Occupy Wall Street - Debating Strategies for Social Change
* Follow No Leader (Sally Kohn in The American Prospect -
September 27))
* None of us are winning, yet (Subhash Kateel responds in
Organizing Upgrade - September 28)
* Sally Kohn responds (Organizing Upgrade - September 28)
For more information go to: https://occupywallst.org/
==========
Follow No Leader
As the demonstrations on Wall Street this past
weekend showed, there's a big difference between
protesting for a purpose and making noise for its
own sake.
by Sally Kohn
The American Prospect
September 27, 2011
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=follow_no_leader
This weekend, the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York
City's financial district reached a fevered pitch. Police
arrested more than 80 protesters, and video evidence emerged
appearing to show a New York Police Department officer
indiscriminately spraying a group of protesters with mace.
But according to some, the protest was more show than
substance. In a New York Times write-up describing the
mostly white young protesters wearing mainly black clothes,
Ginia Bellafante writes:
The group's lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to
pantomime progressivism rather than practice it
knowledgably is unsettling in the face of the challenges
so many of its generation face.
Bellafante mockingly characterized the protesters as a mix
of punk anarchists and reincarnated hippies - here a young
woman in nothing but underwear, there a young man wearing "a
knee-length burlap vest, fur hat, ski goggles and tiny
plastic baby dolls applied to the tips of his fingers" -
with no clear message or purpose. Indeed, the group calls
itself a "leaderless resistance movement" and claims
inspiration from "our brothers and sisters in Egypt, Greece,
Spain, and Iceland."
One of the downsides of anarchists is they tend to oppose
most forms of organization - including their own. Rather
than the usual "we're all in this together" sense of
purposeful community that propels meaningful protests,
Occupy Wall Street felt like the political equivalent of a
rave; it made recent uprisings across the globe seem like a
trivial fad. Standing in its midst, I was reminded of the
uppity kids from my college days who dressed up like punks
and protested because it seemed cool.
If you want to see the difference between effective
organizing and pantomime, compare Occupy Wall Street with
the New Bottom Line coalition, a group of community
organizations that have put together protests across the
country to demand that big banks put back into our economy
what they drained from communities. In San Francisco
yesterday, groups of homeowners, community members,
students, and clergy went to the offices of Wells Fargo,
Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase to demand that their
congregations' money be withdrawn from these financial
institutions. It is part of a series of coordinated actions
over the next several weeks that not only has a clear
message and concrete demands but is organized by accountable
community groups that represent millions of Americans - not
some well-meaning but isolated and angry kids who met on the
Internet.
The hacker group Anonymous, one of the groups behind the
Occupy Wall Street actions, is better known for its online
sabotage of everything from the Libyan government to the San
Francisco subway system. So before the collective takes down
my website, let me be clear: I love a good protest. Any kind
of protest. As the saying goes, power never concedes
anything without a fight, and those bold enough to stand up
to the status quo with their bodies, words, and actions make
me proud to be part of a nation borne out of precisely such
expressions of popular discontent.
That said, I'm no anarchist. I'm too much of a Jewish mother
to carp about all forms of authority for its own sake. I
tend to favor the sort of well-ordered, well-bathed protests
of the early 1960s; I want to know what democracy looks
like, not what it smells like.
The point of a protest is not (merely) to disrupt the status
quo but to paint a portrait of the harm the system is doing
and highlight better alternatives. The image of four young
black men sitting at a segregated lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina, was like a Norman Rockwell
painting. Egyptians gathering in "Freedom" (Tahrir) square
in Cairo acted out the secular, cross-ethnic unity of a
democratic nation. At its best, protest is a collective art
form.
But the Occupy Wall Street protests seem, tactically and
optically, like an end in themselves - for the protesters,
the self-expression and disruption of the protest is the
point. For grassroots organizations like those in the New
Bottom Line, protest is a means to an end - a tactic they
employ to get the system to recognize the entire community's
needs and demands. It's the opposite of anarchy - an
appreciation that to challenge autocratic power, we must
build the power of those who have been targeted and
marginalized, those who are together organizing for an
alternative vision.
