A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Tonight, I'll conclude this series by embedding the clip about organizing fast food workers and showing how it's played out locally through Occupy Detroit. Stay tuned.
Occupy Detroit has continued to do good work, including documenting the fast-food workers strike last month. I'll be sure to cover that in a future entry.
Good Jobs Now, Michigan United and SEIU came out in support of fast food workers across the Detroit area as they went on strike, demanding $15/hr. to bring them out of poverty and give the economy a much needed shot in the arm.
I'll have more about the coverage of the fast food workers striking later. Right now, it's time for me to go to work.
Two years after the Occupy Wall Street protests started, documentary filmmakers discuss why their new film on the movement still carries weight.
Next, former Occupy Wall Street protester Mark Bray joins CNN Money's Annalyn Kurtz and her other guests Labor Secretary Robert Reich and former Lehman Brothers VP Lawence McDonald to explain Why Occupy Wall Street fizzled out.
Did the anarchists kill the Occupy Wall Street movement with a lack of organization? Our Occupy panelist defends the success of the protests.
Stay tuned for more from CNN Money on income inequality and organizing fast-food workers.
*To read last year's retrospective, click on Occupy Wall Street one year later. It has links to all my entries about Occupy Wall Street from my first until I started blogging about Occupy Detroit.
While I have been remiss on this subject, Occupy Detroit is still active and posted Petcoke & the Detroit river to their YouTube channel this week.*
Just a few hundred yards from the offensive piles of carcinogenic petcoke by the shores of the Detroit river, people are catching fish to feed to their children. The poisonous byproduct from the refining of Canadian tar sands gives off a windblown dust that goes everywhere, including the river and ultimately the fish these people will eat.
But that hasn’t stopped a whole movement from springing up—and gaining some ground in the global fight against tar sands oil.
Just this week, a small group of protesters stopped a Mack truck carrying pet coke in its tracks, just a few hundred feet from its destination on the Detroit River—a place where freighters load up and ship out to places all over the world.
Standing in the middle of the street, McKenzie Duke read a list of demands from activists and residents. They’ve watched the pet coke piles grow and shift for months—at times, spanning a half-dozen city blocks and reaching several stories high.
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As for that blockade Duke was a part of this week--well, the protesters succeeded in stopping pet coke shipments for the day. And they got some direct attention from Detroit Bulk Storage personnel, who’ve promised an ongoing dialogue about their concerns.
I've been more than a bit pessimistic about protesting against the XL Pipeline in general, although President Obama's statement on climate change this week was encouraging. However, I'm all for protests against poor alignment of that pipeline, and specific health, environmental, and safety issues resulting from use of tar sands. Improper storage of petcoke in Detroit is certainly one of those issues and I say more power to Occupy Detroit and the other activists, including U.S. Representative and Senate candidate Gary Peters, for bringing this subject to light.
The west side of the state also has their own set of activists against tar sands, and I'll post an entry about them later this afternoon or evening.
*Occupy Detroit has continued to do good work, including documenting the fast-food workers strike last month. I'll be sure to cover that in a future entry.
Today is the anniversary of Occupy Detroit's occupation of Campus Martius. Just as I marked the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, I'm posting the links to my entries on the movement.
But a banner high on the wall that reads "We are the 99%" signifies this is a different type of place, one that's become the center for activists in metro Detroit. After leaving their encampment in Grand Circus Park in November, Occupy Detroit has found a new home in the heart of southwest Detroit.
Across the street from a grocery store, the two-floor 12,000-square-foot building with a tall ceiling was refurbished by activists and is a striking symbol of the movement's attempts to establish a solid base in the region for its activities. "OCCUPY," it reads on the windowpanes outside.
"We want to bring power back to the people," said Jessica Dawl, 26, a Hamtramck resident.
One year ago Occupy Detroit swept through downtown from the Spirit of Detroit to Grand Circus Park with over 1,000 attending through the day and evening. Speakers spoke and let us know a NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE – what it would take is being engaged in the movement to bring it from spoken word to a life changing opportunity.
Last year on October 10 a host of people came to Spirit Of Hope Church to learn how to participate as the Occupy Movement came to Detroit. That first night our numbers exceeded the capacity of the church and the meeting moved outside.
ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 2012
We celebrate, reflect, and discuss the evolving movement and how Version 2 of Occupy Detroit will launch. Lessons learned, issues fought and continuing at present will be discussed. Those engaged in action, making a difference in their lives and those they touch will share how a movement impacted their live over the past year and what the FUTURE holds in the PRESENT and beyond.
They may not be camping out, but they're still occupying.
