May 19, 2012
The whole world is watching

When I started writing a column for the university newspaper The Daily Titan (Cal State Fullerton) called What’s Left: Politically liberal musings from a former corporate slave, I wanted to have a series of weekly insights into the world of activism during a time when people are increasingly rising up to evoke social change.

In the column, I wrote about officer-involved shootings, the corporatization of education and the criminalization of the homeless. My column also featured the racial undertones of the ethnic studies ban in Arizona and the slow erosion of First Amendment rights as well as women’s rights in the United States.


I wrote about the vast economic and social impact of the wars, especially the ongoing occupations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

So in case any of my collegiate colleagues wondered what the hell the Occupy movement is about, these issues happen to be part of the peoples’ movement that is igniting a fire of activism in the U.S.

These issues have been part of the push for social change and the uprising of citizens anywhere from the hood to suburbia in the United States. 

I’ve always said: the effects of corporate greed don’t have to be spelled out to those most affected by it. 

The feeling you get after your boss tells you, “I’m going to have to let you go,” right after they spent lavishly the past few months, gives you a sneak peek of the bigger picture.

When you first get a check delayed by the unemployment agency as you are feverishly searching for a job 24/7, you will start to sense something isn’t right about the status quo.

You can see right through the facade of the media’s narrative that Occupy is just a phase when you see protesters walking past you as you sit in your car.

After university administrators tell you they don’t have enough money so they have to keep increasing tuition, you start to see that public education is not a priority for them when you hear about thousands of dollars spent on meals for their fellow fat-cat clique.

When the realization hits you that no matter if you are working full time while in school or going to work in the “real world” after graduation, it seems like you still face the same set of circumstances: living paycheck to paycheck and going into debt; you are just now starting to realize what all of those damn protests are about.

When you try to reach out to your local politicians and they are protecting the interests of big money and influence, you may start to question whether or not our country is a real democracy.

When you see your local police become militarized and adopt a strategy of “shoot first, ask questions later,” you might feel betrayed by those you pay to serve and protect. Especially when you go out to protest and police kick you while you are down trying to exercise your First Amendment rights in the streets.

You are aware of the impact of the imperialist and capitalist wars when your brother or sister comes home from either Iraq or Afghanistan injured — or worse off, dead.

When you watch videos online of police abusing their power, like in the video of the Kelly Thomas beating, you know there is a problem in our society when the powerless and most vulnerable are viciously attacked and, if it weren’t for people rising up, it would be swept under the carpet.

If you haven’t been able connect the dots between corporate greed in our nation and social inequality by now, then you simply have not been paying attention.

The global economic meltdown has affected everyone from top to bottom in society.

However, while we are told to “tighten our belts” and “pick ourselves up by the bootstraps,” the richest population is still reaping the rewards of their misdeeds by continuing to take away from the rest of us.

With the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, the elite can choose to ignore the gap, but it comes with consequences - that will affect them whether they like it or not. 

Across the country, employers are trying to swim their way out of excess by placing the burden on workers: slashing pay and benefits, massive layoffs, increased micromanagement and higher pressure to perform even when the current economic climate creates situations you can’t squeeze success out of.

Let’s not forget the Wall Street gamblers who created the financial meltdown in the first palce by betting against Americans’ debt with credit default swaps.

The rampant corporate greed and abuse over the past 30 years have not come to a halting stop after the economic crisis; the elite are still able to indulge in luxurious vacations and expensive toys.

With the current student loan debt crisis, it is looking like students are going to be a part of the next “bubble” that is about to burst.

College students will be the ones to carry on “Occupy” traditions into the next phase. We’re going to go into the working world and wonder if this job is worth going into debt for, if we find a job at all.

The popular uprisings all around the world have led us all to this point. From the “Arab Spring” in Egypt and Tunisia to the recent protests in Greece, Spain and Canada, the biggest global movement in history has begun.

