Jessica Hollie aka Bella Eiko speaks to the Oakland City Council

29 May 2012

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May 23rd, Special Safety Committee Meeting

Transcribed by @MrEJFox

Can I get the technician to put this image up for a couple of minutes? It’s a close-up of what Bridget was holding just a second ago, so you guys can actually see the reason of us needing this.

And before I really go into what I’ve written, I want to let you know, Ms Kernighan, that I just found out my mother has 12 months to live, and I gotta come here and explain to you that a shield is about self defense. So let’s put your silliness in perspective really quick before I start.

Number one, I live in Oakland. I’m an Oaklander. I’m a raider, Oakland raider. I wear black. Black power. Black panthers. That’s what I do. Guess what? Our football team, what is their emblem? Skull and bones and shield, and you want to prosecute Oaklanders? Are you kidding me? Like on different levels I don’t understand the willful ignorance that you constantly perpetrate here.

The quotes for SFGate that Michael just talked about, I don’t wanna re-read it, I want you to know unfortunately for you I get to have a dissenting voice. In case you didn’t get the memo, with the constitution and the first amendment, let me be the one to remind you that I don’t care if you think a protest should look like that or not. I don’t think I should have to come out, downtown Oakland, before 12 noon to be tear gassed 3 times, and have to dodge a damn grenade or whatever it was that exploded behind my head. After I came and cried to ya’ll about me being afraid to go document mayday.

I went to see a therapist to get diagnosed with temporary PTSD, from the shit I saw on May 1st! The same shit that soldiers come home from war with, Iraq, Afghanistan, hiding in ditches, watching people get shot and killed, dragging families out of their home. They come home with the SAME SHIT.

You should be fuckin’ shamed of yourself.

I don’t have time to curb my language, because shit is fucked up and bullshit. I can sugarcoat it all day long, but all it does is make people be comfortable to be appeased. So I hope I am making you uncomfortable.

I also wanted to let you know I am running for city council. Because I plan to agitate the fuck out of you, do you understand? I don’t really wanna win, because I don’t have any faith in electoral politics anymore, didn’t come up here on december 20th like that. But if I do win, I promise I will ride your ass like a rodeo junkie. And make sure you don’t just get away with whatever. And I am talking to you like this, because you’re the one who said that citizen’s concerns are fucking ridiculous.

I remember I had to stand up for Sven when he  jumped down your throat like she should have. Remember that? It’s on YouTube, I made a video and sliced it up so people could just go on and watch that. As someone who worked with the radical feminist groups during the 70s I am disturbed by your consistent actions and statements that citizens concerns are foolish. And that’s only some of the reason I’d love to hear more about Jane Brunner’s term limits for city council members, because you’ve been here too long, it’s time for you to go.

With all this focus on violence I want to know what you’re doing about the very violent OPD that caused me to have PTSD after May Day. I didn’t commit a crime, unless maybe 148 a,b,c, what is it? I was standing on the sidewalk and when the police came I told them I had a right to be here, so maybe I blocked them for a second. Is that a crime? Should I go to jail for that? Do I not have a right to travel freely in downtown Oakland?

Shame on you for trying to pass legislation like this, using the fear mongering that MSM caters to while committing video plagiarism and then trying to label a very moralled college professor as a troublemaker. You can see mainstream media is gone, they don’t even wanna cover the shit I speak for. Of course these programs come here to express gratitude for you for the table scraps you offer them in comparison to what the police get to criminalize the same people that these programs are trying to help.

Like Lupe Fiasco said, “tease them with the upper crust, you give, then you move it, so you never keeping up enough.” Right, crabs in a bucket fighting for survival? They gonna be happy for the little table scraps you offer them, but you always have hella money for OPD, right? Resourceful as hell. You can reach out and fucking touch somebody, huh, to get some money for OPD. But when it comes up for social programming, or schools or any of that, you’re at a loss. Cry me a river I’m tired of your excuses. What I wanna know is why you’re cutting mental health services for the children, you should know these are the same children in Oakland who are getting mental health issues by coming outside and seeing what the police are doing when their parents try to teach them about their right to protest and have a dissenting voice in this country.

