Well, here I am....I want to blog...I do...but I want to blog political stuff a lot and this is not a political blog...is it? ...it's about an artist, me...but then I am also a citizen. I vote and pay taxes..I am one of the 99%...and it is impossible for me to ignore what is going on in the world...I think we, are dancing on the Titanic..and I am deeply concerned.
I spent some time in Berkeley recently...
I was there during the first week of Occupy Oakland.
On Wednesday evening, of that first week, I took BART into downtown Oakland with my daughter and our friend Shane. We planned to visit with a young friend who was camped out in front of City Hall, and to see what was going on...get a feel of the energy. And there was a strong and steady hummmm of it....it was dinner time and many were lined up to eat, there were groups making signs, people were bundling trash...there were makeshift clothes lines...it had rained hard for two days...There was an info booth. a first aid center, a kitchen, and porta-potties had just been delivered..
a donation from a local hip hop artists.
a donation from a local hip hop artists.
This was an assembly night, the first assembly.
People where talking about what Occupy Oakland was about.......the air was filled with excitement....
kind of a cross between a refuge camp and a company picnic....
There was a feeling of hope...
hope that change could be brought about through civil disobedience...
We made our way to the amphitheater....
my interest shifted to who was there...
Who were the people who were camping, and who were the people filling the park to see what Occupy had to say?
Yes, there were people there who looked like life had beaten them pretty hard.
A few were homeless no doubt
Drug Addicts maybe
People with medical conditions and maybe even mental problems...
and why shouldn't they be part of Occupy?
They are the ones the cruel side of the system has failed most miserably....
There were families too.....
Most of the people looked like you and me.
The signs told me they were teachers, nurses, veterans, community activists.
lot's of young people who aren't liking the looks of the world they are being handed....
they were people who care about what is going on in government and wanting their voices heard by a government that has become deaf to us...the People.
Some of the people were very articulate about what needs to be done to turn things around...and others not so much.
But they all seem to realize that we are hanging on by a thread...
the American Dream has nothing to do with reality.
Oakland 2011
kind of a cross between a refuge camp and a company picnic....
There was a feeling of hope...
hope that change could be brought about through civil disobedience...
We made our way to the amphitheater....
my interest shifted to who was there...
Who were the people who were camping, and who were the people filling the park to see what Occupy had to say?
Yes, there were people there who looked like life had beaten them pretty hard.
A few were homeless no doubt
Drug Addicts maybe
People with medical conditions and maybe even mental problems...
and why shouldn't they be part of Occupy?
They are the ones the cruel side of the system has failed most miserably....
There were families too.....
Most of the people looked like you and me.
The signs told me they were teachers, nurses, veterans, community activists.
lot's of young people who aren't liking the looks of the world they are being handed....
they were people who care about what is going on in government and wanting their voices heard by a government that has become deaf to us...the People.
Some of the people were very articulate about what needs to be done to turn things around...and others not so much.
But they all seem to realize that we are hanging on by a thread...
the American Dream has nothing to do with reality.
Oakland 2011
A really good article about the Occupy movement.....
xo
http://www.alternet.org/story/152874/gandhi%E2%80%99s_wings%3A_occupy_wall_street_and_the_redistribution_of_anxiety?page=1
xo
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3 comments:
Thank you for your post. I often want to voice my "political" opinions on my blog and facebook. However, I made the decision when I stared both, like you, to keep them "lighter" less polorizing. In today's world, so many are quick to disalow us due to our heartfelt directions. I do see these that you write about as the catalyst of what has politely been kept between kind lips for too long. It is difficult to remain so in the face of such greed and corruption. Your fingers could not help but type this power of change. It is an art, in itself. The design of the whole scene is a song, a painting, a sculpture. It is the beginning of the revolution of the awakening of many of people. What we do with this awakening; whether we leave or stay, the fire is still the same. The voice has been heard. Thank you.
Well said! I really like your post here. If not for the people than for who? I think ouf Government has forgotten this and I think the people are done being cowed. :O)
Hi Brianne & Odd...I appreciate you words....
I wrote mine because I believe in the Occupy movement. I believe that it can lead to real change in this country. That the only hope we have is our collective voices. It's long past time in the USA that we 'the people' be heard.
While I was in Berkeley I heard about a sweetheart deal that Chase Bank is getting to build a center in the area...they are getting all kinds perks...including 10years of paying no taxes to the county...at the same time 5 public schools are closing because there is no money...!!
This morning I watched part of the documentary Gasland...and learned in the area fracking for natural gas is happening in the Chesapeake Bay part of the country peoples water has become so contaminated that they can set fire to it as it come out of the tap...!!
It's hard to stay silent...
xoxo
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