Click on the headline to link to Occupy Oakland website for the latest from the Bay Area vanguard battleground in the struggle for social justice.
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An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
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Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
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A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the rights of public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
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Markin comment November 20, 2011:
In light of the events of the past few weeks, our successes in things like shutting down the Port of Oakland and our “defeats” in losing many of our encampments through brutal police action, we need to keep on the offensive. The Oakland Commune’s proposal for a West Coast shutdown of the ports needs to be energetically implemented. We need to go from the tents to the places where it hurts the capitalists-their profits and pocketbooks. The time for talk is fading, fading fast. The streets are not for dreaming now. Our time is now! Seize The Time! Defend The Oakland Commune!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Union!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!
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Occupy Oakland Calls for TOTAL WEST COAST PORT SHUTDOWN ON 12/12
November 19, 2011
Proposal for a Coordinated West Coast Port Shutdown, Passed With Unanimous Consensus by vote of the Occupy Oakland General Assembly 11/18/2012:
In response to coordinated attacks on the occupations and attacks on workers across the nation:
Occupy Oakland calls for the blockade and disruption of the economic apparatus of the 1% with a coordinated shutdown of ports on the entire West Coast on December 12th. The 1% has disrupted the lives of longshoremen and port truckers and the workers who create their wealth, just as coordinated nationwide police attacks have turned our cities into battlegrounds in an effort to disrupt our Occupy movement.
We call on each West Coast occupation to organize a mass mobilization to shut down its local port. Our eyes are on the continued union-busting and attacks on organized labor, in particular the rupture of Longshoremen jurisdiction in Longview Washington by the EGT. Already, Occupy Los Angeles has passed a resolution to carry out a port action on the Port Of Los Angeles on December 12th, to shut down SSA terminals, which are owned by Goldman Sachs.
Occupy Oakland expands this call to the entire West Coast, and calls for continuing solidarity with the Longshoremen in Longview Washington in their ongoing struggle against the EGT. The EGT is an international grain exporter led by Bunge LTD, a company constituted of 1% bankers whose practices have ruined the lives of the working class all over the world, from Argentina to the West Coast of the US. During the November 2nd General Strike, tens of thousands shutdown the Port Of Oakland as a warning shot to EGT to stop its attacks on Longview. Since the EGT has disregarded this message, and continues to attack the Longshoremen at Longview, we will now shut down ports along the entire West Coast.
■Participating occupations are asked to ensure that during the port shutdowns the local arbitrator rules in favor of longshoremen not crossing community picket lines in order to avoid recriminations against them.
■Should there be any retaliation against any workers as a result of their honoring pickets or supporting our port actions, additional solidarity actions should be prepared.
■In the event of police repression of any of the mobilizations, shutdown actions may be extended to multiple days.
In Solidarity and Struggle,
Occupy Oakland
-In Oakland: the West Coast Port Shutdown Coordinating Committee will meet on General Assembly days at 5pm before the GA to organize the local shutdown, and to network with other occupations.
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Workers Vanguard No. 986
16 September 2011
Longshoremen Play Hardball in Longview, Washington
ILWU Fights Deadly Threat
SEPTEMBER 13—For decades the unions in this country have been taking it in the teeth, their leadership lying down in the face of a union-busting juggernaut launched when the PATCO air traffic controllers were smashed in 1981. But on September 8, in the port town of Longview, Washington, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and their allies in other unions mobilized the kind of militant labor action that built the union movement in this country.
In the early hours of the morning, a picket of more than 500 unionists massed outside the newly built $200 million grain terminal of the giant EGT Development conglomerate, which wants to keep the ILWU out. Police who had earlier clubbed and pepper-sprayed picketers decided to take a hike. Faced with hundreds of longshoremen, the Longview police chief said, the cops had “used the better part of discretion.” The company’s security guard thugs also fled under police escort. Now EGT is complaining that grain cargo aboard a 107-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train that had pulled into the terminal earlier was dumped on the tracks and that the train’s brake lines were cut. Later that day, a federal judge who had brought down a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) injunction against “aggressive picketing” in Longview complained that he felt “like a paper tiger.”
For months, ILWU Local 21, which has controlled all work loading and unloading ships in Longview for more than 70 years, has fought the EGT union-busters. In mid July, a mass picket of hundreds of ILWUers and other unionists stopped a BNSF train from delivering grain to the terminal (see “ILWU Battles Union Busters,” WV No. 984, 5 August). BNSF suspended service to the terminal. Then, on September 7, the company tried to move in a train carrying grain from Minnesota. At the port of Vancouver, Washington, just up the Columbia River from Longview, the train was blocked by 200 picketers occupying the tracks. While the unionists temporarily prevailed, later that day the train was on the way to Longview, where 300 longshoremen and their allies massed on the tracks to stop it.
Attacked by riot-equipped cops wielding clubs, tear gas and guns loaded with rubber bullets, the picketers stood down. ILWU International president Bob McEllrath was brutally manhandled by a gang of cops. Calling on the workers to disperse for now, he argued, “You can get maced and tear-gassed and clubbed” or wait for the backing of other longshoremen. ILWU members were outraged by pictures of McEllrath being roughed up and detained by the cops—an attack reminiscent of PATCO leaders being led away in shackles. The ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett were shut down as union members walked off the job early on September 8.
Hours later, there were reinforcements on the Longview picket lines. EGT, its hired thugs and the cops got a real taste of union power. Even the New York Times (9 September) acknowledged: “The longshoremen’s actions were a rare show of union militancy, reminiscent of labor actions a century ago.” Today it was reported that two pro-union protesters have been arrested, one of them on four felony charges, with the police threatening more arrests. All labor must back the ILWU and demand that all charges against the unionists and their supporters be dropped.
The stakes in this battle are high. Negotiations for a new Northwest Grainhandlers Agreement between the ILWU and the giant conglomerates that dominate the grain business begin this month. EGT—a joint venture between St. Louis-based Bunge North America, the Japanese Itochu Corp. and the South Korean shipping giant STX Pan Ocean—is Bunge’s first foray into the Pacific Northwest. If EGT gets away with keeping the ILWU out at Longview, it will be a declaration to other grain companies that it’s open season on the union. A defeat at Longview would be a body blow against this powerful union, whose core longshore division contract is up in 2014.
Behind EGT stands the power of the capitalist state. In August, the NLRB filed for an injunction seeking to stop “aggressive picketing” at the Longview terminal and challenging the ILWU’s right to the jobs at EGT. On the afternoon of the September 8 action, a federal judge made permanent the injunction requested by the NLRB, although he refused the NLRB request that all picketing be banned. Carrying fines of $25,000 per violation, the injunction was extended to cover the entire ILWU. The union now faces a “contempt of court” hearing. Nationwide, the hired pens of the capitalist media have unleashed a rabid, labor-hating barrage against the ILWU, slamming it as a pack of “thugs.”
The ILWU demonstrated the power of labor that lies in its collective organization, discipline and above all its capacity to shut down the flow of goods. Working people around the country, whose unions, jobs, wages and working conditions have been ravaged in a one-sided class war that has hit especially hard during the current economic crisis, cheered the ILWU’s action: Finally, a union is standing up and fighting back! To be sure, it is not easy to win in the face of the forces of the capitalist state. But it is better to fight on your feet than die on your knees! And when an important strike is won, it can dramatically alter the entire situation. In 1934, the San Francisco general strike that forged the ILWU and the mass strikes in Toledo and Minneapolis—all led by reds—set the stage for the 1937 Flint sitdown strike against General Motors and the rise of the CIO.
Labor Traitor Trumka Stabs ILWU in the Back
The ILWU must not stand alone! Unions must be mobilized in concrete actions of solidarity, beginning with the Teamsters-affiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen who drive the BNSF trains. Nothing should move in or out of the EGT facility! The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which organizes longshoremen on East Coast and Gulf ports, issued a statement of solidarity with the ILWU, condemning the police attack on McEllrath and other union members. The Washington Federation of State Employees (AFSCME Council 28) did likewise, condemning “the management actions to break the ILWU at Longview or any port along the West Coast.” It’s going to take more than words to stop the EGT union-busters.
Outrageously, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka has come out in opposition to the defense of the ILWU! Instead, Trumka is peddling the lie that what’s involved in Longview is a “jurisdictional dispute” between the ILWU and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 701, whose members are scabbing on the ILWU. Trumka’s “jurisdictional dispute” line is the same one being pushed by EGT as a fig leaf for its union-busting. While the company went through a show of negotiating with the ILWU, it’s been clear from the beginning that EGT wants a non-union facility.
In January, EGT filed a court suit against the provision in its lease with the Port of Longview mandating that the company employ ILWU Local 21 members, arguing that “the lease did not impose any obligation whatsoever upon EGT to utilize union labor at the terminal” (our emphasis). After longshoremen shut down the BNSF grain shipment in July, EGT turned around and hired a subcontractor which employs Local 701 labor. Ever since, these scabs have been crossing the ILWU’s picket lines, while EGT cynically boasts that it is providing “local, family-wage” union jobs. Only a company dupe could buy this line.
The executive committee of the Oregon AFL-CIO passed a resolution condemning the IUOE “scab labor actions” at Longview despite the attempt by state federation president Tom Chamberlain to rule it out of order. In August, Trumka sent a letter backing Chamberlain, arguing that “the resolution should be considered void, and no action should be taken by the state federation under the resolution.” Trumka wants the ILWU to call off its fight and submit to a complicated hearing under the AFL-CIO’s provision for jurisdictional disputes. The only “jurisdictional” dispute in Longview is between capital and labor! And Trumka has taken the side of the bosses.
While the ILWU was fighting for its life in Longview on September 8, Trumka was a guest of honor at Barack Obama’s “fight for jobs” speech to Congress. The AFL-CIO president is especially concerned that militancy at Longview could ignite a class battle that would threaten Obama’s re-election. The Wall Street Journal sees the same possible outcome. In a September 9 editorial headlined “A Union Goes Too Far,” this mouthpiece for the corporations and bankers declared: “If ILWU shops begin slowdowns in sympathy with the union in Washington state…the events yesterday will become a national issue demanding the attention of a President who is desperately trying to hold his union base together. This one is worth watching.”
The price that has been paid for the bureaucrats’ subordination of the unions to the Democratic Party—which less crudely than the Republicans represents the interests of the capitalist class—can be seen in decades of broken unions and busted strikes. Such class collaboration is a central obstacle to the workers waging the kind of class battles needed to defend their interests. The AFL-CIO officialdom’s commitment to the Democratic Party is equally shared by the ILWU International leadership. But with the very existence of the union on the line, McEllrath has been propelled into an episode of the class struggle that is inevitable in a society based on the exploitation of the many for the profits of the few.
“There Are No Neutrals There”
The ILWU’s battles in Longview have starkly laid bare the irreconcilable class divide between the workers and the capitalist class enemy. But this is obscured by presenting it as a fight of the Longview “community” against a giant multinational conglomerate. The refrain of the old coal miners’ Harlan County fighting song asks: “Which Side Are You On?” This question is being increasingly posed in Longview, where shopkeepers are under pressure to remove signs supporting the ILWU from their windows. The local newspaper ran an appeal from Cowlitz County sheriff Mark Nelson to turn in union militants involved in the September 8 struggle. Defense of the “community” has fed “outside agitator” baiting by the cops, directed against ILWU members from outside Longview, including McEllrath.
Illusions that the cops are just regular community folks are suicidal. The job of the police is to “serve and protect” the interests of the corporations, as was more than amply demonstrated in their brutal assault on ILWU picketers. Every hard-fought labor struggle in the history of this country has been a pitched battle with the capitalists’ strikebreaking thugs, from cops and company goons to National Guardsmen and other scabherders. Behind them stand the courts and other state agencies. These are all part of the machinery of the capitalist state, whose purpose is to defend the property and profits of the capitalist owners through the suppression of the working class.
This machinery includes the NLRB, which was created under the Democratic Party administration of that “friend of labor” icon, Franklin Roosevelt, to head off and co-opt the class battles of the 1930s. The NLRB exists to tie the unions up in endless legal machinations in order to prevent workers from using their collective power to organize, stop work and stop the flow of profits. Today, the suit against the ILWU by the NLRB—two of whose three current members were appointed by Democrats—is a brief for EGT union-busting.
The lie peddled by the union tops that the state can be pressured to serve the workers’ interests is matched by their promotion of the interests of American capitalism against its overseas competitors. In a press statement, ILWU spokeswoman Jennifer Sargent said that the purpose of militant actions by longshoremen in Longview is “to stand up to a foreign company that’s trying to get a foothold in Washington and undermine the grain industry.” Agriculture is big business in America, and one of the few where the U.S. has a competitive advantage. But anyone who thinks that this has benefited U.S. agricultural or other workers is severely deluded. No less than their foreign counterparts, American corporations are in business for one reason only, and that is to generate profits. The workers have no interest in promoting the profitability of their “own” capitalist rulers, which is purchased through the increasingly brutal exploitation of labor. U.S. grain bosses are just as eager as EGT’s non-American components to bust the ILWU.
For longshoremen whose very jobs are dependent on foreign trade—both imports and exports—to wave the red-white-and-blue “made in the U.S.A.” banner is particularly ludicrous. Unlike the Trumka leadership of the AFL-CIO, the International Transport Workers’ Federation has issued a statement in support of the ILWU. Whether or not the ILWU wins this battle might well depend on support actions by port and maritime workers throughout Asia refusing to handle scab EGT grain shipments. The ILWU isn’t going to win such support by waving the flag of U.S. imperialism, which is soaked in the blood of countless workers and oppressed masses around the globe.
Break with the Democrats! Build a Workers Party!
With their backs against the wall, the ILWU leadership has taken some bold action. The fight has been engaged and there’s no going back. The strength of the union lies in its multiracial coastwide membership. The Pacific Maritime Association bosses have long tried to pit one port against another, playing the overwhelmingly white Pacific Northwest locals, the largely black San Francisco local and the largely Latino membership in Los Angeles/Long Beach against each other. It is crucial that the union stand as one and fight to galvanize the rest of the labor movement in struggle behind it.
Trumka’s treachery vividly illustrates the role of the labor bureaucracy as the bosses’ agents in the unions, in which they serve as a central obstacle to working-class struggle. In 1921, in the face of an “open shop” offensive that was decimating the unions, James P. Cannon, then a leader of the Communist movement and later the founder of American Trotskyism, described the political program necessary to reforge the labor movement:
“The ‘open shop’ campaign is one of the manifestations of a state of war that exists in society between two opposing classes: the producers and the parasites. This war cuts through the whole population like a great dividing sword; it creates two hostile camps and puts every man in his place in one or the other….
“Let the unions put aside their illusions; let them face the issue squarely and fight it out on the basis of the class struggle. Instead of seeking peace when there is no peace, and ‘understanding’ with those who do not want to understand, let them declare war on the whole capitalist regime. That is the way to save the unions and to make them grow in the face of adversity and become powerful war engines for the destruction of capitalism and the reorganization of society on the foundation of working class control in industry and government.”
