Solidarity

Occupy Boston and Occupy the Hood announced their solidarity Friday Oct 21 with plans for a shared rally Sat Oct 22 to commemorate the16th annual National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality.  The rally takes place on the one year anniversary of an unsolved case of police brutality in the beating of a 16 year old boy.  The two groups are calling for, among other things, a more diverse police department, a State Commission on Police Brutality, and a true and independent civilian review board. 

The Rainbow Times carried their announcement that

In the spirit of solidarity, and in recognition of the diversity of experiences of all members of the 99%, we invite all our supporters to join us in having these discussions by rallying at 12:00 Saturday behind the BPD headquarters in the southwest corridor park, near the Ruggles and Tremont Street intersection and a short walk from the Ruggles stop on the Orange line. A march is in the works for afterward (we gotta get back to see Chomsky, right?), so bring your walkin shoes! 

Noam Chomsky is speaking at 6 P.M. at the Saturday, Oct. 22nd event.

Noam Chomsky - activist, writer, teacher

Occupy Boston also expressed its solidarity with Occupy the Hood's Friday evening Oct 21 rally at Dudley Square reported by the Boston Herald.  Issues focused on jobs, education, justice, and solidarity.

Dave Wedge and Colneth Smiley Jr. of the Boston Herald write:

Members of the black clergy joined in and said they were proud of the movement and what the Occupy protesters were expressing.

“We are living the dream MLK was talking about, people from the suburbs and inner cities marching together for the betterment of the people,” said Pastor Paris Cherry of the Love Movement Ministries.

“It’s clear the community is looking for answers to a number of issues,” former City Councilor Michael Flaherty told the Herald as he listened in to the chants and demands of Occupy The Hood protesters. “They want better schools, an end to senseless violence, and real economic opportunity through jobs with good wages and benefits. The middle class has reached its boiling point.”

Members from both sides said it was time to join forces.

“I think the whole Occupy movement around the country is something that is definitely needed. We need to address the issues of the black and Latino communities,” said an Occupy The Hood protester and longtime Roxbury resident who identified herself as Sunshine. “It’s a necessary action to address the issues from where we are from.”

Courtesy of the Boston Herald

Photographer: Stuart Cahill

The Reverend William Dickerson opens the Dudley Square Rally

where Occupy Boston joins Occupy the Hood

Boston Protesters were recently and brutally evicted in a 1:30 A.M. raid by Mayor Menino who infamously stated that he would not tolerate "civil disobedience."  Many distubed by his remarks since civil disobedience has a noble and distinguished history for Americans, starting with Henry David Thoreau, who went to prison as a non-violent tax resister, and inspired the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela, among others.  The arrests created further concerns across the country when news spread of a non-violent veteran being repeatedly thrown to the ground on video, and police uncharacteristically detaining legal observers and journalists.

Boston.com  quotes a police officer stating that things have settled down since, and Boston News describes an increasingly organized and inclusive community that provides centers for clothing, books, food, and any number of other needed categories.  Boston News has a video clip of the tent city at the linked site.  Around lunch-time, they are regularly joined by persons coming down from the suburbs and what appear to be some financial district workers for a noon sing-a-long.  People also stand on the roadways with signs stating that they are looking for employment. 

Hey, if you are with Wall Street and you disagree with the protesters, why don't you head down and start hiring people with job-hunting billboards? You're the "job creators" after all!

Hmmm ..  another almost surreal moment when Boston TV 5 expresses concerns with homeless persons joining, crime, and drugs - but participants assert that all are welcome, and any issues, had been relatively minor and easily resolved.  One of the demonstraters also points out that the homeless had already been in that area before the tent city moved in.  The demonstraters also express their determination to remain through winter, and to stand tall against Tom Menino, if he tries to evict them again.

Now, if I were a cartoonist, I might add a little "funny" in there of Americans lining up to join the occupation at an "intake" table where they ask, "Do you already have a home?"  "No? - O.k., you can't live in a tent here."

So .. are we there yet?  Do you have to have a home to live in a tent city?

Absurd.  Crime clearly has no place in a tent city, but homelessness is not a crime.  It is also one of the reasons we are on Wall Street, with record numbers of Americans left homeless due to Wall Street economic wreckage.   Record numbers on the brink of homelessness.  All homeless Americans, all other "tent cities" should be migrating immediately to their nearest occupation site.  As the real criminals are still at large on Wall Street - with their bought cohorts in the Capital - who should be evicted from Congress - a Congress that is supposed to be representing The People, not corporations.