I wanna know why you haven’t talked about Grace Napolitano’s initiative, the Mental Health in Schools Act, that she’s been trying to push for some years. That had very successful test results in southern California. Do you know anything about that? That was my NFALD debate topic last year where I actually found that and did the research on my own because I’m concerned about my community and that was something that I was interested in debating. I did that for free. Actually I paid for it, because I have to pay to go to school. You get paid to be here, it’s your job to make shit better, what’s your problem?

I wanna say look at the Ice Cream 3, I spoke about Nneka before I came in here and cried, talked about her mom. Her mom’s right there. I talked about her sister, and how her sister’s a lawyer now. We’re all trying to go to law school. These are the same individuals that the Oakland Police Department and mainstream media slandered their names. Hate crimes. They don’t say anything about the fact I was standing there that my footage caught the lady calling teardrop a nigga, that I ran in front of her and said “don’t hit me” because she had her first drew back to hit him. But somehow the OPD managed to falsify the police reports to say that there were people present there who weren’t even there, they were just known occupiers. Hold on, let me give you one, they say Teardrop is Melvin, Teardrop is shorter than me, Melvin is hella tall, it doesn’t even matter do you see what I’m saying?

This happens in the court of law with the abusive legislation you put forth. Telling me “Oh I don’t think they’re going to prosecute it that way.” YES THEY DO. Because I am not as big as a sidewalk, when I stand on the sidewalk I am not blocking you from going by me, but I will get arrested for malicious obstruction of a throughway, you have got to be fucking kidding me.

I don’t see any recognition of the police department’s complete and utter failure to do anything that resembles law enforcement in regards to occupy protests. Instead the city council keeps giving them money and passing more legislation to excuse the abuses.

I’m talking to you please don’t look away from me right now.

I want to talk about mayday again, let me go back to that. Because we’re talking about this new policy OPD has, right? Well guess what their new policy did? Their new policy for snatch-and-grabbing still shot teargas in the crowd.

I’m talking to you, Ms. Kernighan, it’s your initiative, I’m talking to you, I don’t care! Look at me. I don’t care, stop talking! You don’t talk ’til all the speakers do. That’s your rules, abide by them. That’s your rules. Abide by them, it’s your job.

I want to talk about May Day again, okay. How many years has mayday been happening in the city of Oakland? How many times did it get teargassed? There were asthmatics in the group, children, disabled people. I’m standing behind the line of police, where the protestors are over there, and I gotta dodge canisters. And somehow that’s an improved policy? Like I said before, the policy doesn’t need to be changed, we got this reform so far up our asses it’s clouding our judgement. The policy doesn’t have to be changed, they need to be held accountable. You can sit up here and say whatever. I can say I’m not gonna cuss on the mic but if I get up here and still do it, then I’ve proven you I have no integrity, right? My word cant be counted on? Well they came and said they wouldn’t come and teargas large groups of people and crowds to control them, especially to grab one individual. They lied. Don’t believe it? Go to ustream.tv and search Bella Eiko, Courtney Occupy, Justizin. It’s free. You don’t gotta pay Comcast hella hundreds of dollars to get that.

Why is it that you don’t understand that you keep giving money to the same gang. Organized, oppressive, militarized force, oppressing our community. The same community you can’t seem to find resources for to provide permanent jobs. To provide a quality level of education. I’m talking to you, still talking to you. You are not doing your job. You are not doing your job. You are not, doing, your, job. You are fired, in my book. Do you understand? If I could hand you a pink slip right now.

I’m not a nihilist but I wish they would burn every fucking thing down except for the houses so we could understand we don’t need this system to survive. I don’t need to pay a corporation for food and water that’s provided by this same fucking earth. That we will arrest people who try to start urban farms… Don’t silence me. Don’t you dare.

["Jessica…"]

I am so tired. What you dealin with is more than rage. What your dealing with is me having to go to a fucking therapist to tell me I was fine on the morning of may 1st but by the evening I had an issue, PTSD.

["Miss Hollie your time has expired"]

Yeah, her time has expired too. And unfortunately don’t get to just shut me off. If you cut off the mic I’m still loud enough.

The side effects from the teargas on May Day may have me coughing up pleghm still, may make it hella hard for me to breathe so I borrow my boyfriend’s asthma inhaler. But I have enough in me to tell you that my Momma is dying, and you got me fucked up if you think that I’ma let you get away with continuing to criminalize my motherfucking community. I have got to deal with this as a black woman here. You don’t have to deal with this.