— “Who Can Save the Unions?” (7 May 1921), reprinted in James P. Cannon and the Early Years of American Communism (Prometheus Research Library, 1992)
In 1934, Cannon and his party would provide the leadership for the series of strikes in Minneapolis that forged the Teamsters as an industrial union.
There is massive discontent at the base of American society that can be galvanized through class battles like that at Longview. But to realize this potential poses the question of leadership. The current labor misleadership must be ousted and replaced with workers’ leaders who link the fight to defend the unions to building a multiracial revolutionary workers party. The Spartacist League/U.S. uniquely puts forward the program to build such a party, the necessary instrument to lead the working class in the fight to do away with the entire system of capitalist wage slavery through socialist revolution.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
From #Occupied Boston (#Tomemonos Boston)-Day 69- This Is Class War, We Say No More!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Unions!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!- Port Of Boston Workers Shut Down The Port!-Occupiers March On The Port!
Click on the headline to link to updates from the Occupy Boston website. Occupy Boston started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post important updates as they appear on that site.
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An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
********
Markin comment:
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Oakland !
**************
Press Release: Support Grows for West Coast Port Shut Down
http://westcoastportshutdown.org/
Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 15:25
SUPPORT GROWS FOR OCCUPY MOVEMENT'S COORDINATED WEST COAST SHUT DOWN ON DECEMBER 12TH
As of November 27, 2011, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organizing a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12, 2011. Other West Coast Occupies, including Occupy Anchorage and Vancouver, Canada are planning to join the economic blockade and disruption of the 1% on that date, according to organizers.
"We're shutting down these ports because of the union busting and attacks on the working class by the 1%: the firing of Port truckers organizing at SSA terminals in LA; the attempt to rupture ILWU union jurisdiction in Longview, WA by EGT. EGT includes Bunge LTD, a company which reported 2.5 billion dollars in profit last year and has economically devastated poor people in Argentina and Brazil. SSA is responsible for inhumane working conditions and gross exploitation of port truckers and is owned by Goldman Sachs. EGT and Goldman Sachs is Wallstreet on the Waterfront" stated Barucha Peller of the West Coast Port Blockade Assembly of Occupy Oakland.
"We are also striking back against the nationally' coordinated attack on the Occupy movement. In response to the police violence and camp evictions against the Occupy movement- This is our coordinated response against the 1%. On December 12th we will show are collective power through pinpointed economic blockade of the 1%."
Each Occupy is organizing plans for a mass mobilization and community pickets to shut down their local Port. The mobilization of over 60,000 people that shut down the Port of Oakland during the general strike on November 2, 2011 is the model for the West Coast efforts. Organizers state that a police attempt to disrupt the port blockade or police violence against any city participating will extend duration of the blockade on the entire coast.
"These Ports are public. People have a right to come to the Port and protest. The ILWU has historically honored picket lines at the Port." stated Clarence Thomas, a member of ILWU Local 10.
ILWU longshore workers are involved as individuals in the planning of the Shutdown. "I am a longshoreman and I support the December 12th Blockade against EGT. EGT is a threat to the survival of the ILWU," stated Anthony Leviege, a member of Local 10. Dan Coffman, the president of Local 21 in Longview, has publicly thanked the Occupy movement and Occupy Oakland for its actions on November 2nd.
Further interviews and details can be obtained through local Port Blockade committees and the Oakland West Coast Port Blockade Assembly.
********
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
********
Markin comment:
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Oakland !
**************
Press Release: Support Grows for West Coast Port Shut Down
http://westcoastportshutdown.org/
Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 15:25
SUPPORT GROWS FOR OCCUPY MOVEMENT'S COORDINATED WEST COAST SHUT DOWN ON DECEMBER 12TH
As of November 27, 2011, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organizing a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12, 2011. Other West Coast Occupies, including Occupy Anchorage and Vancouver, Canada are planning to join the economic blockade and disruption of the 1% on that date, according to organizers.
"We're shutting down these ports because of the union busting and attacks on the working class by the 1%: the firing of Port truckers organizing at SSA terminals in LA; the attempt to rupture ILWU union jurisdiction in Longview, WA by EGT. EGT includes Bunge LTD, a company which reported 2.5 billion dollars in profit last year and has economically devastated poor people in Argentina and Brazil. SSA is responsible for inhumane working conditions and gross exploitation of port truckers and is owned by Goldman Sachs. EGT and Goldman Sachs is Wallstreet on the Waterfront" stated Barucha Peller of the West Coast Port Blockade Assembly of Occupy Oakland.
"We are also striking back against the nationally' coordinated attack on the Occupy movement. In response to the police violence and camp evictions against the Occupy movement- This is our coordinated response against the 1%. On December 12th we will show are collective power through pinpointed economic blockade of the 1%."
Each Occupy is organizing plans for a mass mobilization and community pickets to shut down their local Port. The mobilization of over 60,000 people that shut down the Port of Oakland during the general strike on November 2, 2011 is the model for the West Coast efforts. Organizers state that a police attempt to disrupt the port blockade or police violence against any city participating will extend duration of the blockade on the entire coast.
"These Ports are public. People have a right to come to the Port and protest. The ILWU has historically honored picket lines at the Port." stated Clarence Thomas, a member of ILWU Local 10.
ILWU longshore workers are involved as individuals in the planning of the Shutdown. "I am a longshoreman and I support the December 12th Blockade against EGT. EGT is a threat to the survival of the ILWU," stated Anthony Leviege, a member of Local 10. Dan Coffman, the president of Local 21 in Longview, has publicly thanked the Occupy movement and Occupy Oakland for its actions on November 2nd.
Further interviews and details can be obtained through local Port Blockade committees and the Oakland West Coast Port Blockade Assembly.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
From Boston Indy Media-Labor Must Choose Between Occupy and the Democrats by workers action
Labor Must Choose Between Occupy and the Democrats by workers action
(No verified email address) 21 Nov 2011
The Occupy Movement couldn't have come along at a worse time, from the viewpoint of the Democrats. Election season is just getting started and Occupy has thrown a giant wrench into the political machinery. Some labor leaders too are sensing “politics as usual” shifting under their feet; the “get out the vote” for the Democrats may elicit blank stares from the rank and file.
Occupy has the potential to create earthquakes within the labor movement and labor’s relationship to the Democrats, if it approaches the subject intelligently. This seismic shift could permanently change politics in the United States, much for the better.
Many commentators have noted that the Occupy Movement can be only poison for the Democrats. Unlike the Republicans, who benefited from the corporate sponsored far-right Tea Party, the Democrats have no intention of moving — or even flirting — with an independent movement to its left. Long before the corporate Presidency of Bill Clinton, the Democrats have moved only to the right, with the leftist talk reserved strictly for election campaigns. This evolution is now to the point where President Obama stands to the right of President and arch-Conservative Richard Nixon on most economic and social issues. Times have certainly changed.
In an effort to pretend that times haven't changed, some labor leaders are obsessed with comparing the modern Democrats with the modern Republicans, the latter who have evolved into a party that openly denies evolution and disdains all things non-corporate. Comparing Democrats with Republicans in this distorted manner certainly makes Democrats look good, while also avoiding the real issues at stake.
And then came Occupy. Real issues are now being talked about. Occupy has successfully pointed out the absurd policies of both corporate owned political parties. This disruption has created open hostility from Republicans and Democrats, the latter have stood silent as local riot police-- controlled mainly by Democratic Party administrations-- have attacked peaceful Occupy protesters all over the country. Even the eternally loyal Democrat Daily Kos website has spewed anti-Democrat anger over this:
"The deafening silence from Congress, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, and President Obama on the abuse of civilians exercising the right to assemble, and the right to freedom of speech, speaks volumes as to the priorities, concerns and goals of the political class in D.C. We should be very, very concerned and angry over this silence...Silence is in fact, complicity." (November 16, 2011).
The labor movement sees a natural ally in Occupy and is openly embracing it, to varying degrees. Of course the two movements are mutually compatible: labor has been fighting off and on against corporations since unions were born. The Occupy Movement is breathing fresh air into the working people's movement, and the unions had better go "all in" with Occupy, lest they stand alone and become totally irrelevant.
The labor movement thus has a foot in both worlds; one in step with the Occupy Movement and the other with the Democrats, who are working to crush Occupy outright. Labor's split personality is obviously unsustainable; something has got to give. A stark example of these incompatible positions was put forth by Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), when she discussed SEIU's recent endorsement of President Obama:
"We need a leader [Obama] willing to fight for the needs of the 99 percent . . . .Our economy and democracy have been taken over by the wealthiest one percent."
What?! Corporations gave Obama far more money than his previous Republican opponent, John McCain. Corporations are again giving Obama more money than his current Republican counterparts. He doesn't need the dues money of union workers; he's already flush with corporate cash.
Mary Kay Henry is just one of several top labor officials who frame the Occupy Movement as a battle against "the right wing,” i.e., Republicans. In response to this argument, Glenn Greenwald of Salon commented:
"...pretending that the ongoing [Occupy] protests are grounded in the belief that the GOP is the party of the rich while the Democrats are the party of the working class is likely to fool just about nobody other than those fooled by that already" (November 19, 2011).
If labor plans on being relevant to the Occupy Movement — and this means being relevant at all in the near future — major changes must occur. And although many Occupiers have expressed concern about Labor having ulterior motives to co-opt the Occupy Movement, the threat is greatly exaggerated.
Most labor unions are politically co-opted by the Democrats. Labor still needs a national political voice. Though the mass actions of the Occupy Movement have done more to change the political climate than the millions who voted for Obama, most of Labor's entrenched leadership remain attached to the Democrats in an illusory attempt to have a national voice.
In practice this means that labor ignores the pro-corporate policies of Democratic politicians while unions water down its demands to make them compatible with the positions of Democrats. Occupy won't stand for this, or even listen to it.
Some major examples of labor's neutered pro-Democrat Party politics are:
-National labor unions largely ignored the fact that Democratic Governors, elected with the help of the unions, recently forced major concessions on public sector unions all over the country, substantially weakening the larger labor movement.
-Labor's political subservience to the Democrats also means that, instead of demanding a real jobs program, labor is reduced to supporting Obama's truly pathetic jobs program, which would create a million or so jobs, when 20 million plus are needed.
-Worse yet is labor's virtual inaction in response to Obama's Super Committee, which intends to cut the national budget deficit on the backs of working people, especially by slashing Medicare and Medicaid, and very likely Social Security, creating a precedent for even larger cuts in the future. This amounts to perhaps the biggest single attack on working people in recent U.S. history, as it would dramatically affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. While AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has made some strong statements against these cuts, neither he, nor any of the other top labor officials, have called for what is really needed, which is a massive, nationally coordinated mobilization of the ranks of the labor movement and labor’s allies, the 99%, to take to the streets of America to demand of the government: No Cuts! No Concessions! Tax the Rich!
If labor plans on building a strong movement with Occupy — and they had better — then these suicidal pro-Democratic Party policies must end. Labor cannot earn credibility within the Occupy Movement and then completely change course to campaign for Obama, in effect throwing all credibility in the garbage.
If labor puts forth watered down demands — like Obama's jobs bill — it will elicit no response from the vast majority of Occupiers and their supporters. The Occupy Movement recognizes the dire economic situation the country is in and is not held back by mainstream politicians.
This gives the Occupy Movement an amazing chance to lead labor down the right path. There is a wide gulf between the demands that the labor movement and the Democratic Party are putting forward and what working people desperately need. Occupy would not exist were this not the case.
Therefore, Occupy must address the nationwide social crisis in a serious way that can unite working people, and help drive the labor movement forward in the process.
For example, instead of the labor movement merely demanding End the Bush Tax Cuts, Occupy could demand Tax the 1% at 90% (as it was under Franklin Delano Roosevelt).
Instead of labor demanding that Obama's Jobs bill be passed, the Occupy Movement should demand that revenue from taxing the rich be used to create 20 million new jobs, a federal jobs program similar to the one implemented in the 1930s, but bigger.
Most importantly, Occupy could start a national campaign demanding NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by taxing the rich and corporations.
Taxing the rich should be a critical demand of the Occupy movement, since it naturally unites working people against cuts and produces revenue that can create jobs. Taxing the rich is also the demand that naturally emerges from the slogan "We Are the 99%,” which reveals the giant wealth disequilibrium that has happened in the country, in large part due to the shrinking tax rates of the rich.
There is plenty of room for Occupy to prove its political independence by putting forth demands that will discredit the Democrats and lead Labor towards campaigns that the majority of working people will join, making Occupy/Labor an unstoppable force. If occupy mobilizes over key demands that resonate with the majority, the unions will follow. They will have no choice, since their rank and file will already be following Occupy.
See also:
http://www.workerscompass.org
This work is in the public domain
**********
(No verified email address) 21 Nov 2011
The Occupy Movement couldn't have come along at a worse time, from the viewpoint of the Democrats. Election season is just getting started and Occupy has thrown a giant wrench into the political machinery. Some labor leaders too are sensing “politics as usual” shifting under their feet; the “get out the vote” for the Democrats may elicit blank stares from the rank and file.
Occupy has the potential to create earthquakes within the labor movement and labor’s relationship to the Democrats, if it approaches the subject intelligently. This seismic shift could permanently change politics in the United States, much for the better.
Many commentators have noted that the Occupy Movement can be only poison for the Democrats. Unlike the Republicans, who benefited from the corporate sponsored far-right Tea Party, the Democrats have no intention of moving — or even flirting — with an independent movement to its left. Long before the corporate Presidency of Bill Clinton, the Democrats have moved only to the right, with the leftist talk reserved strictly for election campaigns. This evolution is now to the point where President Obama stands to the right of President and arch-Conservative Richard Nixon on most economic and social issues. Times have certainly changed.
In an effort to pretend that times haven't changed, some labor leaders are obsessed with comparing the modern Democrats with the modern Republicans, the latter who have evolved into a party that openly denies evolution and disdains all things non-corporate. Comparing Democrats with Republicans in this distorted manner certainly makes Democrats look good, while also avoiding the real issues at stake.
And then came Occupy. Real issues are now being talked about. Occupy has successfully pointed out the absurd policies of both corporate owned political parties. This disruption has created open hostility from Republicans and Democrats, the latter have stood silent as local riot police-- controlled mainly by Democratic Party administrations-- have attacked peaceful Occupy protesters all over the country. Even the eternally loyal Democrat Daily Kos website has spewed anti-Democrat anger over this:
"The deafening silence from Congress, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, and President Obama on the abuse of civilians exercising the right to assemble, and the right to freedom of speech, speaks volumes as to the priorities, concerns and goals of the political class in D.C. We should be very, very concerned and angry over this silence...Silence is in fact, complicity." (November 16, 2011).