Even in the mostly impoverished Cambodia, there have been signs of an uprising. This past year there were protests against environmental abuses, as well as evictions of impoverished residents of houses for corporate development. Over the past few centuries, the Cambodian people have been led by the saying “korup, bamreur, karpier, smoh trang” — “respect, serve, defend, be loyal (to leaders).”

Now, more than a few of its country’s leaders are comparing the brewing social unrest to “the next Arab Spring.”

It’s happening. Everywhere. It cannot be stopped.

With this in mind, it can’t be forgotten that “Occupy” didn’t just happen — it was a series of actions of dissent that led to it over the years.

The people with nothing to lose have been the ones at the frontlines of the war against the “1 percent.” 

Most notably, military veterans have been heavily involved in the “Occupy” movement.

In addition, it was the hundreds of thousands of courageous souls that have stood up and refused to be taken advantage of any longer by systemic oppression that led to the explosion of the Occupy movement’s popularity globally.

But alas, everyone is saying the mainstream media wants you to believe that “Occupy” is dead.

What I have to say to that is: Who’s to say you need the mainstream media for a revolution?

Thus far, we have relied on social media to get our information. Anywhere from Livestream to Youtube and everything else in between.

To all those disenchanted by the media bullshit, I have one thing to say: Be your own media.

There is no telling how far you can go armed with a camera in one hand and a cellphone updating Facebook and Twitter in the other. We have already come so far by doing just that.

Let’s face it, with social media and the latest technology, we can document the world we see and create the world we want to see because, now, the whole world is watching.

2:00am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qwLk_R2f
(Notes: 1)
  
January 20, 2012
How I Lost My Job and Found an Occupation

After being laid off more than once in your lifetime, you know it’s coming. The closed door meetings. The awkward glances and chit chat from higher-ups. The silence. The tap on the shoulder.

“Could I see you for a moment?”
 
You walk into the room, door shuts behind you.

“We’re going to have to let you go.”

You sign off on the final check tallies. You pass by the sad disappointed faces as you partake in the walk of shame to your cubicle. You pick up the white box and collect your magnets, photographs, flower pens and heart shaped sticky notes. As you make your way to the automatic sliding glass doors, you calculate in your head if you can make it until that first unemployment check comes. You wonder what you will tell your family and friends.

I’ve worked administrative jobs for small businesses in Orange County for almost a decade and they all follow a similar pattern: a period of time of overwhelming optimism then the inevitable crash down to reality. The cocktail parties, the incentive perks, the catered lunches all give way to awkward potlucks, fiscal quarter jitters and cigarette break gossip. I have been through this a half dozen times before and the usual protocol was to make a job search an 8 to 5 occupation. Usually it would be time to spruce up my resume and refresh Craigslist and Monster for hours on end in hopes that when I do get a phone call for an interview, it’s not just some scam.

This time around though, it was different.

As I would usually be job searching, I have taken the opportunity to finish up my last semester as a journalism major at Cal State Fullerton. Since I have been working full time and going to school at night since I was 18, I was not able to write for the school paper. So I started to write for local independent media.

The last few years I have documented the slow rise of social activism in Orange County. I wrote about Orange County residents taking a stand against officer-involved shootings, school budget cuts, Islamophobia and the unfair treatment of juveniles in the justice system. This summer saw the hugest swell of protesters in Orange County just a few miles away from me in Fullerton, as hundreds came out to support justice for Kelly Thomas.

Then as the summer ended, a worldwide progressive movement blossomed: Occupy Wall Street.

Zucotti Park, September 30

I watched over a thousand protesters descend onto the streets of New York City through streaming video on Live Stream on September 17. I kept track of the events of the Zucotti Park encampment through Twitter and Facebook. I had the opportunity to visit the camp in New York City only two weeks into the occupation. I witnessed one of the largest mass arrests in history as 700 people were arrested at a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge. I watched late night raids unfold online in Denver, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta and a dozen other cities. The movement seemed to erupt as riot police cracked down on protesters in Oakland, and soon after in New York City and Los Angeles. I connected with the local occupations in Orange County and Long Beach by visiting their actions and encampments often. I stayed up all night at the raid that never happened at Occupy Los Angeles but had the chance to see riot police make their formations, the same ones that would be raiding the occupation just a few days later.
 