In other words, part of the "collective" in the collective-
art form of protest comes not just from a loose association
of strangers marching on the street but intentional,
cultivated communities. That's why, for instance, Internet
"organizing" has been effective at rapid-response, mass
mobilizations but not the deeper, sustained work of movement
building. There's a qualitative difference in what's
achieved through on-the-ground community organizing.
That said, the makeup of community-organizing groups has
often hampered the art side of protest. Privileged, entitled
white kids with nothing to fear can put on very dramatic
shows. Community-organizing leaders, on the other hand, are
African American single moms who can't risk arrest lest
there be no one to pick their kids up from school;
undocumented immigrants who might be deported if they make
too much noise; poor senior citizens who aren't exactly
going to scale a building and hang a banner. Thus, community
organizing has often been of the "show up, hold signs, and
leave when the cops come" variety, mildly attention getting
but mostly tame.
But not always. Wait and see what the New Bottom Line folks
have in store. Circles of community organizers have been
debating how to amp up their direct-action tactics given
that big banks are resistant to existing public and
political pressure. If past action by one of its leading
partners, National People's Action, is any indicator, we can
expect the actions to be poignant and entertaining (e.g.,
community members dressed like Robin Hood storming the moat-
protected JPMorgan Chase headquarters). Certainly, the image
of middle-class churchgoers and their pastors pulling their
tithing funds from the big banks is so apple pie it's
subversive.
Aldus Huxley once said, "What is art, after all, but a
protest against the horrible inclemency of life?" These are
horribly inclement times. I, for one, take solace in the
resistance of the American people - not only the angry kids
who march with fists in the air but the displaced elderly
homeowners, public school teachers, and unemployed workers
who band together to create striking portraits of brave
Americans demanding a better world for us all. That's the
sort of protest that looks beautiful - and maybe even smells
good, too.
[Sally Kohn is a grassroots strategist actively engaged in
movement building for equality and justice. She is a regular
on Fox News (Hannity, O'Reilly Factor, Megyn Kelly) and
MSNBC (Ed Show). Her writing has appeared in the Washington
Post, USA Today, CNN.com, FoxNews.com, Reuters, The Guardian
and the American Prospect among other outlets.]
==========
None of us are winning, yet
by Subhash Kateel
Organizing Upgrade - Left Organizers Respond to Change the
World
September 28, 2011
http://www.organizingupgrade.com/2011/09/a-response-to-sally/
I just finished reading Sally Kohn's piece in the American
Prospect titled "Follow No Leader" that outlines her
criticism of the Occupy Wall Street (for a good explanation
of the action check out this Voices from the Frontline
[Click to listen] ). Now, I know Sally to be thoughtful and
articulate. I am especially proud of her courage being in
the Fox News studios going head to head with the Michelle
Malkin's of the world. That respect made her article even
more curious to me. In the article she basically reduces
the Occupy Wall Street protests to "making noise for its own
sake," and cites a New York Times writer, Ginia Bellafante,
who accuses Occupy Wall Street of "pantomiming (maybe I am
dumb, but I had to look that word up to make sure I knew
what it meant) progressivism rather than practicing it."
Sally even seems to co-sign the Times writers'
characterization of the protestors as hippies and
anarchists.
The line I found most interesting? This one:
"I tend to favor the sort of well-ordered, well-bathed
protests of the early 1960s"
Apparently the preferred well-bathed protests in the article
are those of the New Bottom Line. An organization that, no
doubt, seems to be doing good work rooted in real
communities to hold big banks accountable for their plunder
of us small fries.
To be sure, Sally's point about the disconnect between
seemingly privileged participants of Occupy Wall Street and
the struggling folks of the five boroughs is well taken. I
have heard the same criticism from a bunch of people on the
ground. That being said, the main point of the article left
me feeling kinda sideways (Ginia Bellafante, if you are
reading this, look that up. The same way I had to look up
"pantomime").