So you need to get off your high horse and remember the fact that you are a servant. Public servant. And you are not serving the people correctly. You are on your knees serving capitalism. Get up and get your mind right. Because if you take our shields, the only thing left is our 2nd amendment right. So when we shoot back, I want you to holler safety. And the American flag, the supreme court ruled it’s a perfectly protected form of self expression to burn that piece of shit that don’t represent nothing except imperialism and fucking oppression. But guess what? It’s not made of flammable material, you need an accelerant. So you are officially stopping free speech with your dumb ass initiative. I don’t live in the minority report movie, you do not have the right to arrest me because you think I might commit a crime. Fuck that, you on some dumb shit, I’m done too. You don’t have the right. You don’t have the right to arrest me because you think I may commit a crime, with a shield.

[Kernighan: "Ms. Hollie, are you going to just go on and on or,"]

I could go on and on because this is some ignorant shit. Instead of going to my momma. No, no, instead of being in my momma’s bed-

[Kernighan: "That's where you should- I'm sorry about your mom and, uh, you should probably be there. Is there another speaker? One more?" and then city council chambers erupted into chants of "The system has got to die, hella hella occupy!" ]

Dear Oakland City Council

29 May 2012

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Dear Oakland City Council,

We see what you are doing. Holding on to your little slices of power and control while there is such an air of movement, change surrounding us all. You are holding on so tight, playing these political games. Now, my question remains do you consciously see the crooked things you do maintain your power and control, or has the lie become so loud in your head you can’t hear anything else? Either way, now is an appropriate time to examine our egos. What drives us? The interests of the people, or self-serving ones?

Old systems are crumbing and new ones arising. Why do you want to hold on to the old, repressive, and violent one? It could be so much better.

Examine your relationship to power and control. Pay attention to that little voice that tells you something is wrong. I am appealing to your conscience.
We are rising up. Join us. (Although when you do just be aware we might be a bit apprehensive at first, not so trusting, but considering your track record…Have compassion for us. We’ll come around.) We can see truth.

Molly Batchelder

Protesting the Empire from Oakland to Chicago

25 May 2012

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By Molly Batchelder

We walked rapidly to meet hundreds gathered in front of the Art Institute. I found out from a comrade how the march there was started by four people, walking home from the large protest, who decided to take the streets. Yes, four people ignited hundreds! So together, at the intersection of Adams and Michigan Ave, we danced and draped our arms around each other and howled our favorite chants. “A-Anti-An-Ti-Ca-Pa-Ta-Lista. An-Anti-An-Ti-Ca-Pa-Ta-Lista.” People looked so beautiful in the streetlights, all faces absolutely shining. Oh, and it started to rain! We did not disperse! In fact, the rain was what actually gave rise to our complete exuberance. This was my favorite time, if someone were to ask me to choose.

But the riot police then moved in as a malicious force to snatch and grab a comrade (a new tactic for arresting “trouble makers”). I am sure they have a reason to put on paper, but really it was to divide us; to end our moment of cheerful solidarity. As my friend Ramon wrote of his experiences with the oppressors of his Basque people, “They don’t like seeing you having fun”.

So we voted to march, as our energy had shifted. We had a GA! And while most comrades who spoke expressed a longing to stay, to hold the space, to meet each other, when we voted it was overwhelmingly to march. So we marched. It was spirited at first, but became a sort of manic advance on unknown dark places as police lines blocked us from the fancy hotels filled with dignitaries we had hoped to reach. Some kids became interested in turning things over (benches, flower pots), for which Occupiers got to demonstrate our familiar beauty by turning things back and then talking to the youth. But cops moved in shortly after with a reason.

These cops were not the ones with the brimmed hats and the pressed suits, who stood on street corners engaging pleasantly with folks. These wore black body armor. They were huge. They looked like robocops. They reminded me of OPD. We were walking very fast in the back, and the scuffling sounds their back body armor made as all of them rushed in behind me… Do you know what that is like? When your body goes to fight or flight? And then they tackled someone, the scuffling sounds peaking, and I turn around and see four or five holding a woman up against a wall, her arm pinned above her head, the shock on her face! A woman! We walked towards her and said “We are just watching you arrest our friend. We have a right to do so.” But they don’t follow those laws, and we felt this and started for the march again. And again I hear hideous sounds and turn around to see another sister thrown to the ground with officers on top of her. I left. I headed for the nearest subway stop. I did not turn around again.