The labor movement sees a natural ally in Occupy and is openly embracing it, to varying degrees. Of course the two movements are mutually compatible: labor has been fighting off and on against corporations since unions were born. The Occupy Movement is breathing fresh air into the working people's movement, and the unions had better go "all in" with Occupy, lest they stand alone and become totally irrelevant.
The labor movement thus has a foot in both worlds; one in step with the Occupy Movement and the other with the Democrats, who are working to crush Occupy outright. Labor's split personality is obviously unsustainable; something has got to give. A stark example of these incompatible positions was put forth by Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), when she discussed SEIU's recent endorsement of President Obama:
"We need a leader [Obama] willing to fight for the needs of the 99 percent . . . .Our economy and democracy have been taken over by the wealthiest one percent."
What?! Corporations gave Obama far more money than his previous Republican opponent, John McCain. Corporations are again giving Obama more money than his current Republican counterparts. He doesn't need the dues money of union workers; he's already flush with corporate cash.
Mary Kay Henry is just one of several top labor officials who frame the Occupy Movement as a battle against "the right wing,” i.e., Republicans. In response to this argument, Glenn Greenwald of Salon commented:
"...pretending that the ongoing [Occupy] protests are grounded in the belief that the GOP is the party of the rich while the Democrats are the party of the working class is likely to fool just about nobody other than those fooled by that already" (November 19, 2011).
If labor plans on being relevant to the Occupy Movement — and this means being relevant at all in the near future — major changes must occur. And although many Occupiers have expressed concern about Labor having ulterior motives to co-opt the Occupy Movement, the threat is greatly exaggerated.
Most labor unions are politically co-opted by the Democrats. Labor still needs a national political voice. Though the mass actions of the Occupy Movement have done more to change the political climate than the millions who voted for Obama, most of Labor's entrenched leadership remain attached to the Democrats in an illusory attempt to have a national voice.
In practice this means that labor ignores the pro-corporate policies of Democratic politicians while unions water down its demands to make them compatible with the positions of Democrats. Occupy won't stand for this, or even listen to it.
Some major examples of labor's neutered pro-Democrat Party politics are:
-National labor unions largely ignored the fact that Democratic Governors, elected with the help of the unions, recently forced major concessions on public sector unions all over the country, substantially weakening the larger labor movement.
-Labor's political subservience to the Democrats also means that, instead of demanding a real jobs program, labor is reduced to supporting Obama's truly pathetic jobs program, which would create a million or so jobs, when 20 million plus are needed.
-Worse yet is labor's virtual inaction in response to Obama's Super Committee, which intends to cut the national budget deficit on the backs of working people, especially by slashing Medicare and Medicaid, and very likely Social Security, creating a precedent for even larger cuts in the future. This amounts to perhaps the biggest single attack on working people in recent U.S. history, as it would dramatically affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. While AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has made some strong statements against these cuts, neither he, nor any of the other top labor officials, have called for what is really needed, which is a massive, nationally coordinated mobilization of the ranks of the labor movement and labor’s allies, the 99%, to take to the streets of America to demand of the government: No Cuts! No Concessions! Tax the Rich!
If labor plans on building a strong movement with Occupy — and they had better — then these suicidal pro-Democratic Party policies must end. Labor cannot earn credibility within the Occupy Movement and then completely change course to campaign for Obama, in effect throwing all credibility in the garbage.
If labor puts forth watered down demands — like Obama's jobs bill — it will elicit no response from the vast majority of Occupiers and their supporters. The Occupy Movement recognizes the dire economic situation the country is in and is not held back by mainstream politicians.
This gives the Occupy Movement an amazing chance to lead labor down the right path. There is a wide gulf between the demands that the labor movement and the Democratic Party are putting forward and what working people desperately need. Occupy would not exist were this not the case.
Therefore, Occupy must address the nationwide social crisis in a serious way that can unite working people, and help drive the labor movement forward in the process.
For example, instead of the labor movement merely demanding End the Bush Tax Cuts, Occupy could demand Tax the 1% at 90% (as it was under Franklin Delano Roosevelt).
Instead of labor demanding that Obama's Jobs bill be passed, the Occupy Movement should demand that revenue from taxing the rich be used to create 20 million new jobs, a federal jobs program similar to the one implemented in the 1930s, but bigger.
Most importantly, Occupy could start a national campaign demanding NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by taxing the rich and corporations.
Taxing the rich should be a critical demand of the Occupy movement, since it naturally unites working people against cuts and produces revenue that can create jobs. Taxing the rich is also the demand that naturally emerges from the slogan "We Are the 99%,” which reveals the giant wealth disequilibrium that has happened in the country, in large part due to the shrinking tax rates of the rich.
There is plenty of room for Occupy to prove its political independence by putting forth demands that will discredit the Democrats and lead Labor towards campaigns that the majority of working people will join, making Occupy/Labor an unstoppable force. If occupy mobilizes over key demands that resonate with the majority, the unions will follow. They will have no choice, since their rank and file will already be following Occupy.
See also:
http://www.workerscompass.org
This work is in the public domain
**********
The Latest From The SteveLendmanBlog
Markin comment:
I am always happy to post material from the SteveLendmanBlog, although I am not always in agreement with his analysis. I am always interested in getting a left-liberal/radical perspective on some issues that I don’t generally have time to cover in full like the question of Palestine, the Middle East in general, and civil rights and economic issues here in America and elsewhere. Moreover the blog provides plenty of useful links to other sources of information about the subject under discussion.
I am always happy to post material from the SteveLendmanBlog, although I am not always in agreement with his analysis. I am always interested in getting a left-liberal/radical perspective on some issues that I don’t generally have time to cover in full like the question of Palestine, the Middle East in general, and civil rights and economic issues here in America and elsewhere. Moreover the blog provides plenty of useful links to other sources of information about the subject under discussion.
From The UJP Website-Rules of Engagement for Non-Profits and Unions Working with the #Occupy Movement
Rules of Engagement for Non-Profits and Unions Working with the #Occupy Movement
Submitted by Jason Pramas on Tue, 12/06/2011 - 5:12pm.
by Jason Pramas - OpenMedia Boston - Nov-21-11
There has been a great deal of interest by progressive unions, labor federations, community-labor coalitions, and non-profits of many kinds in the rise of the Occupy movement. A lot of this interest is positive, and represents the leadership of existing progressive organizations understanding the importance of expanding their efforts at this particular moment in history - and reaching out to the new movement in the best spirit of mutual aid and solidarity.
Some of this interest, however, is less positive. I won't speculate overmuch in this editorial about why organizations that claim to share the values of the new movement might engage in questionable behavior towards it. Suffice to say, some organizations have what could best be described as "turf issues" with the occupiers - which has unfortunately been the case here in Boston at times.
It is ever thus when representatives of an old order come face to face with a potential new order - in progressive politics as in every sphere of human activity. And a certain amount of friction between these forces, as I've written previously, is healthy. Especially if non-profit and union leadership heeds the admonition I wrote to media producers, intellectuals and professionals in an editorial at the beginning of the Occupy movement, and pledges to accompany the movement. Offering their skills and resources to the occupiers without trying to maneuver for power.
But when this friction devolves into attempts by the old order to subsume the new, and wipe it out - directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally - it's not always so healthy. Because any serious attempt to shove the new movement back into the old organizing bottles will kill it.
So I thought I'd offer a few ideas that I'm calling "Rules of Engagement" for the consideration of all the progressive organizations in United States and beyond that are trying to work with the Occupy movement. I am speaking here both as a journalist that has been covering the progressive scene in Boston since 2008, and as a longtime progressive activist in community organizations and unions at the local, national and international level. I am not directly involved in the Occupy movement, having decided it was more important to spread accurate information about the movement to the public at large as a reporter and editor than it was to join it. But in the course of my work I have spoken to a good number of Occupy activists, and closely tracked coverage of the movement in the media. Putting the observations I've made about the Occupy movement together with my knowledge of the progressive non-profit and union scene - and combining all that with my previous experience as an activist - led me to write the "rules" that follow.
In putting forward my ideas on these matters, I'm not saying that the Occupy movement is perfect, or that it can do no wrong, or any such thing. But I am saying that the only social force that has the possibility of overthrowing capitalism in favor of democracy and saving humanity from political, economic and ecological catastrophe in the foreseeable future is the Occupy movement. No existing progressive organization or group of such organizations in the old model has anything like that potential. Especially those many groups that refuse to even name capitalism as the main enemy of democracy in this age - choosing instead to focus on this crime or that crime committed by its adherents minus any explanatory systemic analysis.
The one potential the old left does have, though, is the potential to destroy the Occupy movement by the death of a thousand cuts - or more colorfully, the "circular firing squad" behavior the American left is justifiably infamous for implementing against any faction that has a chance of majoritarian success.
Which is why, in summation, I think it is far better for non-profits and unions to work with the movement in a solidaristic fashion, than to try to take it over or push it out of their way.
Read on for details.
1) Learn how the Occupy movement works before engaging with it
The Occupy movement - at two months old - has already developed a sophisticated internal process and a welcoming culture. While not perfect, it's easy to plug in, as long as your organization makes an effort to work within the Occupy movement's system of governance. That means showing up for public meetings, learning their rules for discussion and debate, and the hand signals that go with them. It also means understanding how their general assemblies work, and how their working groups function. Organizations that do this will demonstrate to occupiers that they "get it." Organizations that don't set up a "we-thou" relationship instead. Meaning a "we know it all, you know nothing" relationship. Which is a poor way to begin a friendship, yes?
2) Respect the Occupy movement's process
The fastest way to alienate occupiers is to try to find their "actual leaders" rather than working with their established process. Their only leader is that democratic process - most especially the general assemblies - which are institutions of direct democracy. Organizations looking for back room meetings with "movers and shakers" are going find their initiatives blocked in Occupy meetings once word gets out. And it will get out.
3) Develop a relationship with the Occupy movement
However much institutional experience many progressive organizations may have, the progressive movement as a whole has been on the retreat for four decades in the United States. The Occupy movement is the biggest broadest movement for democracy and social justice to rise in this country (and globally) in that time. There's a huge amount of talent and strategic acumen in every Occupy encampment - and, regardless of any faults, the new movement has done a tremendously good job of pushing the public debate on a host of issues to the left in a short period of time. All this to say, don't assume that the Occupy movement needs your organization's "experts" more than your organization needs the movement. Occupiers are happy to work with any individual or organization that approaches them in good faith, and wants to dialogue about how to proceed with a raft of campaigns and initiatives. They also very much like to support existing organizations that deal with them in an aboveboard way. So by simply participating in their process, and getting to know point people in different working groups, your organization can develop a longer-term relationship based on trust with the occupiers. Which virtually always benefits the popular movement as a whole.
4) Give back at least as much as your organization gets from the Occupy movement
It is inappropriate for your organization to deal with the Occupy movement - or any ally - in a mercenary fashion. That is, to try to use its public appeal, and the significant numbers of people it can field to help your organization's particular corner of the progressive movement without giving anything back to the occupiers. That kind of behavior has become all too common among too many progressive organizations in the last 40 years, and it needs to stop. Your one non-profit or union, no matter how large, is not a substitute for a genuine mass movement. The fate of your particular organization or any particular organization is functionally irrelevant. Sorry to be the bearer of tough love, but that's he way it is. The fate of the new movement overall, on the other hand, is critical to humanity's survival. So if, for example, your organization uses its affiliation with the Occupy movement to raise money, then it should give a significant percentage of that money back to the movement. Or if it calls an action with the Occupy movement it should make sure that that action benefits the movement as least as much as it benefits your organization. Don't be a user. Be an ally.
5) Connect your organization's members to the Occupy movement
One great way to build a relationship with the Occupy movement - and to build that movement - is to turn your members out for events at your local Occupy encampment. That will demonstrate to the occupiers that your group is serious about working with them, and that your staff people aren't trying to act as gatekeepers between members your constituency and the broader social movement. Another unfortunately common attitude among progressive non-profits and unions. Yet ironically, it is precisely because of many organizations acting to narrow their member's horizons down to the footprint of their particular community of interest or organization that the progressive movement fell upon hard times in the last 40 years. How could it be otherwise, when members of community organizations are told to focus on organizing for park benches in their neighborhood or legislative bills to get shoelaces for left-handed welfare kids ("we'll get 'em for right-handed kids next year!"), or union members are told to fight for a contract that gives a few extra pennies an hour? And all these tiny reforms are called "great victories" by non-profit and union leaders when grudgingly acceded to by the powers that be. While capitalists loot and despoil the planet. So trust that your organization's members are thinking beings - not just objects to be "organized" - encourage them to join the Occupy movement directly, and I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised to see a huge uptick in interest in positive collective activity within your organization and in the movement as a whole.
6) Play nice - don't try to take over your local occupation or start puppet occupations
It may be tempting for some non-profits and unions with sufficient funding to send in paid staff to work 24/7 to try to push their local Occupy encampment in whatever direction they decide it should go. Or to start satellite occupations that they dominate from word one - in cities or regions that already have occupations. I would strongly recommend avoiding that temptation. Because, first, it can't work in any positive way, and therefore is nothing but a stealth attack on the new movement. And second, there's this idea out there that mere organizational longevity translates to having the tactical and strategic acumen needed to to run a giant growing movement. But that's not how it works. Movements aren't "run" by anyone single organization or faction. And they're certainly not run by people whose main skill is managing minor bureaucracies - although such people have a useful skill set for doing a great job with certain instrumental tasks performed by any social movement. Also, most non-profits and unions have been taking a "magical" or romantic approach to what they call "organizing" for many years now. Not an empirical approach. That is, they don't ask whether the tactics and strategies they use actually work in any real way. It's just assumed that they work - often in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. And then these untested (at best) or failed (at worst) tactics and strategies get telegraphed to younger activists, who are told by the legion of "trainers" that the foundation-backed non-profit set and foundation-influenced union leadership has inflicted upon the left that these are tried and proven tactics and strategies that are worthy of replication in the absence of genuine proof of their efficacy. Once the magic incantations and formulas are thus passed on, this new generation telegraphs it to the people coming up after them. Rinse and repeat until 40 plus years of failure and retreat go by. Until one day, a couple of months ago, people largely outside this "foundation-industrial complex" rise up angry and build a huge democratic movement with a speed which was considered impossible by non-profit and union leaders "in the know" - without the use of any strategic planning meetings or four-day retreats or encounter sessions. Fancy that. Meaning the people actually building the Occupy movement are their own best experts, and they are developing new tactics and strategies and repurposing the best of the old ones as the movement expands. So the smartest course for non-profits and unions to take, again, is to let the new movement develop organically - and always try to be helpful. Not overbearing.
7) Do not claim that your organization leads the Occupy movement
No one person or organization leads the new movement. Which is its great strength in many ways. At least for reaching the first major goal of any genuine social movement - spreading the ideas of the popular uprising far and wide. Any organization or individual that claims to lead the movement - or even hints at such leadership - should be looked at critically by any honest observer. This includes any of the aforementioned "experts" or "trainers" that would like to think that occupiers need to be led by the nose to the water of liberation by people trapped in the desert of the old left. Here's a last bit of free advice ... they don't.
