressing such movements, whether through cooptation or legal maneuvers or violence is their business. They’ve done it to generations of the exploited and they are doing it to you.
I agree with a lot of what you say but here is where I am not sure what the answers are
The Egyptian protests, like the smaller but important protests in the U.S., and others in Europe, insofar as they challenge power structures will be met with repression and violence (even as those in power and their media puppets will attack the victims as violent themselves, as is happening in Egypt over investigations of the Maspero massacre of Copts, where 28 people were killed.
I do not have political confidence in those leading these protests, as they have not demonstrated an understanding or a strategy for actually taking on state violence.
what strategy can they use. I don’t know
Disorganization is not a strength, and the lesson to be learned from the mass rising in Egypt is that without political organization and a clear program saying what the organization stands for (besides out with the bad guys) means the movement is disarmed in the face of state power, with the state acting exactly as Karl Marx said it would, as the executive power for the ruling capitalist-financial elite.
I think not issuing a list of demands has helped so far. at some point they need to move beyond that, but here is the rub? who do they issue the demands to? what can they do to endure those demands will be enacted? that is where it all gets tricky.
Thank you, scarecrow, and thank you commenters as well. Each movement builds on the experiences of the prior one, and it is sad to see how the army has acted in Egypt. Clearly that story is not over. I do not believe that it is proof of failure of their ‘Arab spring’ but the effects show that like our own, theirs is an ongoing struggle. Look at the Palestinians, how long it is taking for them – you can’t expect rapid progress.
The army was a force that had to be ‘worked with’ for the Egyptians to get any traction at all. I can’t comment on what is happening now, but we see how in different countries there is a desire with which the leadership now has to come to some sort of rapprochement if there is to be any peaceful continuance in those places. And repression really isn’t the answer.
I love the image at Harvard of two parts of the same movement functioning while a locked gate supposedly separates them. That’s a hugely powerful image!
The listing of demands means getting beyond the initial protest to the political struggle of what to do, which will mean differentiating out various sub-currents within the “99 percent”. For instance, the interests of small business owners is not going to be the same, necessarily, from that of unemployed factory workers, or the homeless, or rural farm workers.
One can try and hide these differences as long as possible, but the political expression of such differences will surface no matter what the “movement” does.
Then there are political differences. One can already easily discern them as, for instance, between the relatively small anarchist groups with Occupy, and say, those who want to concentrate on passing legislative reforms. Much of this can already be seen if you read, for example, the OWS GA minutes, or the discussions in the various groups.
I believe very strongly that the old political parties are moribund, are obstacles to progress, and that we need a new political party based on a progressive platform that fights for workers’ needs (jobs, fair distribution of product, nationalization of core industries and finance, etc.). At some point, if the state will not allow such basic changes, organs of self-defense will be needed to protect the movement against state violence — while clearly, a confrontationist stand against police entities is something that is suicidal to the cause.
Despite the success of the protest thus far, it is nowhere near large enough yet. To get there one will need more than spirit, one will need clearly articulated goals, something for the bulk of the “99%” to believe in and fight for, be willing, if necessary, to make sacrifices for.
Excellent and useful description of the physical layout and GA procedures, plus inspiring appearance of Egyptian Tahrir Square occupiers.
Reminded me of a poem, some years ago, about Unicorns in the Yard, asking:
“and who are beasts to be barred?”
The Harvard Management Company’s traders reportedly were making obscene amounts a few years ago. As much as $15,000,000 per year per head, or about $1,000 per hair on each said head (presumably young), if my memory serves. Don’t know whether this has changed under current President Drew Gilpin Faust.
Russ Baker relates an odd Harvard investment of $50,000,000 for a 30% interest in G.W.Bush’s Harken Oil, a peculiar company in which “Few outside investors made any money.” Family of Secrets, Bloomsbury Press, 2009, p. 340.