As time went on, I witnessed the masses becoming more socially aware. The protests that had been steadily creeping up on suburbia were not just a phase. Local activism was part of a bigger, global raising of consciousness. On a daily basis, there was the exposure of the police brutality and misconduct that has been affecting low-income and people of color for decades. Citizens stood in awe as they saw a militarized police force, fueled by billions of dollars since 9/11, stand opposite of protesters instead of beside them to protest corporate greed and abuse. Many protesters found the police protected the interests of the government with corporate money lining their pockets and the banks that had a huge role in the economic crisis. Others found that instead of helping the homeless, our society criminalizes the homeless on a daily basis with municipal unlawful camping laws across the country.
 
Suddenly, the word “Occupy” popped up everywhere, popularizing the protect tactic of holding a public space as a way to have a voice in a democratic society. The Occupy movement has become a way for people to get together outside of the realm of the workplace and bars.  Cities across the nation formed their own way of living, building a stronger sense of community in an otherwise isolated bubble of consumerism. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone wrote Occupy is “a visceral, impassioned, deep-seated rejection of the entire direction of our society, a refusal to take even one more step forward into the shallow commercial abyss of phoniness, short-term calculation, withered idealism and intellectual bankruptcy that American mass society has become.”  
 
As of October, my chains as a corporate slave were taken off. After spending the last few years writing about social justice whilst working for The Man, the recent Occupy protests have given progressives like myself the opportunity to share our insight and commentary to a country who has opened their eyes wide for the first time in a very long time.

3:55am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qwF3VP53
October 28, 2011
Conversation from September 17

This is from an online conversation with a friend of mine as we were watching Occupy Wall Street demonstrators on September 17th in New York City on Live Stream. I was speaking of NYC specifically - I did not expect nor could I have imagined the worldwide solidarity actions that would take place. 

“Look, I am telling you - this is only day 1. This may be more like a test run, perhaps it will grow into a full blown movement in the spring. I think a small group will be leftover and the the police will be like - OK you had your fun now go home. There will be that handful of restless protesters and radicals that will resist, police will get rough and/or shoot. Once police brutality comes in the picture, thats when everything changes. The handful of demonstrators that are leftover when the rest disperse and with a smaller crowd, police wont think much of it. In their minds, they’re just gettin rid of the last of them so they can go home. Even if you think there is no comparison political environment-wise, Egypt started out peaceful. It was when police starting clashing with a very small group when things really started getting riled up. A big part of it is that media report on violence more than peace. A media circus creates and perpetuates the circus on the ground. In Egypt’s case, it wasnt their media, it was our media and the international media.  Right now, not many people know or care about this but the numbers won’t matter. Once that small splinter group starts up, thats all it takes. It could be today or two days or two weeks from now. Seeing how far the reach social media has in the activism world, it could be sooner rather than later. I wouldn’t say there isn’t a chance of it because there for sure is. People will soon connect the dots between corporate greed, politicians and the police state. The numbers will multiply once that starts to happen.”

7:16am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qwBCziWN
(Notes: 1)
  
October 10, 2011
Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge with Occupy Wall Street

      

 

Up until last week, I had never been on an airplane before. As part of a quarter century life crisis, I saved enough money to go to where I always wanted to go: New York City. During my planning of the trip with a travel companion, the seeds for Occupy Wall Street were being planted. On Sep. 17, I watched over a thousand protesters descend onto the streets of New York City through streaming video on Live Stream. In the weeks that followed, I kept track of the protests and actions through social networking websites. As I watched the protesters demonstrate in support of a myriad of social justice issues, I knew I had to be a part of it somehow. This is going to be huge, I thought.