Jason Pramas is Editor/Publisher of Open Media Boston
Submitted by Jason Pramas on Tue, 12/06/2011 - 5:12pm.
by Jason Pramas - OpenMedia Boston - Nov-21-11
There has been a great deal of interest by progressive unions, labor federations, community-labor coalitions, and non-profits of many kinds in the rise of the Occupy movement. A lot of this interest is positive, and represents the leadership of existing progressive organizations understanding the importance of expanding their efforts at this particular moment in history - and reaching out to the new movement in the best spirit of mutual aid and solidarity.
Some of this interest, however, is less positive. I won't speculate overmuch in this editorial about why organizations that claim to share the values of the new movement might engage in questionable behavior towards it. Suffice to say, some organizations have what could best be described as "turf issues" with the occupiers - which has unfortunately been the case here in Boston at times.
It is ever thus when representatives of an old order come face to face with a potential new order - in progressive politics as in every sphere of human activity. And a certain amount of friction between these forces, as I've written previously, is healthy. Especially if non-profit and union leadership heeds the admonition I wrote to media producers, intellectuals and professionals in an editorial at the beginning of the Occupy movement, and pledges to accompany the movement. Offering their skills and resources to the occupiers without trying to maneuver for power.
But when this friction devolves into attempts by the old order to subsume the new, and wipe it out - directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally - it's not always so healthy. Because any serious attempt to shove the new movement back into the old organizing bottles will kill it.
So I thought I'd offer a few ideas that I'm calling "Rules of Engagement" for the consideration of all the progressive organizations in United States and beyond that are trying to work with the Occupy movement. I am speaking here both as a journalist that has been covering the progressive scene in Boston since 2008, and as a longtime progressive activist in community organizations and unions at the local, national and international level. I am not directly involved in the Occupy movement, having decided it was more important to spread accurate information about the movement to the public at large as a reporter and editor than it was to join it. But in the course of my work I have spoken to a good number of Occupy activists, and closely tracked coverage of the movement in the media. Putting the observations I've made about the Occupy movement together with my knowledge of the progressive non-profit and union scene - and combining all that with my previous experience as an activist - led me to write the "rules" that follow.
In putting forward my ideas on these matters, I'm not saying that the Occupy movement is perfect, or that it can do no wrong, or any such thing. But I am saying that the only social force that has the possibility of overthrowing capitalism in favor of democracy and saving humanity from political, economic and ecological catastrophe in the foreseeable future is the Occupy movement. No existing progressive organization or group of such organizations in the old model has anything like that potential. Especially those many groups that refuse to even name capitalism as the main enemy of democracy in this age - choosing instead to focus on this crime or that crime committed by its adherents minus any explanatory systemic analysis.
The one potential the old left does have, though, is the potential to destroy the Occupy movement by the death of a thousand cuts - or more colorfully, the "circular firing squad" behavior the American left is justifiably infamous for implementing against any faction that has a chance of majoritarian success.
Which is why, in summation, I think it is far better for non-profits and unions to work with the movement in a solidaristic fashion, than to try to take it over or push it out of their way.
Read on for details.
1) Learn how the Occupy movement works before engaging with it
The Occupy movement - at two months old - has already developed a sophisticated internal process and a welcoming culture. While not perfect, it's easy to plug in, as long as your organization makes an effort to work within the Occupy movement's system of governance. That means showing up for public meetings, learning their rules for discussion and debate, and the hand signals that go with them. It also means understanding how their general assemblies work, and how their working groups function. Organizations that do this will demonstrate to occupiers that they "get it." Organizations that don't set up a "we-thou" relationship instead. Meaning a "we know it all, you know nothing" relationship. Which is a poor way to begin a friendship, yes?
2) Respect the Occupy movement's process
The fastest way to alienate occupiers is to try to find their "actual leaders" rather than working with their established process. Their only leader is that democratic process - most especially the general assemblies - which are institutions of direct democracy. Organizations looking for back room meetings with "movers and shakers" are going find their initiatives blocked in Occupy meetings once word gets out. And it will get out.
3) Develop a relationship with the Occupy movement
However much institutional experience many progressive organizations may have, the progressive movement as a whole has been on the retreat for four decades in the United States. The Occupy movement is the biggest broadest movement for democracy and social justice to rise in this country (and globally) in that time. There's a huge amount of talent and strategic acumen in every Occupy encampment - and, regardless of any faults, the new movement has done a tremendously good job of pushing the public debate on a host of issues to the left in a short period of time. All this to say, don't assume that the Occupy movement needs your organization's "experts" more than your organization needs the movement. Occupiers are happy to work with any individual or organization that approaches them in good faith, and wants to dialogue about how to proceed with a raft of campaigns and initiatives. They also very much like to support existing organizations that deal with them in an aboveboard way. So by simply participating in their process, and getting to know point people in different working groups, your organization can develop a longer-term relationship based on trust with the occupiers. Which virtually always benefits the popular movement as a whole.
4) Give back at least as much as your organization gets from the Occupy movement
It is inappropriate for your organization to deal with the Occupy movement - or any ally - in a mercenary fashion. That is, to try to use its public appeal, and the significant numbers of people it can field to help your organization's particular corner of the progressive movement without giving anything back to the occupiers. That kind of behavior has become all too common among too many progressive organizations in the last 40 years, and it needs to stop. Your one non-profit or union, no matter how large, is not a substitute for a genuine mass movement. The fate of your particular organization or any particular organization is functionally irrelevant. Sorry to be the bearer of tough love, but that's he way it is. The fate of the new movement overall, on the other hand, is critical to humanity's survival. So if, for example, your organization uses its affiliation with the Occupy movement to raise money, then it should give a significant percentage of that money back to the movement. Or if it calls an action with the Occupy movement it should make sure that that action benefits the movement as least as much as it benefits your organization. Don't be a user. Be an ally.
5) Connect your organization's members to the Occupy movement
One great way to build a relationship with the Occupy movement - and to build that movement - is to turn your members out for events at your local Occupy encampment. That will demonstrate to the occupiers that your group is serious about working with them, and that your staff people aren't trying to act as gatekeepers between members your constituency and the broader social movement. Another unfortunately common attitude among progressive non-profits and unions. Yet ironically, it is precisely because of many organizations acting to narrow their member's horizons down to the footprint of their particular community of interest or organization that the progressive movement fell upon hard times in the last 40 years. How could it be otherwise, when members of community organizations are told to focus on organizing for park benches in their neighborhood or legislative bills to get shoelaces for left-handed welfare kids ("we'll get 'em for right-handed kids next year!"), or union members are told to fight for a contract that gives a few extra pennies an hour? And all these tiny reforms are called "great victories" by non-profit and union leaders when grudgingly acceded to by the powers that be. While capitalists loot and despoil the planet. So trust that your organization's members are thinking beings - not just objects to be "organized" - encourage them to join the Occupy movement directly, and I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised to see a huge uptick in interest in positive collective activity within your organization and in the movement as a whole.
6) Play nice - don't try to take over your local occupation or start puppet occupations
It may be tempting for some non-profits and unions with sufficient funding to send in paid staff to work 24/7 to try to push their local Occupy encampment in whatever direction they decide it should go. Or to start satellite occupations that they dominate from word one - in cities or regions that already have occupations. I would strongly recommend avoiding that temptation. Because, first, it can't work in any positive way, and therefore is nothing but a stealth attack on the new movement. And second, there's this idea out there that mere organizational longevity translates to having the tactical and strategic acumen needed to to run a giant growing movement. But that's not how it works. Movements aren't "run" by anyone single organization or faction. And they're certainly not run by people whose main skill is managing minor bureaucracies - although such people have a useful skill set for doing a great job with certain instrumental tasks performed by any social movement. Also, most non-profits and unions have been taking a "magical" or romantic approach to what they call "organizing" for many years now. Not an empirical approach. That is, they don't ask whether the tactics and strategies they use actually work in any real way. It's just assumed that they work - often in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. And then these untested (at best) or failed (at worst) tactics and strategies get telegraphed to younger activists, who are told by the legion of "trainers" that the foundation-backed non-profit set and foundation-influenced union leadership has inflicted upon the left that these are tried and proven tactics and strategies that are worthy of replication in the absence of genuine proof of their efficacy. Once the magic incantations and formulas are thus passed on, this new generation telegraphs it to the people coming up after them. Rinse and repeat until 40 plus years of failure and retreat go by. Until one day, a couple of months ago, people largely outside this "foundation-industrial complex" rise up angry and build a huge democratic movement with a speed which was considered impossible by non-profit and union leaders "in the know" - without the use of any strategic planning meetings or four-day retreats or encounter sessions. Fancy that. Meaning the people actually building the Occupy movement are their own best experts, and they are developing new tactics and strategies and repurposing the best of the old ones as the movement expands. So the smartest course for non-profits and unions to take, again, is to let the new movement develop organically - and always try to be helpful. Not overbearing.
7) Do not claim that your organization leads the Occupy movement
No one person or organization leads the new movement. Which is its great strength in many ways. At least for reaching the first major goal of any genuine social movement - spreading the ideas of the popular uprising far and wide. Any organization or individual that claims to lead the movement - or even hints at such leadership - should be looked at critically by any honest observer. This includes any of the aforementioned "experts" or "trainers" that would like to think that occupiers need to be led by the nose to the water of liberation by people trapped in the desert of the old left. Here's a last bit of free advice ... they don't.
Jason Pramas is Editor/Publisher of Open Media Boston
From "Socialist Alternative"-From "Panther-The Black Rebellion:The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense"
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense
Formed in 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was the largest Black revolutionary organization that has ever existed.
Famous for taking up guns in defense against police brutality, the Panthers had many other little-known sides to their work. They organized dozens of community programs such as free breakfast for children, health clinics and shoes for children.
Such was their success that they rapidly grew to a size of 5,000 full time party workers, organized in 45 chapters (branches) across America. At their peak, they sold 250,000 papers every week. Opinion polls of the day showed the Panthers to have 90% support amongst Blacks in the major cities. Their impact on Black America can be measured by the response of the state. J. Edgar Hoover, then head of the FBI described them as "the number one threat to the internal security of the United States".
In this chapter, we will be looking at the formation of the Panthers, their program and activities, but more importantly, what marked the Panthers out to be different from all other organizations, what led them to be the inspiration to generations around the world to join the struggle against oppression.
The Civil Rights Movement
The formation of the Panthers was the direct result of the development of the civil rights movement which had already been in full swing for more than a decade before they were created. The movement had largely been based in the south and around demands for desegregation of the busses, schools, waiting rooms and lunch counters. Hundreds of thousands had been mobilized to participate in the demonstrations, sit-ins and freedom rides. Both from the police, local white mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, civil rights protesters faced the constant threat of brutal attack or even death. Despite this, the guiding philosophy of the civil rights leaders - in particular Martin Luther King - remained one of civil disobedience and passive resistance.
The increasing ferocity of the violence put a great strain on the movement. Contrasting views on a strategy for Black liberation began to emerge. Stokely Carmichael was prominent among those who opposed passive resistance and represented the feelings of a new generation of Blacks who felt that the peaceful approach was played out.
Alongside the mainstream civil rights was another current: much smaller than King's movement but still with significant numbers were the Black Muslims. The Nation believed in separation instead of integration and were completely opposed to passive resistance. Their radical ideology was appealing but they refused to participate in the civil rights movement or to become involved in the activities of non-Nation members.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X saw the limitations of both the Muslims and King's strategy of non-violence. He saw the need to embrace the social and economic issues and he attempted to put forward a more coherent strategy than any Black leader up to that point. It was against this background of upheaval that the Black Panther Party was created. The Panthers took the revolutionary philosophy and militant stand of Malcolm X, they were determined that although Malcolm X had been cut down, they would make his ideas come alive.
The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. They met in the early sixties whilst at Meritt Junior College in West Oakland. The civil rights movement had ignited Black America: Seale and Newton were no exception. Both were active in Black politics for several years before they came together to form the Panthers. Bobby Seale was part of RAM (Revolutionary Action Movement) and both Seale and Newton became involved in a college-based group called the Soul Students Advisory Committee. These experiences were critical in the formation of the ideology of the Panthers as it led to them rejecting the philosophy of what they called the cultural nationalists.
In Seize the Time, Bobby Seale explains,
"Cultural nationalists and Black Panthers are in conflict in many areas. Basically, cultural nationalism sees the white man as the oppressor and makes no distinction between racist whites and non-racist whites, as the Panthers do. The cultural nationalists say that a Black man cannot be the enemy of the Black people, while the Panthers believe that Black capitalists are exploiters and oppressors. Although the Black Panther Party believes in Black nationalism and Black culture, it does not believe that either will lead to Black liberation or the overthrow of the capitalist system, and are therefore ineffective."
Cultural nationalism was a powerful current in the Black movement and one which influenced Malcolm X in his early years as a Black Muslim. The nationalists rejected the integrationist approach and believed in separation from whites.
In forming the Panthers, Seale and Newton made a clean break with both the integrationist and the separatist approach. They argued instead that the economic and political roots of racism were in the exploitative capitalist system and that the Black struggle must be a revolutionary movement to overthrow the entire power structure in order to achieve liberation for all Black people.
Under pressure from the mass civil rights struggle, the government had made certain concessions: promoting Black officials, mayors, Congressmen etc., but no lasting improvement to the daily lives of most Black people had taken place. In fact, whilst segregation laws had been broken down, the level of poverty had actually increased. Black unemployment was higher in 1966 (after more than a decade of struggle) than in 1954.
32% of Black people were living below the poverty line in 1966.
71% of the poor living in metropolitan areas were Black.
By 1968, two-thirds of the Black population lived in ghettos.
The Panthers realized that the movement needed to progress beyond the battles for desegregation and to address the fundamental economic problems that people faced in their daily lives. They were the first independent Black organization to have a clear analysis of the type of society we live in: one in which a small class hold all the economic and political power and use it to exploit the majority.
Bobby Seale said,
"We do not fight racism with racism. We fight racism with solidarity. We do not fight exploitative capitalism with Black capitalism. We fight capitalism with basic socialism. And we do not fight imperialism with more imperialism. We fight imperialism with proletarian internationalism."
This was the guiding philosophy of the Black Panthers. But critical to their development was the knowledge that it was not enough to have the right theories, that this must be translated into a concrete set of demands that people can relate to and a clear course of action to achieve those demands. And so the first task of Seale and Newton was to sit down and write a program for the Panthers.
October 1966 Black Panther Party-Platform and Program-What We Want
What We Believe
1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black community. We believe that Black people will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny.
2. We want full employment for our people.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the white American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
3. We wand an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black community.
We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules was promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The Germans murdered six million Jews. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people; therefore, we feel that this is a modest demand that we make.