I've seen this movie before. This is the sequel to Anonymous vs. Scientology and it's recycling the first film's plot, but with a bigger budget, more special effects, and a group of villains who are less comic, better known, and more dangerous. At this stage of the protests against Scientology, the long-time anti-Scientologist activists discovered Anonymous and found a way to jump in front of the movement. The same thing is happening here, with Michael Moore and others realizing that there is now a mob they can get in front of and (pretend to) lead. In reality, they're following from the front, which is the opposite of leading from behind.
As for how the first movie ended, it resulted in opening Scientology to reporters investigating the organization like it hadn't seen in a long time and tarnishing its reputation among the young. It also gave the members of Anonymous a taste of organizing and a realization that they can take on something bigger than themselves. Now they're ready for something bigger than a fringe cult that runs themselves like a business. Whether they're up to this task is another question.
As for how this installment of the franchise ends, stay tuned. They may be rehashing the plot so far, but there is no script.
One year later, the participants may no longer be camping out in Zuccotti Park, but they did turn economic inequality into a major subject of conversation, just like Operation Chanology exposed Scientology to public scrutiny. Also, I find it an appropriate coincidence that the 47% video, the highlight of which was Romney addressing the question of inequality in a very condescending way, was released on September 17th, the anniversary of the beginning of Occupy Wall Street.
Follow over the jump to read what Canada's Globe and Mail made of Occupy Wall Street's legacy.
My Facebook status yesterday was "As far as I'm concerned, today is Buy Nothing Day." It was the most popular status update I can ever remember posting, with 21 likes and three additional people commenting. Based on how American shoppers behaved, I'm glad I didn't venture off my property to buy anything yesterday!
Black Friday sales turned into a shopping frenzy in the US. 20 people were left injured after a woman sprayed pepper spray in a bid to get a bargain. Report by Melanie Hill.
ITN wasn't the only British news source that reported yesterday's appalling behavior. BBC chimed in with US Black Friday marred by shootings, pepper-sprayings, which is currently the most popular news item of the week for North America on the site. In addition to the incidents described in the ITN video above, BBC listed the following.
A man was reportedly detained for resisting arrest after a fight at the jewellery counter in the early hours at a Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida
Police are looking for two suspects after gunfire erupted early on Friday at a shopping centre in Fayetteville, North Carolina; there were no reports of injuries
Security workers reportedly used pepper spray on shoppers who began grabbing at goods before they were unloaded from pallets at a Walmart in Kinston, North Carolina
A woman was shot in the foot by a robber as she loaded her purchases into her car in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; the gunman fled as one of the victim's companions brandished a revolver and fired warning shots
Obviously, there’s a difference between police using pepper spray against dangerous elements in a crowd and a citizen using it to gain the upper hand at a Black Friday Sale, but just where do they think she got the idea?
Just like the constant drum beat for “second amendment remedies” by conservatives in the press leaks into the subconscious of the unstable, so too do the constant stories of police using pepper spray on citizens leak into the national consciousness.
And let’s not forget that too many times, police have used pepper spray on Occupy protesters who were not dangerous, were sitting still, were already kettled, and/or were not escalating violence.
Customers using pepper spray on other customers, robberies, and shootings are not things that have been seen at Occupy Wall Street protests. Republicans told us that it was patriotic to shop after 9/11, and these same people have demonized OWS, but what we have seen is that the corporate giants like Walmart and the shoppers who get whipped into a frenzy by their charms are more dangerous than Occupy Wall Street.
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Thanks, Occupy Police. You just ratcheted up the level of general insanity another notch.
Speaking of the juxtaposition of the Occupy Movement and Black Friday, what did they do yesterday? Huffington Post has the story.
It's an Associated Press story, which means I don't quote it on general principles, but it does describe how the Occupiers in San Francisco and Sacramento told shoppers to not shop yesterday, especially at the large corporate-owned chain store, but instead shop at the locally owned stores today (Saturday).*
More Occupy activism can be expected on the day following Thanksgiving. The Detroit chapter of Occupy the Hood, a wing of the Occupy Movement focused on people of color, is calling for a boycott on Black Friday, the biggest retal sales day of the year that traditionally launches the Christmas shopping season.
"Black Friday is one of the busiest, biggest days for corporations," said Ife Johari Uhuru, a founder of Occupy the Hood who lives in Detroit.
Occupy the Hood's request to refrain from shopping joins a long tradition of post-Thanksgiving activism. Adbusters, the magazine that originally called for the Occupy Wall Street protests, has been organizing Black Friday boycotts and pranks for 20 years. They are celebrating this year's anniversary of the effort, which they call "Buy Nothing Day," with a new campaign called "Occupy Christmas."
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Occupy Detroit also plans to support the Black Friday boycott.