I spoke with other Occupiers during the convergence who have deduced that police go after women to insight our anger. How it is that police around the country are displaying similar tactics at the same time? Who is giving these orders?

I return to Oakland the next day to realize another young black man has been murdered by OPD. They claim Alan Blueford had a gun. But really, the officer shot Alan three times and then once in his own foot for his own protection. And now I find out they have just arrested my friend…

We are being systematically brutalized and murdered by the state because of who we are and what we represent. It’s very romantic to think change comes about in peaceful, non-interrupting ways. But that is not our consciousness yet, and now I struggle with the notion that maybe it is not the goal after all. So, I join my comrades on the street and yell, “Stand Up, Fight Back!”

What I saw in Chicago were so many brave people, using their bodies (no shields!) between others and police. To be on the front lines as the crowd attempts to push through and police beat heads with billyclubs… “What did they say back in ’68?” one officer said. “Billyclub to the fucking skull,” another officer replied.

I read an article about revolutionaries in Egypt, impoverished by the system, who come to the mosques for refuge, their eyes red from the tear gas, their bodies bloody from police weapons. They receive medical attention, food and water and then take back to the streets to return to the front lines. We are resisting! Please, don’t tell us to be peaceful. We have tried that long enough. And our redwood forests are gone; Our black, brown and poor people and abducted, incarcerated and murdered by the state; The Keystone Pine line is being built! Lakota grandmothers are standing in front of supply trucks. Let us have our anger! Let us demonstrate outrage! It is necessary.
We are in the midst of great transformation. And we are being challenged physical, mentally, emotionally on so many levels. Our adrenal systems (controlling hormones), nervous systems (controls signals between different body parts), muscular systems, are all hypervigilant.

Let’s take care of ourselves. And take care of each other.

Love Live the Oakland Commune and Fuck the Police!

Some Thoughts on the Council Meeting 5/22/12

23 May 2012

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Last night was cathartic. There can be no doubt that what happened in Council Chambers last night was an event that will be marked in the history of Occupy Oakland, no matter the horrible press already written and to come. I saw people there I hadn’t seen in months. It reminded all Occupiers that we have far more in common than our differences. It reminded us who the enemy really was.

The fact that the City Council would care to take the time to consider such an ordinance shows us that they have no interest in the pressing problems of Oakland. When the Public Safety Committee morphs into the Police Safety Committee you know that your government has no interest in your well being.

Believe it or not, there are many things the City Council could be doing that could positively affect the well being of its citizens. And none of them have to do with criminalizing the carrying of protest signs attached to sticks thicker than 1/4″.

I spoke last night of how the Council could be addressing one of the most serious revenue problems it has — the draining of the City treasury by the Oakland Police because they continue to shoot people in the back and in the head, gun them down in the street and do everything possible to violate the 1st amendment rights of the population they allegedly protect and serve.

But there are plenty of other things the Council could do that would also have a real affect on the lives of those the police do not necessarily target, those who are just trying to scrape by.

Last night the San Jose City Council considered a measure to raise the minimum wage to $10/hr and index it to inflation, much as the City of San Francisco already has. The San Jose Council was too cowardly to pass it themselves — it will go on the ballot this November. But there is no reason the Oakland City Council should not be passing a similar measure.

Last year, there were more than 1300 foreclosures in Oakland. When a council ordinance speaks of violence perhaps we need to ask which is more violent — someone breaking a bank window or a bank demanding that the sheriffs come and throw a family out onto the street at 6:00 AM ? The Council may or may not be able to legally impose a moratorium on foreclosures in Oakland, but they could certainly create regulations that would make the foreclosure process much harder and more rigorous, while imposing fees and penalties that would make it more costly for banks to foreclose than to negotiate a loan modification.

San Francisco has a program called Healthy San Francisco that guarantees health care for all its residents (as long as they remain within San Francisco’s borders). With the Federal health care law quite possibly about to be declared unconstitutional, why isn’t Oakland’s City Council looking into how to set up a program similar to San Francisco’s for Oakland’s residents, or partner with Healthy San Francisco? What could be more worthwhile than for the Council to set a goal of health care for Oakland’s unemployed and working poor?