4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
We believe that if the white landlords will not give decent housing to our Black community, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that our community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people.
5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society.
We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else.
6. We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.
We believe that Black people should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like Black people, are being victimized by the white racist government of America. We will protect ourselves from the force and violence of the racist police and the racist military, by whatever means necessary.
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of Black people.
We believe we can end police brutality in our Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our Black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The second amendment to the constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all Black people should arm themselves for self-defense.
8. We want freedom for all Black men held in federal state, county and city prisons and jails.
We believe that all Black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial.
9. We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black communities, as defined by the constitution of the United States.
We believe that the courts should follow the United States constitution so that black people will receive fair trials. The Fourteenth Amendment of the US constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background. To do this the court will be forced to select a jury from the Black community from which the Black defendant came. We have been and are being tried by all-white juries that have no understanding of the "average reasoning man" of the Black community.
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter such principles, and organizing its powers in such a form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
As soon as the program was written, they printed 1,000 copies and went out onto the streets to distribute them. Seale, Newton and their first member, Bobby Hutton put their months paychecks together to rent an old shop front as a base for operations. They painted up a sign saying Black Panther Party for Self Defense and on January 1, 1967 the office was opened. Weekly meetings and political education classes were held to spread the word, and so the first chapter of the Panthers was formed.
The party began to grow not only because an organization of that character with a clearly worked out program was needed at that time but because they based themselves in the community, working with the people, for the people. They had an office, they had the ten point platform and program - now was time to put that program into action.
Self Defense
The Panthers decided to take up their constitutional right to carry arms and to implement Malcolm X's philosophy of self-defense, by patrolling the police. They did this at a time when severe police brutality was common - the police would beat down and kill Blacks at random. They would even recruit police from the racist south to come and work in the northern ghettos.
On one occasion, whilst on patrol, they witnessed an officer stop and search a young guy. The Panthers got out of their car and went over to the scene and stood watching their guns on full display. Angrily, the policeman began to question them and tried to intimidate them with threats of arrest. But Huey P. Newton had studied the law intimately and could quote every law and court ruling relevant to their situation.
Huey stood there with a law book in one hand and a gun in the other and told the "pigs" about his constitutional right to carry a weapon as long as it was not concealed. He told them about the law and said that every citizen had the right to observe a police officer carry out his duty as long as they stood a reasonable distance away. And he told them about the Supreme Court ruling which defined that distance.
A crowd gathered and watched this whole scene in amazement. The Panthers made it clear that they were not looking for a shoot-out and that they would only use their guns in self-defense. They took the opportunity to distribute copies of their ten point program, inform people of the Panthers ideology and invite them to their political meetings. Meanwhile, the flustered and nervous cop took the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
The gun had a huge psychological effect, both on the Black community and the police. For the police, it reversed the fear that they so enjoyed creating in others. But for the Black community, it fired their imagination, people felt empowered by seeing Black brothers and sisters protecting their interests.
There were two sides to the carrying of guns though, most people saw it as a positive move but others were put off by the militaristic image. On the other side, many brothers in particular, came to the Panther office purely for the gun, the Black uniform - the whole image. When this happened, the Panthers would simply explain that the Black struggle was about a whole lot more than just picking up the gun: it was about educating yourself and then others, about organizing the community programs, selling the newspaper and serving the people. At the same time, they would get the brother to work in the nursery for a while, looking after the children while other members went out on party business. In this way, they tried to make sure that people understood the Panther ideology and that they got a balanced view of what it was all about.
Community Programs
The programs were of key importance in the Panthers strategy. Firstly, they demonstrated that politics was relevant to peoples lives - to feed a hungry child, give out food, clothing and medical care showed that the Panthers related to people's needs. Secondly, it showed what could be achieved if you were organized. The programs achieved a great deal with very limited resources but it also raised in peoples minds how much more could be achieved if they had the resources available to the government and the business corporations. Some people have criticized the community programs saying it was not a revolutionary thing to do but Bobby Seale answers this clearly.
"A lot of people misunderstand the politics of these programs; some people have a tendency to call them reform programs. They're not reform programs; they're actually revolutionary community programs. A revolutionary program is onset forth by revolutionaries, by those who want to change the existing system for a better system. A reform program is set up by the existing exploitative system as an appeasing handout, to fool the people and to keep them quiet. Examples of these programs are poverty programs, youth work programs and things like that."
The first program the Panthers organized was the Free Breakfast for Children Program. Lesley Johnson explains how this led her to get involved in the Panthers.
"Well, one of the things that I could immediately respect and admire the party for, was its Breakfast for School Children Program. You know my parents were both workers, my father was a shipper and my mother, she worked cleaning clothes, rubbing the spots out, what was known as a spotter. And there were times when I was growing up, the week's oatmeal or whatever would run out and I went to school hungry. So that I could really appreciate what the party was doing."
The Panthers would go out and get donations of food from businessmen. Any chain of stores that refused even a small donation would be boycotted. Leaflets would be produced and distributed in the community exposing that business.
The programs usually took place in a church hall. Party members would have to work very hard, starting work at 6am every day. They would prepare breakfast, serve children, they would usually sing some songs with them and then, when the children left, they would have to clear the place up and go out to collect provisions for the next day.
The FBI
The success of the Panther's political activities and community programs and their huge growth and influence and membership soon brought them under fire from the American state. The FBI intensified the COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) against them. Nearly every office in the country was raided at some point. In Chicago, all the food provisions for the breakfast program were burnt out. During one raid in the spring of 1968, Bobby Hutton, the party's first member, came out with his hands up. The police shot him in the head and killed him. The attacks became even more vicious in 1969. On December 4, at 1am, the police burst into Fred Hampton's apartment and opened fire in the bedroom where he lay sleeping with his pregnant girlfriend. Another Panther called out that a pregnant sister was in the room and the police paused their firing. Deborah Johnson recalls:
"One of the policemen grabbed my robe and threw it down and said 'what do you know, we have a broad here.' Another man grabbed me by the head and shoved me into the kitchen. I heard a voice from another part of the apartment saying 'he's barely alive', or 'he'll barely make it'. Then I heard more shots. A sister screamed from the front. Then the shooting stopped. I heard someone say 'he's as good as dead now.'"
In 1969 alone, 25 Panther members were killed. But the FBI's operations went further. Aside from the constant arrests of Panther members which disrupted the work of the organization and drained them financially, the FBI infiltrated the party and manufactured rivalries and disputes between different members.
Today, some would explain the demise of the Panthers as due to the successful operations of the FBI. Undoubtedly, this placed an enormous strain on the organization but there are many countries in the world where political opposition faces even greater repression from the state. Without underestimating the difficulties, they cannot entirely account for the fall of the Panthers. There are a number of factors which contributed.
Women in the Panthers
The role of women within the Panthers was an area with many problems. At one point, women comprised 70% of the membership of the organization. Yet, all the leading positions were occupied by men. This is not a petty point because it illustrated the different roles that men and women took on. It seems that many women were confined to secretarial, administrative, childcare or other traditional roles whilst men were encouraged to develop the political ideas, speaking and leadership abilities. Also, some of the brothers complained that they were not taking directions from a woman! At other times it was found that accusations of being a counter-revolutionary were spread about a woman just because she did not want to sleep with someone.
These problems would have cut the Panthers off from a whole layer of Black women who were not prepared to put up with this nonsense. However, we have to see that sexist attitudes were not unique to the Panthers - it is something that occurs in all organizations because it is related to the oppressive nature of this society and the way in which it exploits women. The Panthers did take action against these attitudes but they did not fully succeed - equality in the party was never achieved. And you cannot be a true community organization, fighting the oppression of society if women are being oppressed within your organization.
The membership of the Panthers was 5,000. This seems pretty low when you consider all they achieved but the reason is that those 5,000 members were all full-time! You could not be a member of the organization unless you were unemployed or prepared to give up your job. It is a sign of the tremendous commitment that the Panthers inspired, that they had 5,000 full-time workers but they would definitely have had a much, much larger membership if they had allowed students and people who were working to join. In effect they cut themselves off from hundreds of thousands of people who would have supported them. This also set themselves apart from the rest of the community.
Revolutionary Black Workers Groups
At that point in time, there were several radical Black workers groups such as DRUM (Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement), DODGE - named after the car plant in Detroit and ELARUM (Eldron Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement). They organized large numbers of revolutionary Black workers. Although they had some Black caucuses within the trade unions, the Panthers did not sufficiently develop this aspect of the work. It was of particular importance because the Black working class are critical in the struggle for Black liberation.
The Panthers were one of the few groups who understood the whole basis of American society had to be transformed. It was this understanding that gave them a revolutionary outlook. But this alone, guarantees nothing. The clarity of ideas which enables the development of a coherent and effective strategy is essential in accomplishing the task of the overthrow of capitalism. We would argue that there were many confused ideas in the Black Panther Party. Some believed they could develop on the basis of a struggle conducted by a small armed minority and didn't have a strategy for building a mass organization which could be sustained over a longer period.
Huey Newton says in Revolutionary Suicide
"But we soon discovered that weapons and uniforms set us apart from the community. We were looked upon as an ad hoc military group, acting outside the community fabric and too radical to be a part of it. Perhaps some of our tactics at the time were extreme; perhaps we placed too much emphasis on military action."
This was particularly important as they had reached their high point at the time of the ebbing of the huge civil rights movement. Had the organization been developed with a more long term perspective then the Black Panthers would have been in a position to put themselves at the head of a mass resurgence of radicalism amongst the Black population or even in wider American society. This, above all demonstrates the need for a clear forward view of how events will unfold in society. That is why a careful and disciplined study of events is an important aspect of shaping the outlook of any revolutionary organization.
The Panthers have left us with an invaluable experience. Their dedication, will and bravery in the face of what might have appeared as insurmountable odds is an example which any serious Black activist or revolutionary should be proud to follow. They were the highpoint of the civil rights movement.
Adrian Wood & Nutan Rajguru
Formed in 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was the largest Black revolutionary organization that has ever existed.
Famous for taking up guns in defense against police brutality, the Panthers had many other little-known sides to their work. They organized dozens of community programs such as free breakfast for children, health clinics and shoes for children.
Such was their success that they rapidly grew to a size of 5,000 full time party workers, organized in 45 chapters (branches) across America. At their peak, they sold 250,000 papers every week. Opinion polls of the day showed the Panthers to have 90% support amongst Blacks in the major cities. Their impact on Black America can be measured by the response of the state. J. Edgar Hoover, then head of the FBI described them as "the number one threat to the internal security of the United States".
In this chapter, we will be looking at the formation of the Panthers, their program and activities, but more importantly, what marked the Panthers out to be different from all other organizations, what led them to be the inspiration to generations around the world to join the struggle against oppression.
The Civil Rights Movement
The formation of the Panthers was the direct result of the development of the civil rights movement which had already been in full swing for more than a decade before they were created. The movement had largely been based in the south and around demands for desegregation of the busses, schools, waiting rooms and lunch counters. Hundreds of thousands had been mobilized to participate in the demonstrations, sit-ins and freedom rides. Both from the police, local white mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, civil rights protesters faced the constant threat of brutal attack or even death. Despite this, the guiding philosophy of the civil rights leaders - in particular Martin Luther King - remained one of civil disobedience and passive resistance.
The increasing ferocity of the violence put a great strain on the movement. Contrasting views on a strategy for Black liberation began to emerge. Stokely Carmichael was prominent among those who opposed passive resistance and represented the feelings of a new generation of Blacks who felt that the peaceful approach was played out.
Alongside the mainstream civil rights was another current: much smaller than King's movement but still with significant numbers were the Black Muslims. The Nation believed in separation instead of integration and were completely opposed to passive resistance. Their radical ideology was appealing but they refused to participate in the civil rights movement or to become involved in the activities of non-Nation members.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X saw the limitations of both the Muslims and King's strategy of non-violence. He saw the need to embrace the social and economic issues and he attempted to put forward a more coherent strategy than any Black leader up to that point. It was against this background of upheaval that the Black Panther Party was created. The Panthers took the revolutionary philosophy and militant stand of Malcolm X, they were determined that although Malcolm X had been cut down, they would make his ideas come alive.
The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. They met in the early sixties whilst at Meritt Junior College in West Oakland. The civil rights movement had ignited Black America: Seale and Newton were no exception. Both were active in Black politics for several years before they came together to form the Panthers. Bobby Seale was part of RAM (Revolutionary Action Movement) and both Seale and Newton became involved in a college-based group called the Soul Students Advisory Committee. These experiences were critical in the formation of the ideology of the Panthers as it led to them rejecting the philosophy of what they called the cultural nationalists.
In Seize the Time, Bobby Seale explains,
"Cultural nationalists and Black Panthers are in conflict in many areas. Basically, cultural nationalism sees the white man as the oppressor and makes no distinction between racist whites and non-racist whites, as the Panthers do. The cultural nationalists say that a Black man cannot be the enemy of the Black people, while the Panthers believe that Black capitalists are exploiters and oppressors. Although the Black Panther Party believes in Black nationalism and Black culture, it does not believe that either will lead to Black liberation or the overthrow of the capitalist system, and are therefore ineffective."
Cultural nationalism was a powerful current in the Black movement and one which influenced Malcolm X in his early years as a Black Muslim. The nationalists rejected the integrationist approach and believed in separation from whites.
In forming the Panthers, Seale and Newton made a clean break with both the integrationist and the separatist approach. They argued instead that the economic and political roots of racism were in the exploitative capitalist system and that the Black struggle must be a revolutionary movement to overthrow the entire power structure in order to achieve liberation for all Black people.
Under pressure from the mass civil rights struggle, the government had made certain concessions: promoting Black officials, mayors, Congressmen etc., but no lasting improvement to the daily lives of most Black people had taken place. In fact, whilst segregation laws had been broken down, the level of poverty had actually increased. Black unemployment was higher in 1966 (after more than a decade of struggle) than in 1954.
32% of Black people were living below the poverty line in 1966.
71% of the poor living in metropolitan areas were Black.
By 1968, two-thirds of the Black population lived in ghettos.
The Panthers realized that the movement needed to progress beyond the battles for desegregation and to address the fundamental economic problems that people faced in their daily lives. They were the first independent Black organization to have a clear analysis of the type of society we live in: one in which a small class hold all the economic and political power and use it to exploit the majority.
Bobby Seale said,
"We do not fight racism with racism. We fight racism with solidarity. We do not fight exploitative capitalism with Black capitalism. We fight capitalism with basic socialism. And we do not fight imperialism with more imperialism. We fight imperialism with proletarian internationalism."
This was the guiding philosophy of the Black Panthers. But critical to their development was the knowledge that it was not enough to have the right theories, that this must be translated into a concrete set of demands that people can relate to and a clear course of action to achieve those demands. And so the first task of Seale and Newton was to sit down and write a program for the Panthers.
October 1966 Black Panther Party-Platform and Program-What We Want
What We Believe
1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black community. We believe that Black people will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny.