"We are coordinating with Occupy the Hood. We will be working together to carry out [actions on Friday]," Teed said. "We want a lot of people at multiple shopping venues to hear our message."
Teed echoed Uhuru's focus on education, saying that Occupiers hope to contrast predicted sales figures with statistics about Detroit's debt and wages of Walmart executives with those of employees.
She hopes the call to boycott will inspire people to stay at home, or to spend their money with local businesses.
"Hopefully with more energy and involvement around Occupy, we can build that into a bigger thing next year," Teed said.
I did something in solidarity with Occupy Detroit, and I didn't even have to leave the house!
As for what else I think of Black Friday, may a picture truly be worth 1000 words.
*Small Business Saturday should be the subject of the next post.
John Royal, President of the National Lawyers Guild addressed an emergency General Assembly of the Detroit Occupation to discuss the legal status of the camp. While we had obtained a permit, that permit would expire on Monday, November 14.
The assembly discussed their options and reactions to the announcement and resolved to meet again at their Saturday GA to decide what will happen when the permit expires.
For more details, including quotes from Sarah Coffeey and Jessica Dawl, read the Free Press article.
The good news is that Occupy Detroit got a permit. The bad news is that it expires at Midnight at the end of Monday. There will be a General Assembly tonight to decide what to do next. I'll have to miss it. My wife and I will be leaving town tomorrow to swat a hornet. Good thing I can program entries in advance to post in my absence. I would hate to not be able to participate in NaBloPoMo.
We are inspired by the actions of Occupy Wall Street and the opportunity it has given so many people to stand up and get involved in shaping the fate of this country.
We are inspired by the protocol of consensus decision-making and inclusivity being used on Wall Street, where anyone who shows up is asked: “what can you contribute to this movement?” In return, participants are supported to bring their best selves to the work of creating a new world. We propose that Detroit embrace that same protocol.
In the spirit of bringing our best selves to this process, we offer this background knowledge, which anyone attempting to organize in Detroit must first understand before taking any action that aims to speak for Detroit. We all have a lot to learn from each other. Nothing said here should be taken as a claim to “know more” or “better” than anyone else. As just mentioned it’s about all of us bringing our best selves to this historic uprising, and doing it creatively, nonviolently and together.
Detroit is a Movement City. Detroiters have been organizing resistance to corporate greed and violence for nearly a century, from the birth of the labor movement here in the 1920s to the radical black workers movements of the ’60s to the current poor people campaigns against utility shutoffs that allow dozens of people to die each year. We have organized resistance to racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, and the criminalization of youth, to the systematic destruction of the environment in poor communities of color, to the dehumanization of people with disabilities, and so many other injustices — as they manifest in our daily lives and are reflected in practices that dictate access and distribution of resources, as well as policies at the local, state and national levels.
Detroit is moving beyond just protest. Because we have survived the most thorough disinvestment of capital than any major U.S. city has ever seen; because we have survived “white flight” and “middle class flight,” state-takeovers, corruption and the dismantling of our public institutions; because the people who remained in Detroit are resilient and ingenious, Detroiters have redefined what “revolution” looks like.
Detroit is modeling life AFTER capitalism. In Detroit, “revolution” means “putting the neighbor back in the hood” through direct actions that restore community. It means maintaining public welfare programs for residents who are without income which protect said low income families from facing utility shut offs and homelessness. It means outlawing poverty in any form since the resources to prevent such a condition remain abundantly available to this State. It means Peace Zones for Life that help us solve conflict in our neighborhoods without the use of police, reducing opportunities for police violence. It means food justice and digital justice networks across the city supporting self-determination and community empowerment. It means youth leadership programs and paradigm-shifting education models that transform the stale debate between charter schools and public schools. It means “eviction reversals” that put people back in their homes and community safety networks that prevent people being snatched up by border patrol. It means artists who facilitate processes of community visioning and transformation, and organizers who approach social change as a work of art. In Detroit, the meaning of “revolution” continues to evolve and grow.
Detroit will not be “occupied” in the same sense as Wall Street: The language of “occupation” makes sense for the occupation of the privately-owned Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. But this language of “occupation” will not inspire participation in Detroit and does not make sense for Detroit. From the original theft of Detroit’s land by French settlers from Indigenous nations, to the connotations of “occupation” for Detroit’s Arab communities, to the current gentrification of Detroit neighborhoods and its related violence — “Occupation” is not what we need more of. We will however participate in creating anew out of what remains in Detroit today.
Detroit’s participation in the “Occupy Together” actions must grow out of Detroit’s own rich soil. It cannot be transplanted from another city’s context. We recognize that “Occupy Detroit” has attracted the participation of people from across the state of Michigan. This is a good thing, IF people take the time to understand the unique history and current work of Detroit’s social movements, this letter aims to be a starting point in that process. The reimagined work of activists is to confront and take down systems of oppressive power, on the one hand, while building a new and just world on the other. Let’s do it. Together. Now.