These are just three of many things the Oakland City Council could be doing to make the lives of the people it is supposed to represent better. Instead, as thirty-odd very agitated speakers made clear last night, the Council would rather waste its time on the definition of a shield than on creating a society where a job with a decent wage, a home, and health care are human rights.

Occupy Oakland announces Occupy AC Transit

17 May 2012

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May 16, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Wednesday, Occupy Oakland and rank-and-file AC-Transit drivers announced a campaign that will pressure the MTC to make transportation more accessible for low-income communities and to reverse concessions forced on transit workers. This campaign kicks off today by asking drivers to honor transfers for multiple use and up to 3 hours. Riders and drivers stand in solidarity in this demand for a just transportation system.

Next year, another round of fare increases is scheduled to go into effect. This is in addition to service cuts disproportionately applied to poorer communities of color. Many people have to pay two full fares to get to work, and two more to get back. This means many transfers expire while people are waiting for their second bus. Bus riders, especially economically disadvantaged bus riders, increasingly have had to pay more to get less.

Drivers have also had to give more for less. Sometimes a 12-hr shift is barely paused for a break of ten minutes or less. Besides creating an unsafe work environment and an unsafe ride, frustrated drivers and riders end up fighting with each other over transfers or late buses.

Meanwhile, the people ripping everyone off and gutting service – the 1% – are out of reach. The rich 1% could not make money without the support of hundreds of thousands of workers who ride the bus and the transit workers who take them there.

“For years, bus fares have increased while working conditions and pay have steadily declined,” said Mike King of Occupy Oakland. “This reality can only be rectified by riders and drivers standing together and building collective social power to create a just bus system for everyone.”

This effort around transfers is a small step, but will be one of many as we escalate the campaign in the coming months.

For online information, go to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003741365182 or email us at occupyactransit@gmail.com.

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Imagine only oil refineries

17 May 2012

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by Chichi Clarke and Bigfoot Vicksburg

SOURCE: AP

Imagine the San Francisco Bay completely surrounded by petroleum refineries and chemical plants. Imagine there are no zoning regulations thus these refineries are interspersed with impoverished residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. Imagine oil refinery tanks and pipes built along 2 or 3 sides of some houses in these neighborhoods, and chemical plants abutting schools. Now imagine you live in San Francisco; you may have no idea neighboring communities are suffering these conditions, because all you see are shiny sky scrapers, McMansions, and thriving downtown streets (financed by the same industrial oligarchy which poisons your neighbors.) Not many of us live this imaginary scenario here in the Bay Area, precisely because people DO live like this along the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay.

We will have a chance to take action here, in solidarity with everyone affected by pollution from fossil fuel industries and climate change, at events surrounding the Chevron shareholders meeting on May 30th. On Tuesday May 29th from 6-10pm there will be a Teach-in on the True Cost of Chevron at the David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley. People from many communities impacted by Chevron will be participating.

The next day, people from around the world will descend on San Ramon, CA and confront Chevron at its annual shareholder meeting. For the details, see the event page here.

At the end of February, 2 Oakland Occupiers traveled along the Gulf Coast from Houston to New Orleans, visiting people and communities affected by the oil and gas industries, and meeting with local Occupiers. Our conclusion is that the Gulf Coast is largely a national sacrifice zone, supplying the rest of us cheap oil and gas. Prosperity in America is a thin veneer supported by thousands of square miles of oil and gas refineries and toxic materials processing plants. This sprawling industry dominates previously productive coastal ecosystems and endangers the lives and health of poor communities of mostly black and brown people throughout the region.

Last month we remembered the 2-year anniversary of the BP Macondo Oil Well explosion and spill. While it will be years before the vast environmental and human health impacts of the disaster are known and understood, the conditions created by government by and for the petroleum industry are clear with even a cursory investigation. Government officials and elected reps from the local to the national level along the Gulf Coast are dependent upon oil and gas industry contributions and political backing; they serve at the behest of these corporations. Thousands of residents are dependent upon these industries for their jobs. Not surprisingly, all of the organizers, activists, and Occupiers we spoke with lamented the lack of participation in community and political organizations fighting these industries.

