Occupiers or Gentrifyers?

p (photo: POOR Magazine family of span data-scayt_word="skolaz" data-scaytid="1"skolaz/span with span data-scayt_word="dignidadrebelde" data-scaytid="2"dignidadrebelde/span span data-scayt_word="artistas" data-scaytid="1520"artistas/span Melanie Cervantes and Jesus span data-scayt_word="Barraza" data-scaytid="4"Barraza/span and their revolutionary work in the background)/p p I used to be able to sleep there,nbsp; One of my street-residing poverty scholar of color brothers, Larry W.nbsp; looked up at me with confused eyes pointing across the street to the span data-scayt_word="Decolonize" data-scaytid="5"Decolonize/span (Occupy) Oakland site. In between talking to me he was talking to and with several hundred voices in his beautiful, traumatized mind. From a western psychiatric diagnostic perspective, he was a paranoid schizophrenic. From many different indigenous deep structure perspectives that i was raised with and actively follow, he was a listener and dreamer living with several forms of post-traumatic slave syndrome, racism and classism in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="7"Amerikkka/span and we had been comrades since when me and mama were living on the span data-scayt_word="calles" data-scaytid="8"calles/span next to him./p p I cried with him, we talked about his mama and mine- and how they were both having some kind of time together and definitely would have some strong opinions about all the Occupations. And then I suggested that we talk with some folks across the street ( at the Occupation site) to get him one of the warm tents so he could sleep elsewhere in it. He vehemently refused, saying, I don#39;t trust those people, last week their help led to me getting arrested,/p p After a while Larry thanked me for listening and walked down the street away from Oscar Grant Plaza( formerly Frank Ogawa Plaza) shaking his head from side to side./p p I went to the Occupy Oakland/span data-scayt_word="Decolonize" data-scaytid="6"Decolonize/span Oakland with POOR Magazine family and saw many beautiful and transformative things such as food sharing, libraries and art-making bynbsp; Melanie Cervantes and Jesus span data-scayt_word="Barraza" data-scaytid="1050"Barraza/span from span data-scayt_word="Dignidad" data-scaytid="1115"Dignidad/span span data-scayt_word="Rebelde" data-scaytid="1339"Rebelde/span and others. We also had a very strange and disturbing series of encounters, where our family of poverty scholars ended up protecting/defending/ supporting the only elder of color who I saw that night from a physical and verbal attack on her person by several 20-something white span data-scayt_word="folx" data-scaytid="9"folx/span, because she had apparently said something insulting in a verbal altercation earlier that day in the camp. This was just one of many encounters we had that night rife with more span data-scayt_word="isms" data-scaytid="10"isms/span than i would like to mention.br / nbsp;/p p After still processing the experience with an unhealthy dose ofnbsp; my own Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), and hearing similar stories from the people of color caucuses that have been meeting at the span data-scayt_word="Decolonization" data-scaytid="11"Decolonization/span site in Oakland, i was filled with emotion and deep sorrow but i held back from writing anything about the situation because i was trying to honor the movement of peoples against the capitalist machine and i wanted to support the organic-ness of it all and not work to splinter or add stress to the fledgling movement. And then all of a sudden i realized that something else was happening. I was doing what people have historically done with and for people with race, class, gender or ability privilege, make excuses, not hold them accountable for their actions and by default, allow some very abusive actions to go un-checked, un-seen, and un-noticed. And by doing this, enable the abuse to continue, like me and so many of my sisters and brothers who have been abused by these kinds of violence for so long often do./p p Sadly , the actions of the majority of the white occupiers are to be expected ( not excused) as they are peoples born and bred on racist, span data-scayt_word="classist" data-scaytid="12"classist/span US media and values that teach the cult of span data-scayt_word="agism" data-scaytid="14"agism/span, separation, white supremacy,nbsp; angst and overall lack of respect for anyone who doesn#39;t look, act, move and talk like you./p p My brother span data-scayt_word="Muteado" data-scaytid="15"Muteado/span span data-scayt_word="Silencio" data-scaytid="16"Silencio/span, span data-scayt_word="PNN" data-scaytid="17"PNN/span reporter, poverty and migrant span data-scayt_word="skolar" data-scaytid="18"skolar/span spoke on a similar encounter the other night in Occupy span data-scayt_word="Sf" data-scaytid="20"Sf/span, where a span data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="22"houseless/span person who had normally been sleeping where the occupiers were now staying, had self-marginalized himself to the actual street where cars were span data-scayt_word="wizzing" data-scaytid="26"wizzing/span by. When one of the well-meaning occupiers tried to move the guy, he resisted their attempts, which then led to a span data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="27"po#39;lice/span encounter and the span data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="23"houseless/span guy ended up getting arrested and span data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="28"po#39;lice/span