2. We want full employment for our people.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the white American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
3. We wand an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black community.
We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules was promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The Germans murdered six million Jews. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people; therefore, we feel that this is a modest demand that we make.
4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
We believe that if the white landlords will not give decent housing to our Black community, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that our community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people.
5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society.
We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else.
6. We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.
We believe that Black people should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like Black people, are being victimized by the white racist government of America. We will protect ourselves from the force and violence of the racist police and the racist military, by whatever means necessary.
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of Black people.
We believe we can end police brutality in our Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our Black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The second amendment to the constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all Black people should arm themselves for self-defense.
8. We want freedom for all Black men held in federal state, county and city prisons and jails.
We believe that all Black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial.
9. We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black communities, as defined by the constitution of the United States.
We believe that the courts should follow the United States constitution so that black people will receive fair trials. The Fourteenth Amendment of the US constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background. To do this the court will be forced to select a jury from the Black community from which the Black defendant came. We have been and are being tried by all-white juries that have no understanding of the "average reasoning man" of the Black community.
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter such principles, and organizing its powers in such a form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
As soon as the program was written, they printed 1,000 copies and went out onto the streets to distribute them. Seale, Newton and their first member, Bobby Hutton put their months paychecks together to rent an old shop front as a base for operations. They painted up a sign saying Black Panther Party for Self Defense and on January 1, 1967 the office was opened. Weekly meetings and political education classes were held to spread the word, and so the first chapter of the Panthers was formed.
The party began to grow not only because an organization of that character with a clearly worked out program was needed at that time but because they based themselves in the community, working with the people, for the people. They had an office, they had the ten point platform and program - now was time to put that program into action.
Self Defense
The Panthers decided to take up their constitutional right to carry arms and to implement Malcolm X's philosophy of self-defense, by patrolling the police. They did this at a time when severe police brutality was common - the police would beat down and kill Blacks at random. They would even recruit police from the racist south to come and work in the northern ghettos.
On one occasion, whilst on patrol, they witnessed an officer stop and search a young guy. The Panthers got out of their car and went over to the scene and stood watching their guns on full display. Angrily, the policeman began to question them and tried to intimidate them with threats of arrest. But Huey P. Newton had studied the law intimately and could quote every law and court ruling relevant to their situation.
Huey stood there with a law book in one hand and a gun in the other and told the "pigs" about his constitutional right to carry a weapon as long as it was not concealed. He told them about the law and said that every citizen had the right to observe a police officer carry out his duty as long as they stood a reasonable distance away. And he told them about the Supreme Court ruling which defined that distance.
A crowd gathered and watched this whole scene in amazement. The Panthers made it clear that they were not looking for a shoot-out and that they would only use their guns in self-defense. They took the opportunity to distribute copies of their ten point program, inform people of the Panthers ideology and invite them to their political meetings. Meanwhile, the flustered and nervous cop took the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
The gun had a huge psychological effect, both on the Black community and the police. For the police, it reversed the fear that they so enjoyed creating in others. But for the Black community, it fired their imagination, people felt empowered by seeing Black brothers and sisters protecting their interests.
There were two sides to the carrying of guns though, most people saw it as a positive move but others were put off by the militaristic image. On the other side, many brothers in particular, came to the Panther office purely for the gun, the Black uniform - the whole image. When this happened, the Panthers would simply explain that the Black struggle was about a whole lot more than just picking up the gun: it was about educating yourself and then others, about organizing the community programs, selling the newspaper and serving the people. At the same time, they would get the brother to work in the nursery for a while, looking after the children while other members went out on party business. In this way, they tried to make sure that people understood the Panther ideology and that they got a balanced view of what it was all about.
Community Programs
The programs were of key importance in the Panthers strategy. Firstly, they demonstrated that politics was relevant to peoples lives - to feed a hungry child, give out food, clothing and medical care showed that the Panthers related to people's needs. Secondly, it showed what could be achieved if you were organized. The programs achieved a great deal with very limited resources but it also raised in peoples minds how much more could be achieved if they had the resources available to the government and the business corporations. Some people have criticized the community programs saying it was not a revolutionary thing to do but Bobby Seale answers this clearly.
"A lot of people misunderstand the politics of these programs; some people have a tendency to call them reform programs. They're not reform programs; they're actually revolutionary community programs. A revolutionary program is onset forth by revolutionaries, by those who want to change the existing system for a better system. A reform program is set up by the existing exploitative system as an appeasing handout, to fool the people and to keep them quiet. Examples of these programs are poverty programs, youth work programs and things like that."
The first program the Panthers organized was the Free Breakfast for Children Program. Lesley Johnson explains how this led her to get involved in the Panthers.
"Well, one of the things that I could immediately respect and admire the party for, was its Breakfast for School Children Program. You know my parents were both workers, my father was a shipper and my mother, she worked cleaning clothes, rubbing the spots out, what was known as a spotter. And there were times when I was growing up, the week's oatmeal or whatever would run out and I went to school hungry. So that I could really appreciate what the party was doing."
The Panthers would go out and get donations of food from businessmen. Any chain of stores that refused even a small donation would be boycotted. Leaflets would be produced and distributed in the community exposing that business.
The programs usually took place in a church hall. Party members would have to work very hard, starting work at 6am every day. They would prepare breakfast, serve children, they would usually sing some songs with them and then, when the children left, they would have to clear the place up and go out to collect provisions for the next day.
The FBI
The success of the Panther's political activities and community programs and their huge growth and influence and membership soon brought them under fire from the American state. The FBI intensified the COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) against them. Nearly every office in the country was raided at some point. In Chicago, all the food provisions for the breakfast program were burnt out. During one raid in the spring of 1968, Bobby Hutton, the party's first member, came out with his hands up. The police shot him in the head and killed him. The attacks became even more vicious in 1969. On December 4, at 1am, the police burst into Fred Hampton's apartment and opened fire in the bedroom where he lay sleeping with his pregnant girlfriend. Another Panther called out that a pregnant sister was in the room and the police paused their firing. Deborah Johnson recalls:
"One of the policemen grabbed my robe and threw it down and said 'what do you know, we have a broad here.' Another man grabbed me by the head and shoved me into the kitchen. I heard a voice from another part of the apartment saying 'he's barely alive', or 'he'll barely make it'. Then I heard more shots. A sister screamed from the front. Then the shooting stopped. I heard someone say 'he's as good as dead now.'"
In 1969 alone, 25 Panther members were killed. But the FBI's operations went further. Aside from the constant arrests of Panther members which disrupted the work of the organization and drained them financially, the FBI infiltrated the party and manufactured rivalries and disputes between different members.
Today, some would explain the demise of the Panthers as due to the successful operations of the FBI. Undoubtedly, this placed an enormous strain on the organization but there are many countries in the world where political opposition faces even greater repression from the state. Without underestimating the difficulties, they cannot entirely account for the fall of the Panthers. There are a number of factors which contributed.
Women in the Panthers
The role of women within the Panthers was an area with many problems. At one point, women comprised 70% of the membership of the organization. Yet, all the leading positions were occupied by men. This is not a petty point because it illustrated the different roles that men and women took on. It seems that many women were confined to secretarial, administrative, childcare or other traditional roles whilst men were encouraged to develop the political ideas, speaking and leadership abilities. Also, some of the brothers complained that they were not taking directions from a woman! At other times it was found that accusations of being a counter-revolutionary were spread about a woman just because she did not want to sleep with someone.
These problems would have cut the Panthers off from a whole layer of Black women who were not prepared to put up with this nonsense. However, we have to see that sexist attitudes were not unique to the Panthers - it is something that occurs in all organizations because it is related to the oppressive nature of this society and the way in which it exploits women. The Panthers did take action against these attitudes but they did not fully succeed - equality in the party was never achieved. And you cannot be a true community organization, fighting the oppression of society if women are being oppressed within your organization.
The membership of the Panthers was 5,000. This seems pretty low when you consider all they achieved but the reason is that those 5,000 members were all full-time! You could not be a member of the organization unless you were unemployed or prepared to give up your job. It is a sign of the tremendous commitment that the Panthers inspired, that they had 5,000 full-time workers but they would definitely have had a much, much larger membership if they had allowed students and people who were working to join. In effect they cut themselves off from hundreds of thousands of people who would have supported them. This also set themselves apart from the rest of the community.
Revolutionary Black Workers Groups
At that point in time, there were several radical Black workers groups such as DRUM (Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement), DODGE - named after the car plant in Detroit and ELARUM (Eldron Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement). They organized large numbers of revolutionary Black workers. Although they had some Black caucuses within the trade unions, the Panthers did not sufficiently develop this aspect of the work. It was of particular importance because the Black working class are critical in the struggle for Black liberation.
The Panthers were one of the few groups who understood the whole basis of American society had to be transformed. It was this understanding that gave them a revolutionary outlook. But this alone, guarantees nothing. The clarity of ideas which enables the development of a coherent and effective strategy is essential in accomplishing the task of the overthrow of capitalism. We would argue that there were many confused ideas in the Black Panther Party. Some believed they could develop on the basis of a struggle conducted by a small armed minority and didn't have a strategy for building a mass organization which could be sustained over a longer period.
Huey Newton says in Revolutionary Suicide
"But we soon discovered that weapons and uniforms set us apart from the community. We were looked upon as an ad hoc military group, acting outside the community fabric and too radical to be a part of it. Perhaps some of our tactics at the time were extreme; perhaps we placed too much emphasis on military action."
This was particularly important as they had reached their high point at the time of the ebbing of the huge civil rights movement. Had the organization been developed with a more long term perspective then the Black Panthers would have been in a position to put themselves at the head of a mass resurgence of radicalism amongst the Black population or even in wider American society. This, above all demonstrates the need for a clear forward view of how events will unfold in society. That is why a careful and disciplined study of events is an important aspect of shaping the outlook of any revolutionary organization.
The Panthers have left us with an invaluable experience. Their dedication, will and bravery in the face of what might have appeared as insurmountable odds is an example which any serious Black activist or revolutionary should be proud to follow. They were the highpoint of the civil rights movement.
Adrian Wood & Nutan Rajguru
From SocialistAlternative.org -Capitalism, Social Movements and Police Repression
Published by SocialistAlternative.org Read online at: www.SocialistAlternative.org/news/article20.php?id=1721
Capitalism, Social Movements and Police Repression
Oct 28, 2011
Ted Virdone
On September 24 an #OccupyWallStreet protester videotaped a NYPD officer macing peaceful protesters in the face for no apparent reason.
The video shows several women standing calmly as the police unroll and surround them with a bright orange net. Once the women are corralled, a white-shirted police officer walks up to the group and sprays them all in the face with pepper spray. He then walks away.
Over the next couple days, over a million people watched that video on YouTube as the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Far from fearful, protesters responded with renewed vigor, joining the anti-corporate protests in the thousands.
The mace-wielding maniac was identified as NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, who, if former incidents of police brutality are any indication, will receive no consequence.
A Few Bad Apples?
On the other side of the country at the Occupy Wall Street solidarity protest in Seattle, Seattle Police Department officers spent the nights tearing down tents and even arresting protesters who attempted to shelter themselves under umbrellas. One protester called 911 on himself so that he could be taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
During the day, however, the police moved through the crowd of protesters with friendly smiles saying, “We are not interested in taking away anyone’s freedom of speech.” There was even a debate at one General Assembly meeting on whether to include the police in the General Assembly meetings.
However, the actions of Deputy Inspector Bologna were not the isolated incident of one bad apple. He maced women who were already being corralled by other members of the NYPD. Other videos of the NY protests show one protester punched in the face by a different officer and another protester getting his leg run over by a police motorcycle.
Acts of police violence around the country are systematically covered up, and rarely does any officer receive any meaningful consequence. This is because police brutality can serve a purpose for the ruling class and the corporate elite. JP Morgan Chase has gone so far as to donate $4.6 million to the NY City Police Foundation (jpmorganchase.com).
Violence is Political
Police violence has been used around the world and throughout history to keep oppressed people fearful and subservient. From the revolution that swept northern Africa last spring, to the Civil Rights Movement to the current Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters have had to face intimidation tactics. Protesters were killed in Egypt, but they were still able to overthrow the dictator.
In the United States, police intimidation is far subtler, but the principal of repression remains the same. In New York, over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested in just one mass arrest. And the FBI is still calling activists from the antiwar movement before a grand jury.
Compare this to the pro-corporate Tea Party protests. These right-wing demonstrations never see police harassment, even when they bring firearms and live ammunition. The police do not assault these right-wing demonstrations because they are not a threat to big business.
Racial Profiling
For most people of color, police brutality is nothing new. 400,000 Latin American immigrants were rounded up and forcibly deported in the last year alone. African Americans face constant police harassment, leaving one in ten African-American males in prison at any given time.
Police brutality against oppressed minorities again serves a political purpose for the ruling class; it keeps these doubly exploited sections of the working class desperate for even the worst-paying jobs and afraid to revolt.
A Movement Without Fear
Sometimes, however, police violence cannot dispel a movement and, instead, enrages broader sections of workers, young people and the oppressed. When the NYPD pepper sprayed peaceful protesters in the face, new people joined the protests around the country.
At this time, the more violence the ruling class is willing to resort to, the more resolved workers and young people are to overthrow them. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are just two examples of this courage.
The Limits to Repression
Throughout history, every ruling elite has used the laws of the land and their police to try to maintain their power. This means that sometimes the oppressed 99% of society have to break those laws.
This decision shouldn’t be taken lightly or in an individualized manner. Mass civil disobedience can demonstrate that certain laws are corrupt. This is especially true when the movement finds support among large numbers of people, as the Occupy Wall Street movement has. In this situation, mass support can often hold the hand of the police, who fear that further repression could further enflame an already erupting movement. Resting on broad public support, the Occupy Wall Street movement has defied bans on tents and protests – and in this way managed to spread its message.
Also, when thousands of people break these undemocratic laws the police have found it far more difficult to intervene. Mass movements have repeatedly overthrown despotic leaders and regimes when soldiers broke from a regime they despised and found a common interest with workers and youth in the streets. As long as capitalism remains intact, however, the ruling 1% will look to find a way to use police violence to maintain its interests.
Capitalism, Social Movements and Police Repression
Oct 28, 2011
Ted Virdone
On September 24 an #OccupyWallStreet protester videotaped a NYPD officer macing peaceful protesters in the face for no apparent reason.
The video shows several women standing calmly as the police unroll and surround them with a bright orange net. Once the women are corralled, a white-shirted police officer walks up to the group and sprays them all in the face with pepper spray. He then walks away.
Over the next couple days, over a million people watched that video on YouTube as the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Far from fearful, protesters responded with renewed vigor, joining the anti-corporate protests in the thousands.
The mace-wielding maniac was identified as NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, who, if former incidents of police brutality are any indication, will receive no consequence.
A Few Bad Apples?