For years throughout the Gulf region, the oil and gas industries have been responsible for the sickness and deaths of uncountable thousands of people. In 2005, an explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery killed 15 people and injured 170. The company was placed on criminal probation by the Justice Department, which required BP to correct the problems that caused the blast. In 2009, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the company $87 million for failing to comply with the conditions of the probation, and levied 709 additional violations, including 439 outside of the criminal case. Just before the Macondo Well explosion, the Texas City refinery flared toxic gases for 40 days without informing city official or Texas “regulators” until it was over. (Flaring for this long is illegal at California refineries.) On March 12th of this year, after paying only $50.6 million in fines, and providing little evidence that the violations were addressed, BP was released from probation. This is just one refinery out of hundreds in the Gulf region; one out of the thousands of toxic sites across the country created by drilling, fracking, mining, refining, burning, and disposing of fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, the Occupy movement has had little staying power along the Gulf Coast, and has been unable to capture the interest of people who don’t see how the mainstream depiction of Occupy Wall Street’s concerns about financial crimes relate to their immediate problems of environmental injustice and poverty. Occupy in this region has largely failed to bring local activists and community members into the core of the movement and invigorate the fight against the petroleum industry. Community based and left political organizations still struggle to mobilize people. 200 people turning out for a demo in Houston, or 100 in Port Arthur, is huge. If the Occupy movement here in the Bay Area targets environmental injustices done by the oil and gas corporations, it will create natural allies with people and communities struggling against these behemoths along the Gulf Coast.

The environmental, social, and economic injustices of the fossil fuel industries must be a major target of Occupy.

More information:
http://www.propublica.org/topic/gulf-oil-spill
http://www.thenation.com/article/167461/bps-toxic-legacy
http://truecostofchevron.com/

Locally:
Asian Pacific Environmental Network: The True Cost of Chevron on Richmond’s Laotian Community

http://www.westcountytoxicscoalition.org/

Occupy Oakland Environmental Justice Committee: email environmentaljustice@occupyoakland.org

Michael Siegel: Thanks for your support

16 May 2012

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by Michael Siegel – @OakTownMike

Tonight the City Council voted 4-3 to re-appoint me to the Civil Service Board, but that means the vote failed, by Oakland City Council logic. Voting yes were Brooks, Nadel, Brunner, and even Kaplan (although a bit reluctantly), and no votes were Schaaf, Kernighan, and De la Fuente. Because Reid abstained, instead of voting no, there was no tie, and so the Mayor didn’t get to break the tie. Five votes are required for confirmation.

I was honored to have numerous people support my re-appointment in many ways, including folks who made phone calls to the Council offices and came out to the Council meeting, and even some diehards who stayed in the Council chambers until midnight or later. I’m hella appreciative for the union folks from Local 1021 and Local 21, the Stop the Injunction Coalition folks, the Occupy Oakland folks, the Save Santa Fe folks. A special shout-out must go to Hindatu and Malik, of course, who spoke to the Council and appeared at a Council meeting for the first time, respectively.

I’m also very appreciative of the remarks of Desley Brooks and Jane Brunner, who called out Libby Schaaf for pursuing a political vendetta against me, based on factors entirely separate from my Civil Service service. Libby refused to provide a reason for instigating my ouster. Kernighan claimed that there was “one incident” where I showed “very bad judgment,” but she did not say more. Neither Reid nor De La Fuente said a thing on the matter.

As I sit here later tonight, I am kind of intrigued about what Kernighan meant, my “one” incident of “bad judgment.” Although there are many possibilities, here is my best guess. For some reason, my article advocating for the #D12 Port Shutdown got me in a lot of trouble. The Port definitely took notice, as did Phil Tagami. It may be that that was the piece that was the beginning of the end.

Looking back, though, as Hindatu will tell you, I have no regrets about that piece, or any of the other political statements that may have offended De La Fuente, Reid, and Schaaf. They are clearly on the wrong side of history, albeit on the right side of the status quo.

Thanks again to all of you who took time and effort and put yourselves out there. I must admit that it was hard to ask for help for such a personal issue, as compared to everything else going on in the world. But I didn’t want to “go quietly” on this night, and I really appreciate you for standing with me.

Solidarity march to Occupy the Farm, 6pm tonight!