abused./p p I know its all very complicated because there are some span data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="24"houseless/span folks involved in the occupations, but there are span data-scayt_word="alot" data-scaytid="30"alot/span of peoples who are not. Who have never experienced any forms of racism, classism or span data-scayt_word="ablism" data-scaytid="31"ablism/span. Whose consciousness#39; are just being awakened and desperately neednbsp; scholarship on racism, classism, span data-scayt_word="eldership" data-scaytid="32"eldership/span, care-giving, and humility./p p And are we, the ones who can barely keep roofs over ournbsp; babies heads and suffer serious acts of span data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="29"po#39;lice/span brutality, racism,wage theft, border fascism and span data-scayt_word="criminalization" data-scaytid="33"criminalization/span every day the ones to bring this to them./p p Our family and extended family of poverty and indigenous scholars at POOR held a discussion at our indigenous news-making circle last night. Some folks were very much about the Occupy movements. One of our newest span data-scayt_word="skolars" data-scaytid="35"skolars/span and reporters, span data-scayt_word="Ayat" data-scaytid="36"Ayat/span, remains one of the twonbsp; span data-scayt_word="African-descedent" data-scaytid="37"African-descedent/span members of Occupy span data-scayt_word="Sf" data-scaytid="21"Sf/span - believing that this is a very important movement and we as poor peoples need to be at the head of it./p p Another POOR span data-scayt_word="skolar" data-scaytid="19"skolar/span believes like many of us, that we as poor peoples of color in struggle have been fighting this revolution for a minute and we span data-scayt_word="dont" data-scaytid="38"dont/span need to get in front of any other peoples movement to become legitimate./p p I#39;m not sure if i believe any other thing or the other. What i know is, this movement is growing, and new in it or not, the folks caught up in the occupations are not getting any more passes or unbridled praise from me for continuing to act in racist, span data-scayt_word="classist" data-scaytid="13"classist/span, span data-scayt_word="ableist" data-scaytid="39"ableist/span, or span data-scayt_word="ageist" data-scaytid="40"ageist/span ways. For continuing to perpetrate an odd form of gentrification, if you will, of activism, of organizing, of resistance./p p The occupiersnbsp; default gentrification isn#39;t just of land from us already span data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="25"houseless/span occupied peoples on the streets, it is of media, space and resources. So many struggles continue to rage on around and in the streets and barrios where peoples have suddenly setup camps, acting like their set-ups are somehow different and inherently more important than anything before or after, histories and span data-scayt_word="herstories" data-scaytid="41"herstories/span of struggle and resistance movements seem to melt away like butter in a skillet, barely informing the current occupations, making them somehow ahistorical/p p Bob from the Coalition on Homelessness who has worked tirelessly for years trying to fight ongoing span data-scayt_word="criminalization" data-scaytid="34"criminalization/span and incarceration of poor peoples in SF was vexed by some of the special privileges given to the SF Occupiersnbsp; when he noticed special treatment being given to span data-scayt_word="OCcupy" data-scaytid="42"OCcupy/span SF from Ed Lee#39;s office while Ed Lee#39;s office refuses to budge on the Sit-lie law which incarcerates and criminalizes poor peoples for the sole act of sitting or standing while poor in SF. The long-time organizers at Coalition on Homelessness resolved the odd disconnect by creating a flyer that they will be distributing at the Occupy SF site to members that talks about the other fights waging for years in SF against poor peoples movements./p p POOR Magazine, which has been creating poor people-led,indigenous people-led media, education and art with a mandate of no span data-scayt_word="po'Lice" data-scaytid="43"po#39;Lice/span calls ever is in the progress of creating a hand-book b span data-scayt_word="Decolonizers" data-scaytid="44"Decolonizers/span Guide to a Humble Revolution/b which we hope folks in Occupations can use as guide to learn about working with all peoples, each other and all the other movements in need of their support and resources .br / nbsp;br / Finally, at least in the case of the Oakland site, the Oscar Grant plaza (formerly Frank Ogawa plaza) is named after a young African descendent father killed by span data-scayt_word="Po'Lice" data-scaytid="45"Po#39;Lice/span in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkkka" data-scaytid="46"Amerikkkka/span at the span data-scayt_word="Fruitvale" data-scaytid="47"Fruitvale/span BART station. And was launched with a prayer from span data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="48"Ohlone/span 1st nation peoples through powerful span data-scayt_word="wobyn" data-scaytid="49"wobyn/span warrior span data-scayt_word="Corina" data-scaytid="50"Corina/span Gould. This is sacred land and it is sacrilege if elders and children and indigenous and disabled and peoples of all colors are not respected, cared for or thought aboutnbsp; . And sadly, we as poor peoples and peoples of color must be the ones to check it when it doesn#39;t happen. Or, i fear, it will, like this movement, grow and increase and become solidified as ok./p