On Oct. 1st, I marched with over 3,000 protesters from Liberty Plaza to the Brooklyn Bridge. As we made it to the bridge, about 2,000 of us took the walkway as the rest spilled onto the roadway. Almost a thousand protesters that I had been walking with earlier were arrested on the road below us.

                   

We started off at Zucotti Park, also known as Liberty Plaza, the site where a group of protesters had been camping out for the past two weeks in an effort to sustain demonstrations. We marched through the streets of New York City as I heard protesters chant “Banks got bailed out! We got sold out!”, “Whose streets? Our streets!”, “Tell me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like!” and “We are the 99 percent!” The 99 percent referring to often quoted statistic that 1% wealthiest of the population makes more than the 99% combined.

As we marched past the huge buildings and skyscrapers, tourists took photos of us from the double decker buses. We passed by Wall Street and the buildings of big banks, many holding signs with slogans and reasons for participating. The entrance to the New York Stock Exchange itself had been blocked off by police prior to the planned occupation. Anyone wishing to pass through would have to show identification as employees or residents of the area. NYPD officers lined the street near the sidewalks telling us to stay off the street. The officers were docile to us as we weaved through the crowded streets of New York City. I overheard a female community unit officer telling a protester that the banks are all corrupt and she doesn’t blame us for speaking out.

                  

I stopped at Park Avenue and Broadway Avenues to take photos and videos of the protesters. I caught up with my companion down the street. I had planned to stop at that point because I thought they were just going to march in a circle in the city. To my surprise, I saw demonstrators heading for the bridge. I knew I could not miss it. We headed in that direction. When we approached the Brooklyn Bridge, there was a swarm of us en route to the pedestrian walkway. All I could see was a sea of colorful signs and people walking in front of me. We marched forward as we heard chanting “Whose bridge? Our bridge!” At this point, it looked like all of us protesters were on the walkway as there were so many of us packed practically elbow to elbow. Little did I know, a group of about a thousand had spilled onto the roadway. I did not realize what had happened until we seemed to be blocked right when the bridge is about to cross over the East River. I stood on the tip of my toes and saw that the NYPD was blocking our way onto the bridge. I assumed we were not going to be able to cross.

I was finally able to connect the dots as I saw a huge group of protesters lined on the east side of the bridge. Many photographers were climbing up on the cables to capture a shot of what was happening below. I heard chants saying “Let them go! Let them go!”, “The whole world is watching!” and “Bullshit! Bullshit!” I squeezed my way into the crowd lined down the railing and all I could see was hundreds of protesters and police officers. Since I was unfamiliar with the bridge, I assumed it was protesters in front who had somehow found a way down there. Although I had written down the number for the NY National Lawyers Guild chapter on my hand in case of possible detainment, I started to become concerned that we were next. My worries subsided as we began to move.

                  

The police had cleared the way for us to march across the bridge on the pedestrian path. As I finally got a clear view of the arrestees below, I finally figured out they were being arrested for blocking traffic. We were just fine on the walkway. At first, the protesters on the bridge were sparse as many were still watching or taking photos of what was going on below. Within minutes, I looked behind me and saw at least 2,000 had rejoined us. 

We made it across the bridge with no incident. We passed by two wedding photo shoots in progress. Photographers snapped at each opportunity, as to show the juxtaposition of pure American traditions. Bicyclists coming from Brooklyn trying to walk their bikes across the bridge had to push their way through the opposing foot traffic.

The overall vibe while crossing the bridge reminded me of drum circles in Venice Beach back home, except with political chants. There were people playing drums, singing chants and dancing down the walkway. They sang “Hey, hey; ho ho, this Wall Street greed has got to go!” and “Get up, get down, there’s revolution in this town!” No matter how many different issues, agendas or angles the signs portrayed during the demonstration, there was one clear message: The idea of people over profit. The protest had marked a turning point in the movement.  Solidarity actions went from about 50 actions to over 1,000 across the nation. Participants seem to be speaking out for themselves and at the same time, giving voice to the voiceless. The actions of the demonstrators in NYC have given courage and a platform for others to speak out around the country and around the world.