Let me get one thing out of the way. Sally, I love you, but
I am not sure how you could, with a straight face, present a
piece from the New York Times as your exhibit A considering
that the main social movement the Times helped build in New
York is the one pushing working people out of their homes in
Harlem, Flatbush, and Jackson Heights to make way for Times'
readers (read: the yuppie friends of those "anarchists and
hippies"). Oh, there is the anti-war movement that the
Times helped build, by helping Bush build a fake case to go
to war in Iraq.
Ok, I got my "believe 50% of what the Times tells you" bias
out of the way. Moving on...
Sally, as I was reading your article, I came across this
video clip of a young man supposedly arrested at the Occupy
Wall Street protests. If the reports of the video are to be
believed (still investigating), this young man - who doesn't
fit the profile of a white hippie/anarchist - was arrested
after sitting down in front of the bank that allegedly took
his parents' home. That doesn't mean he represents the
majority of Occupy Wall Street or that he erases any of its
organizational flaws. But it does sort of mean that the
actions or occupations (or whatever people are calling them)
have a lot more purpose to some than just "making noise."
While I appreciate your invocation of the "well ordered"
protests of the early 1960's, the riots of the 1970's, 80's,
and 90's seem to indicate that those protests only went so
far in addressing the root causes of the problems we are
facing today.
The fact is, the people who caused the financial crisis that
we are in didn't just cripple a small segment of the
population, they crippled entire continents. The fact also
remains that there are probably more immigrants in jail for
selling boot-leg videos on Wall Street's sidewalks than
there are crooked financial planners, investment bankers,
ponzi schemers or corporate welfare queens who looted
billions out of regular folks' personal savings. None of
the movements that any of us are in - the Ron Paulists,
anarchists, ex-ACORNists, code pinkists, Catholics,
bloggers, the people that wear "V" masks - have built
1/100th of the movement needed to bring true economic
justice to this situation.
If any single protest, movement or type of organization had
the answer, we wouldn't see the frustration, pain, anxiety,
or anger we see everyday amongst the folks we love. For us
to figure out what will work, we have to seriously try damn
near everything until we can truly engage even 20% of the
people who have been screwed by this mess into the process
of trying to fix it. That means doubling, tripling and
quintupling the attendance at our community organization
meeting, prayers meeting, house meeting, fantasy football
game meeting and so on. Until then, we can't in good
conscience play the "we are more effective" card. And we
probably shouldn't throw darts at or make light of people
that are being arbitrarily arrested, corralled, and maced
for taking a stand at Wall Street.
One last thing, Sally. I used to always see this phrase,
"Another world is possible," usually on cheesy t-shirts.
After the execution of Troy Davis, as my Facebook feed was
flooded with virtual tears and screams of injustice, one
hint that another world was indeed possible was the small
yet significant convergence of people protesting Troy Davis'
execution onto Wall Street.
Sally, I know you know that another world is possible. I
know you are dedicated to building it. So why don't you and
me, the guys on the block who I grew up with, the folks who
our families went to or didn't go to church/mosque/mormon
temple with, the smelly anarchists and bleached out
republicans, the way too hetero and the drag queens, the
bikers and Bloods, and B-Boys and Emo kids come together and
do this. Let us figure out in the cleanest and messiest way
possible how we can all build a better world now.
[Subhash Kateel is the Co-Host of Let's Talk About It! a
Miami based talk-radio show that talks about the real issues
that affect the lives of real people.
http://www.letstalkaboutit.info/ He is also a long time
Immigrant Rights organizer and a past contributor to
Organizing Upgrade.]