On the other side of the country at the Occupy Wall Street solidarity protest in Seattle, Seattle Police Department officers spent the nights tearing down tents and even arresting protesters who attempted to shelter themselves under umbrellas. One protester called 911 on himself so that he could be taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
During the day, however, the police moved through the crowd of protesters with friendly smiles saying, “We are not interested in taking away anyone’s freedom of speech.” There was even a debate at one General Assembly meeting on whether to include the police in the General Assembly meetings.
However, the actions of Deputy Inspector Bologna were not the isolated incident of one bad apple. He maced women who were already being corralled by other members of the NYPD. Other videos of the NY protests show one protester punched in the face by a different officer and another protester getting his leg run over by a police motorcycle.
Acts of police violence around the country are systematically covered up, and rarely does any officer receive any meaningful consequence. This is because police brutality can serve a purpose for the ruling class and the corporate elite. JP Morgan Chase has gone so far as to donate $4.6 million to the NY City Police Foundation (jpmorganchase.com).
Violence is Political
Police violence has been used around the world and throughout history to keep oppressed people fearful and subservient. From the revolution that swept northern Africa last spring, to the Civil Rights Movement to the current Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters have had to face intimidation tactics. Protesters were killed in Egypt, but they were still able to overthrow the dictator.
In the United States, police intimidation is far subtler, but the principal of repression remains the same. In New York, over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested in just one mass arrest. And the FBI is still calling activists from the antiwar movement before a grand jury.
Compare this to the pro-corporate Tea Party protests. These right-wing demonstrations never see police harassment, even when they bring firearms and live ammunition. The police do not assault these right-wing demonstrations because they are not a threat to big business.
Racial Profiling
For most people of color, police brutality is nothing new. 400,000 Latin American immigrants were rounded up and forcibly deported in the last year alone. African Americans face constant police harassment, leaving one in ten African-American males in prison at any given time.
Police brutality against oppressed minorities again serves a political purpose for the ruling class; it keeps these doubly exploited sections of the working class desperate for even the worst-paying jobs and afraid to revolt.
A Movement Without Fear
Sometimes, however, police violence cannot dispel a movement and, instead, enrages broader sections of workers, young people and the oppressed. When the NYPD pepper sprayed peaceful protesters in the face, new people joined the protests around the country.
At this time, the more violence the ruling class is willing to resort to, the more resolved workers and young people are to overthrow them. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are just two examples of this courage.
The Limits to Repression
Throughout history, every ruling elite has used the laws of the land and their police to try to maintain their power. This means that sometimes the oppressed 99% of society have to break those laws.
This decision shouldn’t be taken lightly or in an individualized manner. Mass civil disobedience can demonstrate that certain laws are corrupt. This is especially true when the movement finds support among large numbers of people, as the Occupy Wall Street movement has. In this situation, mass support can often hold the hand of the police, who fear that further repression could further enflame an already erupting movement. Resting on broad public support, the Occupy Wall Street movement has defied bans on tents and protests – and in this way managed to spread its message.
Also, when thousands of people break these undemocratic laws the police have found it far more difficult to intervene. Mass movements have repeatedly overthrown despotic leaders and regimes when soldiers broke from a regime they despised and found a common interest with workers and youth in the streets. As long as capitalism remains intact, however, the ruling 1% will look to find a way to use police violence to maintain its interests.
From SocialistAlternative.org-We Need A Party For Working People
Published by SocialistAlternative.org Read online at: www.SocialistAlternative.org/news/article10.php?id=1720
We Need A Party For Working People
Oct 27, 2011
Alan Jones
The explosion of the Occupation Movement demonstrated growing anger at the corporate policies coming from politicians in Washington. While many workers and young people were already clear about the role of Republicans, now more and more are seeing that the Democrats are also dedicated to the pro-corporate agenda.
Despite promises of change in this election campaign, Obama has not passed any meaningful reforms to help the millions of ordinary working people who can barely keep their heads above the rising floods of an enduring economic crisis. Instead, we’ve had a pro-big business, war president whose policies have been practically indistinguishable from those of the Bush presidency. The last straw for many was the debt deal made in August, which will include over $2 trillion in devastating cuts to needed social services.
Underlying all this, the so-called recovery has now come to a virtual standstill. The only things that have recovered are corporate profits and Wall Street speculation. Unemployment has remained intractable at an official 9.1% that now is widely agreed to be, in reality, closer to 14% of the workforce. Foreclosures are continuing, poverty has reached a new postwar record and a new study concluded that inflation-adjusted median household income plummeted by a staggering 9.8% since the beginning of the crisis in 2007.
It is this shattering of illusions about capitalism and the hypocrisy of the political establishment that triggered the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests that are sweeping the country (see articles page 6&7 and page 11). Unlike the corporate-funded right wing populist Tea Party movement, the occupations reflect a genuine, growing, mass anti-corporate mood that is correctly targeting the bankers and Wall Street speculators.
This has caused alarm in the political establishment. Democratic Party politicians who have presided over the policies of coddling the bankers and imposing austerity on the working class are now parading in the demonstrations in an effort to divert the occupation movement toward the Democratic Party.
Hypocritically, President Obama declared at a press conference that the Occupation Movement reflects a “broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.” Obama knows very well how the financial system works, as he was at the forefront of supporting the bankers’ bailout and he received the most campaign contributions from his Wall Street backers.
One of those who demagogically appeared at the protests is millionaire Harlem Representative Charles Rangel, who declared he was “mad as hell” – but not nearly enough to stop receiving huge campaign contributions from Wall Street.
The Democrats clearly intend to use the movement to energize their electoral base into the 2012 elections. Commenting on the occupations, Paul Krugman said that “Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.” But a turning point for what? Clearly, the Democrats and the leadership of the major unions want to harness this movement into the safe channels of the two-party system and the “lesser evil.”
Obama and the Democrats are already shifting into demagogic, populist electoral mode to mask their real policies that benefit the rich and Wall Street. This is in preparation for the 2012 elections amidst the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.
But Obama’s real agenda for a second term is clear. Despite cosmetic language about creating an insufficient jobs program that will not pass Congress, the real program was expressed in his call for a massive $4 trillion “deficit reduction” – not through stopping the wars or taxing the rich and big business, but overwhelmingly by cuts on social programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, mass unemployment and more cuts in living standards for workers and the poor.
Working-Class Political Alternative
If the Occupation Movement is to become a real “turning point” for working people and the youth then we need to start a campaign to build a mass working-class political alternative. This can start by organizing broad conferences of unionists, participants in the occupations, young people, workers, socialists and others activists in every major city across the country early next year to prepare to run independent working-class candidates in 2012. These campaigns can start with a program of opposition to all cuts and concessions, taxing the rich, a massive jobs program, ending the wars and cutting the Pentagon budget, single payer health care, etc.
Union activists should campaign in their unions to stop funding the corporate-sponsored Democratic Party and its politicians. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has shown how deep is the sympathy of the broad mass of workers and young people for a program to attack the privileges and corruption of the capitalist oligarchy.
The Democrats are fully complicit in the massive cuts that will come from the Super Committee deliberations. The opportunity will be there for serious labor-left and socialist candidates and campaigns to challenge the two corporate parties and lay the basis for a mass, independent workers party and democratic socialist policies to challenge the sick system of capitalism.
We Need A Party For Working People
Oct 27, 2011
Alan Jones
The explosion of the Occupation Movement demonstrated growing anger at the corporate policies coming from politicians in Washington. While many workers and young people were already clear about the role of Republicans, now more and more are seeing that the Democrats are also dedicated to the pro-corporate agenda.
Despite promises of change in this election campaign, Obama has not passed any meaningful reforms to help the millions of ordinary working people who can barely keep their heads above the rising floods of an enduring economic crisis. Instead, we’ve had a pro-big business, war president whose policies have been practically indistinguishable from those of the Bush presidency. The last straw for many was the debt deal made in August, which will include over $2 trillion in devastating cuts to needed social services.
Underlying all this, the so-called recovery has now come to a virtual standstill. The only things that have recovered are corporate profits and Wall Street speculation. Unemployment has remained intractable at an official 9.1% that now is widely agreed to be, in reality, closer to 14% of the workforce. Foreclosures are continuing, poverty has reached a new postwar record and a new study concluded that inflation-adjusted median household income plummeted by a staggering 9.8% since the beginning of the crisis in 2007.
It is this shattering of illusions about capitalism and the hypocrisy of the political establishment that triggered the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests that are sweeping the country (see articles page 6&7 and page 11). Unlike the corporate-funded right wing populist Tea Party movement, the occupations reflect a genuine, growing, mass anti-corporate mood that is correctly targeting the bankers and Wall Street speculators.
This has caused alarm in the political establishment. Democratic Party politicians who have presided over the policies of coddling the bankers and imposing austerity on the working class are now parading in the demonstrations in an effort to divert the occupation movement toward the Democratic Party.
Hypocritically, President Obama declared at a press conference that the Occupation Movement reflects a “broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.” Obama knows very well how the financial system works, as he was at the forefront of supporting the bankers’ bailout and he received the most campaign contributions from his Wall Street backers.
One of those who demagogically appeared at the protests is millionaire Harlem Representative Charles Rangel, who declared he was “mad as hell” – but not nearly enough to stop receiving huge campaign contributions from Wall Street.
The Democrats clearly intend to use the movement to energize their electoral base into the 2012 elections. Commenting on the occupations, Paul Krugman said that “Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.” But a turning point for what? Clearly, the Democrats and the leadership of the major unions want to harness this movement into the safe channels of the two-party system and the “lesser evil.”
Obama and the Democrats are already shifting into demagogic, populist electoral mode to mask their real policies that benefit the rich and Wall Street. This is in preparation for the 2012 elections amidst the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.
But Obama’s real agenda for a second term is clear. Despite cosmetic language about creating an insufficient jobs program that will not pass Congress, the real program was expressed in his call for a massive $4 trillion “deficit reduction” – not through stopping the wars or taxing the rich and big business, but overwhelmingly by cuts on social programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, mass unemployment and more cuts in living standards for workers and the poor.
Working-Class Political Alternative
If the Occupation Movement is to become a real “turning point” for working people and the youth then we need to start a campaign to build a mass working-class political alternative. This can start by organizing broad conferences of unionists, participants in the occupations, young people, workers, socialists and others activists in every major city across the country early next year to prepare to run independent working-class candidates in 2012. These campaigns can start with a program of opposition to all cuts and concessions, taxing the rich, a massive jobs program, ending the wars and cutting the Pentagon budget, single payer health care, etc.
Union activists should campaign in their unions to stop funding the corporate-sponsored Democratic Party and its politicians. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has shown how deep is the sympathy of the broad mass of workers and young people for a program to attack the privileges and corruption of the capitalist oligarchy.
The Democrats are fully complicit in the massive cuts that will come from the Super Committee deliberations. The opportunity will be there for serious labor-left and socialist candidates and campaigns to challenge the two corporate parties and lay the basis for a mass, independent workers party and democratic socialist policies to challenge the sick system of capitalism.
The Latest From The Rag Blog
Click on the headline to link to The Rag Blog website.
Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
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Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
**********
From #Occupied Boston (#Tomemonos Boston)-Day 68- This Is Class War, We Say No More!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Unions!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!- Port Of Boston Workers Shut Down The Port!-Occupiers March On The Port!
Click on the headline to link to updates from the Occupy Boston website. Occupy Boston started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post important updates as they appear on that site.
********
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
********
Markin comment:
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Oakland !
**************
Press Release: Support Grows for West Coast Port Shut Down
http://westcoastportshutdown.org/
Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 15:25
SUPPORT GROWS FOR OCCUPY MOVEMENT'S COORDINATED WEST COAST SHUT DOWN ON DECEMBER 12TH
As of November 27, 2011, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organizing a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12, 2011. Other West Coast Occupies, including Occupy Anchorage and Vancouver, Canada are planning to join the economic blockade and disruption of the 1% on that date, according to organizers.
"We're shutting down these ports because of the union busting and attacks on the working class by the 1%: the firing of Port truckers organizing at SSA terminals in LA; the attempt to rupture ILWU union jurisdiction in Longview, WA by EGT. EGT includes Bunge LTD, a company which reported 2.5 billion dollars in profit last year and has economically devastated poor people in Argentina and Brazil. SSA is responsible for inhumane working conditions and gross exploitation of port truckers and is owned by Goldman Sachs. EGT and Goldman Sachs is Wallstreet on the Waterfront" stated Barucha Peller of the West Coast Port Blockade Assembly of Occupy Oakland.
"We are also striking back against the nationally' coordinated attack on the Occupy movement. In response to the police violence and camp evictions against the Occupy movement- This is our coordinated response against the 1%. On December 12th we will show are collective power through pinpointed economic blockade of the 1%."
Each Occupy is organizing plans for a mass mobilization and community pickets to shut down their local Port. The mobilization of over 60,000 people that shut down the Port of Oakland during the general strike on November 2, 2011 is the model for the West Coast efforts. Organizers state that a police attempt to disrupt the port blockade or police violence against any city participating will extend duration of the blockade on the entire coast.
"These Ports are public. People have a right to come to the Port and protest. The ILWU has historically honored picket lines at the Port." stated Clarence Thomas, a member of ILWU Local 10.
ILWU longshore workers are involved as individuals in the planning of the Shutdown. "I am a longshoreman and I support the December 12th Blockade against EGT. EGT is a threat to the survival of the ILWU," stated Anthony Leviege, a member of Local 10. Dan Coffman, the president of Local 21 in Longview, has publicly thanked the Occupy movement and Occupy Oakland for its actions on November 2nd.
Further interviews and details can be obtained through local Port Blockade committees and the Oakland West Coast Port Blockade Assembly.
********
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
********
Markin comment:
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Oakland !
**************
Press Release: Support Grows for West Coast Port Shut Down
http://westcoastportshutdown.org/
Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 15:25
SUPPORT GROWS FOR OCCUPY MOVEMENT'S COORDINATED WEST COAST SHUT DOWN ON DECEMBER 12TH
As of November 27, 2011, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organizing a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12, 2011. Other West Coast Occupies, including Occupy Anchorage and Vancouver, Canada are planning to join the economic blockade and disruption of the 1% on that date, according to organizers.
"We're shutting down these ports because of the union busting and attacks on the working class by the 1%: the firing of Port truckers organizing at SSA terminals in LA; the attempt to rupture ILWU union jurisdiction in Longview, WA by EGT. EGT includes Bunge LTD, a company which reported 2.5 billion dollars in profit last year and has economically devastated poor people in Argentina and Brazil. SSA is responsible for inhumane working conditions and gross exploitation of port truckers and is owned by Goldman Sachs. EGT and Goldman Sachs is Wallstreet on the Waterfront" stated Barucha Peller of the West Coast Port Blockade Assembly of Occupy Oakland.
"We are also striking back against the nationally' coordinated attack on the Occupy movement. In response to the police violence and camp evictions against the Occupy movement- This is our coordinated response against the 1%. On December 12th we will show are collective power through pinpointed economic blockade of the 1%."