Through reading news and Twitter posts on my phone, I read 700 non-violent protesters had been arrested at the roadway. I found through photos posted online later on, many that I had been marching side by side with earlier were detained.

As we departed from the bridge, we broke off from the group to explore Brooklyn. As we sat down in a restaurant on the north side of Williamsburg, the waitress said to me “I notice you have numbers written on your hand, did you just come back from Occupy Wall Street?” I told her we had just come from crossing the Brooklyn Bridge with protesters. She asked me where I was from and I told her I was from California. She said she had heard of people going from Philadelphia or Vermont but not all the way from the West Coast.

“What did you think?” she asked me.

I told her, “I think I just witnessed a defining moment in history.”

    

10:31pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qwAXgMcF
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: OccupyWallSt OWS LibertyPlaza Brooklyn Bridge NYC New York City OccupyWallStreet Downwiththebull 99% We are the 99% This is what democracy looks like 
October 4, 2011
Why I Went to #Occupy Wall Street

                  

Just days after my 22nd birthday, the United States government proposed handing a blank check to big banks in Wall Street in the sum of $700 billion dollars. I was working full time and going to college at night as a journalism major, as I had been doing for four years at the time and I am still continuing to do.

As I barely had a few hundred dollars leftover after each paycheck after rent and bills, I became fascinated with the notion of the government giving large sums of money to banks. As I read hundreds of articles talking about Wall Street as a casino, gambling our money and perpetuating the instability of our markets and economy; I suddenly found myself knowing more about the nature of home loans, default credit swaps, Wall Street fraud and the influence of big banks on politics than I ever thought I would. 

Now it’s three years later and I had been fortunate to save enough money to take my first plane trip. I wanted to go where I’ve always wanted to go all of my life: New York City. I had never been outside of California except for Vegas and Ensenada. I lived in Los Angeles for the first 7 years of my life and I have lived in Orange County since then.

In some strange twist of fate, I found myself the midst in a movement against Wall Street greed. It just so happened during my planning to go to New York City, the seeds for Occupy Wall Street were being planted.

In the weeks that followed, I kept track of the movement through Facebook, Twitter and various blogs. On September 17, I witnessed thousands descending onto the streets of New York the first protest through Live Stream. Although my planned trip was to be short (Thursday through Sunday), I knew I had to somehow take part in the occupation.

Without going into specific detail, my parents and relatives have always been low-income. We would scrape by to pay rent, bills and anything else that was absolutely necessary would go on a credit card. My experiences led me to start writing about social justice and activism issues in 2009. Since then, I’ve started a blog and do freelance work whilst working and going to school; not to mention, living on my own since I was 19. I’ve been laid off three times in my adult life so far and “let go” for superfluous reasons the same amount of times. While I’ve had a job for two years now, I would not exactly call it “steady” as I have noticed a pattern with small businesses in my life: seemingly steady doesn’t always mean secure. 

***

In journalism classes, they teach you about objectivity and not inserting yourself in the news- just report the news. Get both sides. Write the article. Quote sources. Rinse, repeat. 

However, once I had a professor tell us how it really is, and perhaps should be: it’s about striving to be fair more than being objective. 

I have found there comes a time where you just can’t be objective anymore. The impact is too large and there are only two sides: those who stand with their fellow humans and those who do not. Call it an “Anderson Cooper Hurricane Katrina” moment. At some point, you just have to say: “That ain’t right.” You just have to face the fact that while banks got bailed out, we got sold out. I am part of the 99% whether my journalism scruples says so or not. Although the idea of the 99% is being debated within circles regarding who exactly that entails and why it may not be the most accurate way of describing the stratified racial and unbalanced socioeconomic system that we live in, I think most of us can agree on one thing: Wall Street and the rest of the super rich of the population have been riding high for too long and making us feel too low for too long. 

