My Mind is Occupied with Racism in Occupy

p Photo Credit: Carina span data-scayt_word="Lomeli" data-scaytid="1"Lomeli/span- From Left: span data-scayt_word="Queenandi" data-scaytid="2"Queenandi/span span data-scayt_word="XSheba" data-scaytid="3"XSheba/span,span data-scayt_word="Muteado" data-scaytid="4"Muteado/span span data-scayt_word="Silencio" data-scaytid="5"Silencio/span and Mariposa/ span data-scayt_word="PNN" data-scaytid="6"PNN/span reporters and span data-scayt_word="skolaz" data-scaytid="7"skolaz/span marching in the General Strike with Oakland Occupy/p p nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" ldquo;Please go online and get me money from Oprah.spannbsp; /spanTell her itrsquo;s so she (self-referential) donrsquo;t get killed on the streets of San span data-scayt_word="Francisco.”" data-scaytid="8"Francisco.rdquo;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" The majesty of the Elder Black womanrsquo;s face was marred by bruises from minutes earlier and the tears of 75 years as a second class citizen in the United Capitalist Prison States of America.spannbsp; /spanMrs. Bowie (pronounced span data-scayt_word="Boowy" data-scaytid="9"Boowy/span) is a homeless woman and one of the original residents of Occupy San Francisco where tonight she had been attacked.spannbsp; /spanIn my capacity as a local housing justice advocate and police accountability community worker, I have taken to visiting the encampment at Justinspannbsp; /spanHerman Plaza to observe the conditions of life there and more specifically keep tabs on the interactions that the Occupiers have with various enforcement agencies.spannbsp; /spanOn the evening in question (October 27, 2011) I arrived to the South end of the camp with an activist videographer around span data-scayt_word="9pm" data-scaytid="10"9pm/span after leaving the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="11"Bayview/span Hunterrsquo;s Point Violence Prevention Summit.spannbsp; /spanUpon arrival the videographer and I observed two police cars parked in the south lot adjacent to the camp.spannbsp; /spanChannel 7 news had a van in the same lotspannbsp; /spanparked a little to the east of the cops and was setting up for a broadcast.spannbsp; /spanBy and large the scene was calm with various small groups of Occupiers scattered conversing, eating, smoking, in short occupying.spannbsp; /spanNo one out of the roughly ninety people present (99% young and white) seemed to notice what to me was an obvious discrepancy from the rather placid scene, that of Mrs. Bowie sobbing amidst her completely broken down tent and disarrayed personal belongings.spannbsp; /spanAlarmed I approached her and inquired as to what happened.spannbsp; /spanHer story was shocking./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanldquo;My head hit the cement right span data-scayt_word="there.”" data-scaytid="12"there.rdquo;/span spannbsp;/spanMrs. Bowie said pointing out a spot just east of the wreckage that was moments earlier her home.spannbsp; /spanldquo;Theyrsquo;re all the samehellip;the Klanhellip;the policehellip;The police span data-scayt_word="gonna" data-scaytid="16"gonna/span beat me span data-scayt_word="anyway.”" data-scaytid="13"anyway.rdquo;/spanspannbsp; /spanAfter a few moments of speaking with Mrs. Bowie she was able to calm down just enough to give account of what had happened.spannbsp; /spanBy her admission she had been attacked by a white supremacist faction of Occupiers, and then subsequently attacked by the police.spannbsp; /spanDuring the course of the original altercation her tent had been torn down, feces had been thrown on it, racial epithets (nigger nigger nigger etc.) had been bandied about, and she had been thrown to the cement.spannbsp; /spanAt some point the police entered the struggle and subsequently had a physical interaction with Mrs. Bowie as well.spannbsp; /spanThe particular officers involved were reported to be in squad car #43 and were driving away just as Mrs. Bowie was relaying this part of the story.spannbsp; /spanAstonishingly there was not one arrest.spannbsp; /spanldquo;Itrsquo;s the Chinatown Effect,rdquo;spannbsp; /spanMrs. Bowie lamented.spannbsp; /spanldquo;They let you fight, and then they take the last man span data-scayt_word="standing.”" data-scaytid="14"standing.rdquo;/spanspannbsp; /spanOur conversation was interrupted multiple times as people would curiously walk by us and Mrs. Bowie would panic, raising her cane saying ldquo;Thatrsquo;s one!spannbsp; /spanGet the fuck away from me!rdquo;spannbsp; /spanIt became obvious to me early in the conversation that Mrs. Bowie was suffering severe PTSD from the attacks, and that this was giving her difficulty in correctly identifying her assailants.spannbsp; /spanDespite her terror and disgust though, Mrs. Bowie was cogent and coherent and after speaking to a couple of occupiers that she indicated were involved I was able to corroborate most of her story and piece together a timeline.spannbsp; /spanldquo;Shersquo;s crazyhellip;she started yelling about the Klan and swinging her cane around,rdquo;spannbsp; /spansaid one white occupier.spannbsp; /spanAnother occupier, this one Black, chimed in with a less pejorative tone, ldquo;Yeah man, I think she has mental health span data-scayt_word="issues.”" data-scaytid="15"issues.rdquo;/spanspannbsp;nbsp; /spanI was not dissuaded by these caveats and I proceeded to ask if there was anyone at camp with experience addressing mental health needs.spannbsp; /spanThey shrugged.spannbsp; /spanTheir nonchalance was maddening.spannbsp; /spanI asked if there had been white power issues at the camp and was met by a reluctance to broach the topic that was echoed by the next half dozen people I would speak to.spannbsp; /spanEvery occupier I spoke to got quiet on this point but a few made silent or cryptic affirmations that this phenomenon was occurring and the apprehensive look in the eyes of every single one I spoke to betrayed the truth of the allegations.spannbsp; /spanAt this point in my investigation the first person who