Two "Occupy" Stories
1. Thoughts on this week's protests at UC Berkeley
2. Hawaiian singer surprises Obama summit with 'Occupy'
song

1. Thoughts on this week's protests
by Mandy Cohen 
Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 3:22pm

I'm sharing a message I sent to my department:

Dear colleagues, friends, and education activists:

I wanted to write with a personal account of what's
been happening on our campus since Wednesday. I've seen
many of you teaching out, at the rally, at the general
assemblies, and at the Occupy Cal encampment and I know
many of you are involved and following these events,
but in case it is useful I wanted to share some
information and my perspective. Gabe will send a
separate email with information about what's happening
next and how we can get involved.

The rally on Wednesday to "Refund California" and
defend public education was likely the biggest our
campus has seen since the Sept 24, 2009 Walkout. As the
Daily Cal wrote, there was a feeling that the student
protest movement has come full circle: the same issues
we've been protesting since Sept 2009 have now come
back to Berkeley with mass support and the momentum of
the Occupy Wall Street movement. These issues and
struggles never left our campus, but it seems that
finally a broadening spectrum of UCB community members
are identifying with the struggle against austerity,
against growing income inequality, and against
corporate control of public spaces and services.

It was especially incredible to be in a crowd of
hundreds--largely undergrads--chanting the killer Occupy
Oakland chant: "the system has got to die, hella hella
occupy." Thinking about how "occupation" has been used
and talked about on our campus for the last two years,
it was amazing to see how the nationwide OWS movement
seems to be overcoming the often alienating discussion
of occupation that has gone on here at Berkeley.

Almost 500 people voted to establish the Occupy Cal
encampment around 2pm on Wednesday. The size of the
crowd was sustained until the early evening hours, and
despite the first police raid of the camp around
2:30 pm. As we attempted to set up our first tents,
police officers walked in and grabbed two tents out of
our hands. It was because of this that we decided to
form a human chain and encircle a small space of grass
outside Sproul inside which more tents were erected. I
linked arms with other students, including some faculty
and many grad students, and after police had broken
through our line I was hit by a police baton several
times as officers tried to drive us back "one foot" so
they could dismantle the tents.

Later that evening, after the administration had
reiterated their absolute refusal to allow an
encampment on campus, I again linked arms in a much
larger human chain--7-10 people deep--to protect the
remaining tents we had salvaged from a second raid. One
of the things that baffles me most about the police
force used against us is that the only violation we
were allegedly committing was a violation of the campus
"Time, Manner and Place" of protest policy. Does
violation of campus policy warrant physical violence on
the part of police attempting to literally beat their
way through hundreds of bodies in order to dismantle
those tents? I am also baffled that the permission the
administration gave us at 5:30 pm to assemble "24/7" in
front of Sproul was replaced by a dispersal order at
9:30pm. Violation of that dispersal order and the
obstruction we presented to officers attempting to
dismantle our tents were the only grounds for arrest. A
colleague from our department was one of 39 people
arrested on these two charges. I have bruises on my
hand, all over my right arm, on my thigh and lower
stomach from police batons. And these are certainly
mild injuries compared to what many friends suffered.

By 10:30 pm when the attack had turned into a
stand-off, I pushed my way out of the crowd and
realized that from several hundred, we had grown to
thousands. Sproul plaza was almost as crowded then as
it had been for the noon rally. Despite the continued
presence of dozens of riot police, another general
assembly managed to convene at midnight and voted to
call a general strike on Tuesday, November 15--still
with around people 500 voting in support.

I can't tell you how angry I am after reading
Chancellor Birgeneau's message to the campus yesterday.
Contrary to what the Daily Cal reported on Thursday,
there was no "clash" between protestors and police. I
did not see a single instance and haven't seen a single
instance reported of protestors attacking back, or even
defending themselves. Indeed, this was essentially
impossible because none of us had free arms or hands to
defend ourselves with. This was absolutely non-violent
civil disobedience, and the Chancellor should be
ashamed of claiming otherwise.

My anger about the campus administration's
authorization of violent force against hundreds of
students for taking an action which, even if against
campus policy, posed no threat to the daily workings of
the university and no threat to the safety of our
community members--my anger about this only adds to my
anger about the failure of our campus administration,
the UC administration, and the state government to
actually take measures to defend public education. In
fact, especially at the upper levels of this hierarchy,
we know that those tasked with the administration of
public education are actually committed to its
privatization.

For these reasons, we have to continue building the
momentum of the protests begun on Wednesday. Please
read Gabe's email for some of the upcoming ways to be
involved. I'm of course happy to talk more with anyone
about this and I hope others will share their
perspectives and ideas. 

In solidarity, Mandy


=====

2. Hawaiian singer surprises Obama summit with 'Occupy'
song 
by Agence France-Presse Sunday, November 13, 2011

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/13/hawaiian-singer-surprises-obama-summit-with-occupy-song/

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- A popular Hawaiian recording artist
turned a top-security dinner of Pacific Rim leaders
hosted by President Barack Obama into a subtle protest
with a song in support of the "Occupy" movement.

Makana, who goes by one name, was enlisted to play a
luau, or Hawaiian feast, Saturday night for leaders
assembled in Obama's birthplace Honolulu for an annual
summit that is formulating plans for a Pacific
free-trade pact.

But in the midst of the dinner on the resort strip
Waikiki Beach, he pulled open his jacket to reveal a
T-shirt that read "Occupy with Aloha," using the
Hawaiian word whose various meanings include love and
peace. He then sang a marathon version of his new song
"We Are The Many."

"I was pretty nervous. In fact I was terrified. I kept
thinking 'what are the consequences going to be?'"
Makana, 33, told AFP.

"It was incredibly comical. I was terrified but also
enjoying it," he said.

Makana, who was born Matthew Swalinkavich, said the
song prompted awkward stares from a few of those
present but the Obamas appeared too absorbed with their
guests to notice what was happening.

The performance occurred at a dinner for summit
participants from 21 economies around the Asia-Pacific,
including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev, amid a security lockdown in
Waikiki.

As Makana sang, about 400 protesters including
anti-globalization and native Hawaiian rights activists
staged a protest march toward the dinner site but
turned back after encountering the smothering security.

Makana released the song on the Internet the day before
and decided to play it at the urging of fans, he said.

Inspired by the anti-capitalist [sic] movement that
began with the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations in
New York, it denounces Washington politicians,
corporate greed and what he sees as an unfair American
economic system.

The song features the refrain, "We'll occupy the
streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the
offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many,
not the few."

He sang it "over and over" for 40 minutes, varying his
tempo and delivery to avoid triggering an overt
reaction.

"Whenever I felt the heat might come down, I would ease
off. It was a very careful procedure," he said.


Copyright (c) 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

This video is from MakanaVideos, uploaded to YouTube
prior to the dinner, on November 10, 2011. Go to the
URL, just below, and scroll down for the click-on
Video.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/13/hawaiian-singer-surprises-obama-summit-with-occupy-song/

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