9 May 2012

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*Meet at North Berkeley BART (Acton and Delaware St.) at 6 PM TONIGHT, 5/9. We will march to the Gill Tract Farm!*

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/327390270663835/

At 6:30 AM this morning, UC Police arrived at the Gill Tract Farm in Albany. They set up cement barricades to block entrances to the land, announced that ‘chemical agents’ would be used against those who interfered, and as of now are still mobilized around the farm with riot gear and zip ties. No arrests have been made.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to experience the farm – or if you’ve been there since the occupation began – tonight is the night for us to mobilize in support of this beautiful project. Meet at North Berkeley BART at 6:00 PM (Acton and Delaware St.) and we will march to the Gill Tract Farm to support our comrades, the land and food sovereignty. Bring banners, signs, warm clothes, tents and sleeping gear (if you’d like to stay overnight)!

The UCPD has been issuing daily warnings to occupiers since the occupation began. Today, they escalated these warnings by barricading entrances to the farm, where they remain mobilized. Let’s show UC administrators and UCPD that we will not be intimidated. FARMLAND IS FOR FARMING!

History:

On Earth Day, April 22, hundreds of urban farming advocates – including community members, students and occupiers – reclaimed the five-acre plot known as Gill Tract, planting rows of vegetables, establishing a youth garden and building community in a sustainable and peaceful way.

The land represents one of the only agricultural spaces with ‘class-one’ soil left in the East Bay. UC Berkeley administrators would prefer to develop the plot, ignoring the work and voices of community members for at least the last decade. In 2000, the Bay Area Coalition for Urban Agriculture presented a proposal to the university for the creation of the ‘world’s first university center on sustainable urban agriculture and food systems.’ It was ignored, as was a later one presented in 2005 by Urban Roots to create the Village Creek Farm and Gardens, ‘a farm that would provide Bay Area students from preschool to community college and university with an educational resource par excellence.’

Urban Agriculture:

From UCB Professors Miguel A. Altieri (Agroecology) and Claudia J. Carr (Environmental Science):

“The rapid urbanization that is taking place in the Bay Area goes hand in hand with a rapid increase in urban poverty and food insecurity, a situation aggravated by the economic crisis affecting California. Half a million people are at risk of hunger every month. About 38 percent of them are children…Many low-income urban residents in the Bay Area reside in ‘food deserts,’ i.e. in areas having limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly in lower income neighborhoods and communities.

The benefits of urban agriculture go beyond producing food: they extend to the promotion of local economic development, poverty alleviation and social inclusion of the poor — and of women, in particular. Urban agriculture also contributes to the urban ecosystem by greening the city, productively reusing urban wastes, conserving pollinators and wildlife, and saving energy involved in the transport of food (in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions!).”

From ‘Occupy the Farm’:

“We are reclaiming this land to grow healthy food to meet the needs of local communities. We envision a future of food sovereignty, in which our East Bay communities make use of available land – occupying it where necessary – for sustainable agriculture to meet local needs. This particular plot of land is very special:

- These are the last acres of Class One soil left in the urbanized East Bay. Ninety percent of the original land has been paved over and developed, irreverisibly contaminating the land.
- Students, professors, and community have fought for decades to save this amazing land from development and use it for sustainable agriculture.
- UCB capital projects currently administors this land and has slated it for rezoning and redevelopment in 2013 (i.e. supermarkets, parking lots, and apartments).
- The University uses the land to research corn genetics. This research can be conducted anywhere as opposed to this unique site.”

More info: http://www.takebackthetract.com/

UCPD, WE DON’T NEED YOU!

FARMLAND IS FOR FARMING!

LONG LIVE THE GILL TRACT FARM!

Occupying the Farm: The Manure Is About To Hit The Fan.

6 May 2012

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Two weeks ago, a coalition of urban agriculturalists and occupiers Occupied The Farm in Albany, CA (just north of Berkeley, which is just north of Oakland). This industrious (or should I say, agricultious?) group quickly cleared part of the acreage, plowed it, planted seeds, set up some booths and tables for food and information, and began, well, farming.

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It wasn’t previously a farm, exactly. It’s a few acres of land referred to as the Gill Tract, owned by the Regents of the University of California and administered by UC Berkeley. It’s been recently used for agricultural research by a number of UC Professors.

The UC Administration spat and sputtered, occasionally sending police over to threaten the farmer-occupiers, but until recently they had taken no action other than to cut off the water supply (a petty act, of which they should be ashamed, to which workarounds have been found). On Thursday, though, things began to happen.

Read the full article by clicking here.