On October 1st, I marched with thousands of protesters from Liberty Plaza to the Brooklyn Bridge. As we made it to the bridge, about 1,500 of us took the walkway as the rest spilled onto the roadway. About 700 protesters that I had been walking with earlier were arrested on the road below us. We marched on. 

I never would have thought I’d have the opportunity to visit NYC, let alone, marching with others who were speaking out against corporate greed. It took me 25 years to be able to fund travel outside of California. I also have my traveling companion to thank, as this person helped me make the journey a reality.

So you could say as far as this moment, I am doing OK. But many Americans are not. In any case, no matter what I do, it seems I will always be a part of the struggling lower middle class.  I may have a job but I have no idea if I will in 3 months, 6 months or a year. I make enough to pay rent and bills and just enough to be comfortable in my low standard lifestyle. My student loans are climbing well into $20K territory. I’m one semester away from graduating with my B.A. degree. Things are stable for me now but as I have witnessed in my life- I could be one paycheck away from disaster.

Where will I be should that happen? Unless I can obtain the good graces of others, possibly the streets. I have lived out of a car and motel before at different points in my life. Would it last long? Could I bounce back like before? Who knows. However, should disaster strike in the near future, I have the feeling I will be able to find a place somewhere nearby with people like me occupying the very space that we have paid for and that belongs to us. 

As a closing note, I came home find my driver’s side window is stuck on my car. I have to wait a while to save up enough money to fix it. Oddly enough, the only way I have found to make it move up in the meantime is to take off my left sandal, hold it in my hand and bang it against my driver side door.  

Worth it.

9:07pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qwAIDSGA
Filed under: OccupyWallStreet TakeTheBull USDOR OccupyWallSt OccupyEverthing Wearethe99percent 
September 26, 2011
Occupy Wall Street

Thousands of protesters have descended upon Wall Street in New York to protest corporate greed and power in the U.S. The demonstrations started Sep. 17, which was dubbed “Day of Rage”, and have continued mostly peacefully. On Sep. 24, the AP reported there were 80 arrests during one of the daily marches.

Demonstrators have sought to camp out at the nearby Zucotti Park, formerly Liberty Park, indefinitely to speak out against corporate greed. Estimates have ranged from 1,000 to 3,000 protesters in all.

On the first night, protesters were gearing up for law enforcement harassment as they set up their tents and sleeping bags as there was word going around that the police may enforce a 10pm curfew for the park. There was also word that the NYPD turned off power at One Chase Manhattan Plaza. Protester Dustin Slaughter stated on his Twitter that it was a “blatant effort to prohibit protesters from recharging camera batteries and cell phones.”

Protesters reported they had peaceful interactions with the police over the first weekend, however tensions started to rise once the work week started.

On Sep. 19, there were five arrests during the protest on the first business day of the demonstrations. Police barricades closed off several blocks near Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange for security. Residents and employees of businesses in the area must show identification to get through the barricades. Since then, police have reportedly banned protesters from having umbrellas as they are considered a hazard. Due to this ban, independent media equipment has been damaged or destroyed.

Protesters and their supporters have claimed “media blackout” in regards to coverage of the protests. While there has been some mainstream media coverage, it has been minimal and some say have not painted the full picture of the police brutality incidents. Supporters are getting updates via twitter and live feeds. There is word that Twitter was preventing #OccupyWallStreet from trending, so users have also tweeted through #TakeWallStreet. Rappers Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique have been in attendance as well as comedienne Roseanne Barr.

During the arrest sweep on Sep. 24, there were numerous claims of police aggression. There have been allegations of excessive forces during arrests. There is a Youtube video showing police using orange nets to corral protesters and at one point, mace was used on reportedly peaceful female protesters. According to the AP, police say the arrests were mostly for blocking traffic. Charges included disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. One demonstrator was charged with assaulting a police officer. At the end of the night, tensions were reportedly eased between police and protesters.

Solidarity actions have taken place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Seattle and at least 30 other major U.S. cities.

1:09am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z0M3qw9yVQ2k
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