==========
This is a response to the None of us are winning, yet by
Subhash Kateel which we posted late Tuesday night as a
challenge to Sally Kohn's original piece in the American
Prospect which criticized the nature of the Occupy Wall
Street Protest. We are publishing this back and forth
because our mission at Organizing Upgrade is to upgrade the
theory and practice of left organizing, and this exchange is
great example of real time debate about what is happening
right now. Also, it is great to see two people with so much
respect for each other engage in a principled public debate.
Big ups to Subhash and Sally. For more information on Occupy
Wall Street go here: https://occupywallst.org/.
Sally Kohn responds
Organizing Upgrade
September 28, 2011
http://www.organizingupgrade.com/2011/09/kohn/
Subhash Kateel is one of my heroes. He launched one of the
most visionary, cutting edge community based organizations
in the country, Families for Freedom. While I want to make
clear what I attempted to convey in my original piece that
any form of struggle is inherently worthwhile and admirable,
two things about Families for Freedom caught my eye
initially.
First, it was an organization not started by well-meaning
white folks who wanted to help immigrants. Those are great,
but we have plenty of `em. Families for Freedom was started
by two visionary organizers of color in touch with the
communities they were organizing and personally shaped by
the issue of deportation.
Second, yes, Families for Freedom sometimes protested for
protest's sake - understandable given the desperation and
powerlessness many of their members felt. But they also used
creative tactics designed to make a real impact. Once,
passing by some embassies in Washington, D.C., I noticed
folks wearing Families for Freedom t-shirts. Huh? It turns
out, rather than just pressuring the United States
government to stop deportations, Families for Freedom was
enlisting the home countries of immigrants to fight for
their nationals. Their campaign drew on novel
interpretations of international law to push bold and
tangible demands. It was strategically and tactically
brilliant. [As a footnote/disclaimer: I was so inspired by
Subhash and Families for Freedom's work, I agreed to serve
on the board for a period and helped the organization raise
money.]
My piece in the American Prospect, imperfect though it may
be, was intended as a constructive critique and prompt for
self-reflection about all of our organizing and protest
tactics, using Occupy Wall Street as a timely lens.
Apparently, the jokes about smelly anarchists fell flat with
many (though I suspect just as many laughed) - but I'm more
saddened that my defenses of Occupy Wall Street and the
value of their taking action were apparently obscured by my
critique. I'd encourage those interested to read my piece
for CNN.com (actually, written before the American Prospect
post) in which I defend not only Occupy Wall Street but the
necessity of protest and direct action in general.
That said, a lot of things understandably ruffled Subhash
and others about my critique of Occupy Wall Street. But I
hope that being ruffled - that challenging our assumptions,
reflecting on what works and doesn't work in our field,
engaging in healthy debate not among our opponents but our
friends - is precisely what will make us stronger.
I quoted the New York Times not because I believe it is a
bastion of truth but because I believe it fairly closely
represents what I would call "official mainstream opinion" -
that is, most Americans don't read the New York Times but
they get their news and information from media makers who
almost exclusively rely on the reporting and framing of the
Times. So if our goal is to get out on the streets and vent
and protest, it doesn't matter what the Times thinks. If our
goal is to reach the progressive choir through progressive
media outlets, it doesn't matter what the Times thinks. But
if our goal is to reach mainstream America, to shape and
shift popular opinion and popular will, then at the very
least the New York Times is an appropriate barometer.
My favorite part of Subhash's post was, "To be sure, Sally's
point about the disconnect between seemingly privileged
participants of Occupy Wall Street, and the struggling folks
of the five boroughs is well taken. I have heard the same
criticism from a bunch of people on the ground." In fact,
that was the entire point of my piece - that we should see
protest as a "collective art form", the collective coming
from "deeper, sustained work of movement building", the art
coming from innovative and unexpected forms of disobedience.
Subhash ends by reminding us "Another world is possible."
Yes, and another movement is possible, too. If I'm guilty of
wanting that movement to be as grounded and representative
of all Americans, especially those on the front-lines of
suffering in our broken economy, springing from the very
same well of accountable leadership Subhash has demonstrated
throughout his work, I can live with that.
==========
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