Each Occupy is organizing plans for a mass mobilization and community pickets to shut down their local Port. The mobilization of over 60,000 people that shut down the Port of Oakland during the general strike on November 2, 2011 is the model for the West Coast efforts. Organizers state that a police attempt to disrupt the port blockade or police violence against any city participating will extend duration of the blockade on the entire coast.
"These Ports are public. People have a right to come to the Port and protest. The ILWU has historically honored picket lines at the Port." stated Clarence Thomas, a member of ILWU Local 10.
ILWU longshore workers are involved as individuals in the planning of the Shutdown. "I am a longshoreman and I support the December 12th Blockade against EGT. EGT is a threat to the survival of the ILWU," stated Anthony Leviege, a member of Local 10. Dan Coffman, the president of Local 21 in Longview, has publicly thanked the Occupy movement and Occupy Oakland for its actions on November 2nd.
Further interviews and details can be obtained through local Port Blockade committees and the Oakland West Coast Port Blockade Assembly.
The Latest From The "West Coast Port Shut Down" Website-This Is Class War, We Say No More!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Unions!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!-Port Workers Shut The Ports!-Occupiers March On The Ports!
Click on the headline to link to the West Coast Port Shutdown website.
Markin comment:
This Is Class War, We Say No More!- Defend The Oakland Commune!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Unions!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!-Port Workers Shut The Ports!-Occupiers March On The Ports!
Markin comment:
This Is Class War, We Say No More!- Defend The Oakland Commune!- Defend The Longshoremen’s Unions!- Take The Offensive-Shut Down The West Coast Ports On December 12th!- Shut Down The Gulf, East Coast And Great Lakes Ports In Solidarity!-Port Workers Shut The Ports!-Occupiers March On The Ports!
From "OccupyHarvard"- Solidarity Rally with Harvard Employee Marvin Byrd-Looking For A Few Good Class Traitors
Solidarity Rally with Harvard Employee Marvin Byrd
November 3 occupyharvard
Occupy Harvard stands in solidarity with all Harvard workers in their fight to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace.
Today, Thursday 12/1, we will join members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) in a rally outside the Holyoke Center at 5PM and
ask Harvard not to discriminate against disabled employees. Facebook event here-and no Harvard ID required!
Geoff Carens of HUCTW sent us this information:
Marvin Byrd has worked in Harvard's Science Center mail room since 1995. He was hired first as a "casual" worker, and then into a union position in 2008. Partially-disabled, Marvin wears foot orthotics and custom-made shoes; he has always been reliable, responsible and dependable in his job. When he applied for a better-paid position in 2007 he was passed over, despite being an internal candidate. He has lived on an income derived from 29 hours a week, since being hired into a Mail Clerk I position in the lowest salary grade in the union.
This year management made Marvin pick from three harsh choices: a cut to 25 hours spread over six work days, an even-worse cut to 20 hours over a 5-day week, or losing his job completely. Feeling he had little choice, Marvin picked the 25-hour schedule, which meant diminished pay and getting just one day off from work. Marvin has a grueling commute on public transportation, which management knew about before cutting his hours arid income. No one else in his unit faced any change to their scheduled hours, and no one else had to accept a regular schedule of six days per week.
Marvin now has to get on the bus in Lynn at 7:30 a.m. to get to work, at Harvard by 10. He typically gets just 4-5 hours of work and then has to get back on the Tfor his journey home. He can't get another part-tijne job to make up for the cut in his income,
because he only has one day off from Harvard. Marvin has less money to live on; the cut in pay was immediate with no transition, arid immediately affected Marvin's ability to meet his obligations in leading his daily life. Campus workers believe Harvard managers are trying to push Marvin out of his job.
This Thursday, December i, union members, students, and concerned members of the community will hold a demonstration of our support for Marvin. We'll meet starting at 5 p.m. in front ofHolyoke Center, 1350 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (right next to An Bon Pain). Click here for a map. Please join us if you can! Riot-Folk artist Evan Greer will perform at the action.
In Solidarity,
Geoff Carens, Union Rep, Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers/HUCTW
******
From the American Left History blog.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
HONOR THE MEMORY OF JOHN REED
COMMENTARY
HONOR A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST MOVEMENT –AND A CLASS TRAITOR, TO BOOT
John Reed, Harvard Class of 1910, epitomized the best of the pre-World War I bourgeois radicals. Unlike the vast majority of his Class and class he cast his fate with the working people and oppressed of America at a time when the dominant left bourgeois movement- the Progressive movement- was busy applying band-aids to the increasingly inequitable capitalist system. The radical movement is always in need, sometimes like now desperately in need, of intellectuals to tell its side of the story. Despite some exceptions, like Reed, the intellectuals then, as now, either stood on the sidelines or at most acted as ‘fellow travelers’ to the movement. Reed on the contrary put all his energies into the movement. As a journalist he sought out all the radical hotspots of his time starting with his coverage of the Mexican Revolution, through the various workers’ strikes of the 1910’s in America, culminating in his coverage of the heroic period of the Russian Revolution. His journalistic account of the Bolshevik seizure of power, Ten Days That Shook the World, stands even today as one of the best eyewitness accounts of that turbulent time in Russia.
John Reed’s political development also offers today’s militant leftists an insight into how the swirl of events drives the best militants leftward. Reed started out in the typically Bohemian milieu of New York City's Greenwich Village and imbibed its avante guarde cultural offerings and its pretensions. However, as the United States lurched into participation into World War I he grew stronger as an anti-war advocate and placed himself on the line to oppose that war. This was the great dividing point in the radical movement of the time. This separated the dilettantes and mere reformists from serious revolutionaries. Not an unusual political development, but an important one.
Under the influence of the Russian Revolution Reed led the left-wing of the American Socialist Party on a program of opposition to the war and defense of the Bolshevik Revolution. When the left-wing was forced out of the Socialist Party he formed a communist organization based on the centrally of the native American working-class as the vanguard of the American Revolution. Opposed to that were left-wingers, mainly foreign-born elements based on the various language federations of the old Socialist Party, who essentially wanted to act as cheerleaders for the Russian Revolution-and no much else. The result was the creation of two communist organizations that caused no end of problems both here and in the Communist International. But the fights to lead the Socialist Party leftward and later between the communist organizations are stories for another time, and worth separate space.
Reed’s political trajectory parallels that of some of the more serious elements of the radical generation of ’68, the class traitors of that generation, in this country who were won to radicalism by the civil rights movement and early opposition to the Vietnam War. As always some remained dilettantes, lost energy or capitulated to the power of parliamentary politics. However, the better elements came to understand, sometimes fitfully and haphazardly, the need for a Leninist-type organization if one was to fight the monster of American imperialism to the end. Reed would have applauded such efforts. Reed’s untimely death in 1920 before the Communist movement got off the ground has left some room for speculation about what his ultimate position would have been toward the Soviet Union. And that is where it remains, speculation. What we know for sure is that when the deal went down he was on the side of the angels. Damn, we could use a few more class traitors like him these days. Are there any out there?
November 3 occupyharvard
Occupy Harvard stands in solidarity with all Harvard workers in their fight to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace.
Today, Thursday 12/1, we will join members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) in a rally outside the Holyoke Center at 5PM and
ask Harvard not to discriminate against disabled employees. Facebook event here-and no Harvard ID required!
Geoff Carens of HUCTW sent us this information:
Marvin Byrd has worked in Harvard's Science Center mail room since 1995. He was hired first as a "casual" worker, and then into a union position in 2008. Partially-disabled, Marvin wears foot orthotics and custom-made shoes; he has always been reliable, responsible and dependable in his job. When he applied for a better-paid position in 2007 he was passed over, despite being an internal candidate. He has lived on an income derived from 29 hours a week, since being hired into a Mail Clerk I position in the lowest salary grade in the union.
This year management made Marvin pick from three harsh choices: a cut to 25 hours spread over six work days, an even-worse cut to 20 hours over a 5-day week, or losing his job completely. Feeling he had little choice, Marvin picked the 25-hour schedule, which meant diminished pay and getting just one day off from work. Marvin has a grueling commute on public transportation, which management knew about before cutting his hours arid income. No one else in his unit faced any change to their scheduled hours, and no one else had to accept a regular schedule of six days per week.
Marvin now has to get on the bus in Lynn at 7:30 a.m. to get to work, at Harvard by 10. He typically gets just 4-5 hours of work and then has to get back on the Tfor his journey home. He can't get another part-tijne job to make up for the cut in his income,
because he only has one day off from Harvard. Marvin has less money to live on; the cut in pay was immediate with no transition, arid immediately affected Marvin's ability to meet his obligations in leading his daily life. Campus workers believe Harvard managers are trying to push Marvin out of his job.
This Thursday, December i, union members, students, and concerned members of the community will hold a demonstration of our support for Marvin. We'll meet starting at 5 p.m. in front ofHolyoke Center, 1350 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (right next to An Bon Pain). Click here for a map. Please join us if you can! Riot-Folk artist Evan Greer will perform at the action.
In Solidarity,
Geoff Carens, Union Rep, Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers/HUCTW
******
From the American Left History blog.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
HONOR THE MEMORY OF JOHN REED
COMMENTARY
HONOR A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST MOVEMENT –AND A CLASS TRAITOR, TO BOOT
John Reed, Harvard Class of 1910, epitomized the best of the pre-World War I bourgeois radicals. Unlike the vast majority of his Class and class he cast his fate with the working people and oppressed of America at a time when the dominant left bourgeois movement- the Progressive movement- was busy applying band-aids to the increasingly inequitable capitalist system. The radical movement is always in need, sometimes like now desperately in need, of intellectuals to tell its side of the story. Despite some exceptions, like Reed, the intellectuals then, as now, either stood on the sidelines or at most acted as ‘fellow travelers’ to the movement. Reed on the contrary put all his energies into the movement. As a journalist he sought out all the radical hotspots of his time starting with his coverage of the Mexican Revolution, through the various workers’ strikes of the 1910’s in America, culminating in his coverage of the heroic period of the Russian Revolution. His journalistic account of the Bolshevik seizure of power, Ten Days That Shook the World, stands even today as one of the best eyewitness accounts of that turbulent time in Russia.
John Reed’s political development also offers today’s militant leftists an insight into how the swirl of events drives the best militants leftward. Reed started out in the typically Bohemian milieu of New York City's Greenwich Village and imbibed its avante guarde cultural offerings and its pretensions. However, as the United States lurched into participation into World War I he grew stronger as an anti-war advocate and placed himself on the line to oppose that war. This was the great dividing point in the radical movement of the time. This separated the dilettantes and mere reformists from serious revolutionaries. Not an unusual political development, but an important one.
Under the influence of the Russian Revolution Reed led the left-wing of the American Socialist Party on a program of opposition to the war and defense of the Bolshevik Revolution. When the left-wing was forced out of the Socialist Party he formed a communist organization based on the centrally of the native American working-class as the vanguard of the American Revolution. Opposed to that were left-wingers, mainly foreign-born elements based on the various language federations of the old Socialist Party, who essentially wanted to act as cheerleaders for the Russian Revolution-and no much else. The result was the creation of two communist organizations that caused no end of problems both here and in the Communist International. But the fights to lead the Socialist Party leftward and later between the communist organizations are stories for another time, and worth separate space.
Reed’s political trajectory parallels that of some of the more serious elements of the radical generation of ’68, the class traitors of that generation, in this country who were won to radicalism by the civil rights movement and early opposition to the Vietnam War. As always some remained dilettantes, lost energy or capitulated to the power of parliamentary politics. However, the better elements came to understand, sometimes fitfully and haphazardly, the need for a Leninist-type organization if one was to fight the monster of American imperialism to the end. Reed would have applauded such efforts. Reed’s untimely death in 1920 before the Communist movement got off the ground has left some room for speculation about what his ultimate position would have been toward the Soviet Union. And that is where it remains, speculation. What we know for sure is that when the deal went down he was on the side of the angels. Damn, we could use a few more class traitors like him these days. Are there any out there?
From The "Occupy4Jobs" Website-JOBS OR INCOME NOW! IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!
OCCUPY4JOBS!
JOBS OR INCOME NOW! IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!
LET'S DEMAND A WPA STYLE - 30 MILLION JOB -
PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM - PAYING UNION WAGES FOR
ALL UNEMPLOYED WORKERS REGARDLESS
OF IMMIGRATION STATUS!
NO CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE OR MEDICAID!
AFFORDABLE FOOD, HOUSING, HEALTHCARE &
EDUCATION IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT!
Come to a planning meeting for the Boston Chapter of the Occupy4Jobs Network. The main goal of Occupy4Jobs is to demand a massive WPA style Public Works Program big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and under employed workers in this country. Occupy Wall Street has opened up the space for larger sections of the poor and the working class - including women, people of color, LGBT people, youth, immigrants and seniors to fight Wall Street and its decaying profits-before-people economic system.
Join Us!
MONDAY DECEMBER 19
6PM
at the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, USWA Local 8751 25 Colgate Road, Roslindale, MA
617-524-7073
Initial Endorsers: Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union; Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement, Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate, The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC Unemployed Council Rhode Island, Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO*/or Id only Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY, Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300, Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants, Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA; Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore; Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization; Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal; Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem; Bishop Filipe Teixeira, OFSJC, Diocese of St Francis of Assisi, CCA, Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs, MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice, Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee and Women's Fightback Network (WFN).
Occupy4jobs Boston Qccupy4iobsBoston@gmail.com Occupy4Jobs.org
JOBS OR INCOME NOW! IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!
LET'S DEMAND A WPA STYLE - 30 MILLION JOB -
PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM - PAYING UNION WAGES FOR
ALL UNEMPLOYED WORKERS REGARDLESS
OF IMMIGRATION STATUS!
NO CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE OR MEDICAID!
AFFORDABLE FOOD, HOUSING, HEALTHCARE &
EDUCATION IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT!
Come to a planning meeting for the Boston Chapter of the Occupy4Jobs Network. The main goal of Occupy4Jobs is to demand a massive WPA style Public Works Program big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and under employed workers in this country. Occupy Wall Street has opened up the space for larger sections of the poor and the working class - including women, people of color, LGBT people, youth, immigrants and seniors to fight Wall Street and its decaying profits-before-people economic system.
Join Us!
MONDAY DECEMBER 19
6PM
at the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, USWA Local 8751 25 Colgate Road, Roslindale, MA
617-524-7073
Initial Endorsers: Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union; Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement, Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate, The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC Unemployed Council Rhode Island, Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO*/or Id only Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY, Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300, Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants, Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA; Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore; Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization; Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal; Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem; Bishop Filipe Teixeira, OFSJC, Diocese of St Francis of Assisi, CCA, Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs, MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice, Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee and Women's Fightback Network (WFN).
Occupy4jobs Boston Qccupy4iobsBoston@gmail.com Occupy4Jobs.org
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