accused Mrs. Bowie of being crazy inquired as to whether I was a journalist.spannbsp; /spanI told him that a journalist was one of my hats but that I had originally come down to check the scene with the police.spannbsp; /spanHe became more cautiousspannbsp; /spanwith me, but not before giving me an amazing show.spannbsp; /spanldquo;Well I did have this maskhellip;rdquo;spannbsp; /spanhe said as he donned a self-styled hood.spannbsp; /spanThis roughly 6rsquo; man with ruddy white skin and dirty blond Viking locks pulled a triangular black cloth mask down over his face that looked virtually identical to a Klan mask outside of being the wrong color./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" Further interviews conducted by myself and the videographer who I introduced to Mrs. Bowie established that the following scenario occurred.spannbsp; /spanThe man with the black Klan mask had approached Mrs. Bowie scaring her half to death.spannbsp; /spanShe responded in self-defense by swinging her cane around.spannbsp; /spanOthers at this point, who had been tormenting Mrs. Bowie for over a month, walking over her artwork and allowing their dogs to piss and shit on her camp while hurling slurs, jumped in to defend their lsquo;Brotherrsquo;.spannbsp; /spanldquo;The lead onehellip;I took my cane and hit him in the ass and balls,rdquo; Mrs. Bowie defiantly proclaimed.spannbsp; /spanIn the course of the commotion the police had been called over, and they took the stereotypical approach of automatically assuming the premise of lsquo;Crazy Black Womanrsquo;. They physically restrained her but seemed to be smugly satisfied that when the crowd dispersed they had done their job, and that there was nothing wrong with having the only Black Elder Woman that I saw (one of only about five Black people, and about ten people of color in the entire camp) injured, her home destroyed, and left shaking and sobbing, a victim of multiple hate crimes in what has been publicly touted as one of the most progressive movements in decades.spannbsp; /spanldquo;They did this to us in 1959,rdquo;spannbsp; /spanMrs. Bowie said with a look of heartbreaking disappointment./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" The particular individuals engaged in the hate crimes have not been positively span data-scayt_word="ID’d" data-scaytid="17"IDrsquo;d/span.spannbsp;nbsp; /spanThe span data-scayt_word="kkkorporate" data-scaytid="18"kkkorporate/span media ldquo;didnrsquo;t see anythingrdquo;.spannbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanMrs. Bowie claimed that there were nine men and three women.spannbsp; /spanFurther investigation, that takes into consideration other peoplersquo;s accountsspannbsp; /spanand the fact that the traumatic nature of Mrs. Bowiersquo;s treatment may have engendered inaccurate associations based on fear, place the number more around four or five hard core abusive white supremacists.spannbsp; /spanThese particular people are alleged to have left the camp at this point in time.spannbsp; /spanMrs. Bowie has six friends that look out for her at camp who have been listed as: Fly, Stephanie, Aaron, Wolf, Huey, and Trent.spannbsp; /spanOf the six, at least one had never even given Mrs. Bowie thought until the videographer introduced the two and reported the attack./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" spannbsp;/span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" There are those who advised me not to report on this.spannbsp; /spanI was told that I would be attacking a still nascent movement.spannbsp; /spanI would be sowing the seeds of dissent.spannbsp; /spanI feel that I have an obligation to do so.spannbsp; /spanMythology has got to be combated on these grounds.spannbsp; /spanJust as it is a myth that Oprah will be able to solve the problems of all Black folk, it is a myth that Black Women who have been abused are lsquo;Crazyrsquo;.spannbsp; /spanIt is a myth that police are here to ensure lsquo;Safetyrsquo;.spannbsp; /spanIt is a myth that you are not racist if you are not one of the minority that acts out its position with overt violence.spannbsp; /spanIt is a myth that there is a 99% homogeneous group of people if there is a failure to acknowledge that racism is at the bedrock of US capitalism and has created violent schisms and utterly different living conditions for various groups of people during the course of over half a millennium.spannbsp; /spanMore optimistically it is a myth that nothing can be done to combat this.spannbsp; /spanThis is not a hit piece on Occupy SF.spannbsp; /spanThis is ABSOLUTELY not a call for State Intervention.spannbsp; /spanIt is a call to People of Color and Black folk in particular to enter the fray.spannbsp; /spanIn the grand tradition of giants like Ella Baker or Ida span data-scayt_word="B.Wells" data-scaytid="19"B.Wells/span, Mrs. Bowie is a beacon showing us directions for a better future.spannbsp; /spanIt is incumbent upon us to engage in numbers and coordinate with the current Occupiers, perhaps through a span data-scayt_word="POC" data-scaytid="20"POC/span caucus/working group, Occupy the Hood,spannbsp; /spanor some such vehicle to insure that she does not have to struggle alone, to ensure the safety and well being of our people, and to insure that a newly pre-figured world does not re-create the slave chains of the old one.spannbsp; /spanTwo more myths to debunk:spannbsp; /span1.spannbsp; /spanWHITE PEOPLE CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT US!spannbsp; /span2.spannbsp; /spanIF RACISM IS NOT CONFRONTED AND ADDRESSED WITH A COURAGE THAT FORCES US INTOspannbsp; /spanA PLACE OF INTERGENERATIONAL EXISTENTIAL PAIN WITH AN EYE TOWARDS MENTAL/SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND A SHOULDER TO THE PHYSICAL LIBERATION OF OUR PEOPLE, THERE IS NO CONSENSUS!/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" OCCUPY TOGETHER!spannbsp; /spanOCCUPY EVERYTHING!spannbsp; /spanEND HATE CRIMES!spannbsp; /spanFREE THE LAND!spannbsp; /spanALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!/p