The two paragraphs I italicized are the ones most germane to the theme of this blog. When I say great things are going to happen here, I mean that they will be the results of those particular struggles.
The past week's weather hasn't always been conducive to their cause, with rainy days and cold temperatures, but members of the Occupy Detroit movement say they're undeterred and will stay the course at their encampment in Grand Circus Park downtown.
"We're still basically a work in progress, but I continue to remain wildly optimistic about what we're accomplishing here," Sarah Coffey, 38, one of the volunteers in charge of organizing the group's informational meetings, said late Sunday afternoon.
"In order for us to transform society, we have to bridge the differences between the races and classes. And when you stop to think about it, is there any better spot to begin than in Detroit?"
I've run into Sarah Coffey on Facebook, so I find it intriguing, but not surprising, that she's one of the organizers. Now I'm tempted to pay her a visit. After all, I'm listed as "attending" on Occupy Detroit's Facebook page.
As for her sentiment, I couldn't agree more. Great things are going to happen here in Detroit, and Occupy Detroit might just help make them happen.
In A video press release from Occupy Detroit, I promised that "I will keep you all informed." I did keep that promise with The first day of Occupy Detroit, which showed the coverage of the first afternoon and evening of the demonstration from the perspective of the mainstream local media. Time to show this first week from the perspective of the Occupiers, via their own YouTube channel.
According to the Occupiers, 1500 people attended the rally and march last Friday, not the 500 the Free Press reported via Twitter. As for the occupation itself, it looks very organized. These people know what they're doing.
Next, these two videos this video (there is a second at the website that isn't embedding here) from WXYZ's website.
If Jessica Dawl and the other Occupiers remain as serious about staying in the park throughout the winter and up until the next election (that's more than a year away), then it looks like my wife and I will be bringing them a lot of food and supplies.
Finally, the Detroit Free Press is doing their reporting by Twitter. Yes, really.
The spirit of the Occupy Wall Street protests has landed on Woodward Avenue. Free Press Reporter Naomi Patton was on the scene. We're sharing tweets and more from people talking about #OccupyDetroit.
In Occupy Wall Street is sequel to Anonymous vs Scientology, I pointed out that I had 'seen this movie before' and recognized the signs of Anonymous's involvement, as well as how other activists were recognizing the protests' significance and were starting to jump on board. I'm not the only one to observe the hand of Anonymous. Next Media Animation did, too.
Where did Occupy Wall Street start? Up north! Canada's AdBusters made the initial call for protesters to converge on Wall Street and demand campaign finance reforms.
However, the movement failed to catch fire until the hacker group Anonymous took notice.
The protests gained momentum, attracting some unlikely bedfellows in the process.
In the past, liberal activists focused on clearly defined causes. Occupy Wall Street's muddled approach could compromise the movement's effectiveness.
The rallying cry for the movement is "We are the 99%". But compared to most of the world, the protesters are still very privileged.
Nevertheless, the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to gather steam. Will it become the Tea Party of the left?
The Tea Party of the Left? Brad Hicks has other historical comparisons in mind.
Anonymous are the new Wobblies, I think. I think that when a cop sees you in that Guy Fawkes mask, as far as he's concerned, you've shown up in an Official Terrorist Uniform. You might as well have handed him a signed, notarized release form giving him permission to gas you and beat the crap out of you.
Brad also stated that "Anonymous terrifies the DHS." I commented on both of those highlighted sentences.
I know you don't intend these statements that way, but I have a feeling that more than a few Anonymous would get off on them. I think you're intending them as statements of fact or implied warnings, but they'd take them as things to boast about.
Brad's response:
I actually mean them as both: as admiration, and as a warning. If you're willing to make your points, knowing this, by going out wearing that mask, I have great admiration for your courage. But I don't recommend you do so unless you mean to volunteer to accept the risk of being a martyr for the cause, because somebody, maybe multiple somebodies, wearing that mask are going end up jailed for life on trumped up charges if they're lucky, and beaten to death or gunned down in cold blood as likely as not.
As you can see, Brad has a very dark take on things. Speaking of which, I recommend reading the rest of his post. While he's generally pessimistic, he does allow glimmers of hope to shine through, and he does have some practical advice. In particular, he suggests that people in the satellite protests should start collecting money and supplies and sending them to the protesters on Wall Street (and I'd add Washington DC) to keep them going once winter sets in. There is an Occupy Detroit movement, and it's starting tomorrow. I think I'll join them and see if they're amenable to that idea.
