Harrisonburg has been Occupied! After the meeting tonight in Court Square I left feeling very excited. I saw generations working together, people of different ethnicities, orientations, backgrounds, and class all coming together to begin a conversation mirroring the ones happening all over the United States, and now all over the world.
This is a very exciting time in our country’s history. Conversations are happening right now that have not been happening in a wide-spread manner: people are talking about capitalism in honest ways, looking at oppression and privilege, seeing intersections, identifying their own privilege and their own simultaneous oppression.
But my larger question remains what do these #occupy movements aim to accomplish? I think that providing a forum for people to address concerns and to have honest conversations is absolutely important! God knows that the Democrats aren’t talking to Republicans, and vice-versa. In so many ways the “liberal party” has abandoned so many: students are left with rising costs of education, despite what was promised by Obama, there is a huge unemployment problem, and oppression of the not-super-rich is still alive and well within our society. And I definitely feel like there are problems with the GOP, for my most recent rant you can see my last post, but I did want to put it out there that I definitely have problems with the Democrats. As an aside, I often joke with my mom that I’m more conservative than she is…jumping as far to the Left as I have can sort of do that.
But, still, is that conversation the only thing which #occupy has to offer? I feel as if there is so much more. And while I respect the decision of different #occupy movements to not come out with asks or a statement of purpose, and while I think that a huge part of the #occupy movement’s power is in the process; I think that asks and solutions are immensely helpful. How else can we frame the solutions we want to offer, the problems we see, how can we affect change effectively if we don’t even clearly define what it is we want to work against and what we want to work towards?
My dear friend Lou and I are facilitating the second general assembly of Occupy Harrisonburg tomorrow, so I have been asking myself these questions. Again, I want to be clear, I don’t want to disregard the importance of the process exhibited in #occupy–I think it is itself a huge step towards creating the society which so many of us want to see– and I know that, as time progresses, this conversation will definitely evolve; but for now these are the questions rolling around in my head.
Thank you for coming tonight! It was terrific having you participating so productively in the meeting. Here is a blurb I posted today – maybe it helps frame just a few of your concerns:
“People complain that there are no clear demands from the Occupy Protests. But this movement is about changing huge systems. It is about including all voices. It is about sorting through a PROCESS of democracy. If solutions were clear, we would not need this movement. Systems change takes time. It takes patience. This is not about sound bites, bullet points or quick fixes. This is about how we are choosing live together for the rest of our lives.”
Also, Harrisonburg is a town full of people who have been thinking deeply about these issues for years. The good news is I don’t feel we have to completely reinvent the wheel. We have a community organized and run co-op that just hired 19 people in a down economy. The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner was trained at and is a functioning member of the Eastern Mennonite University community. We have one of only two bike-powered bike repair shops in the country. And another group has been conducting what is called a Voluntary Gas Tax for more than 10 years. We are also smack in the heart of one of the most dynamic local food movements in the country… this is just the tip of the good stuff that is here in H-burg already!!
Hi! Thanks for the comment, and it was great being there!
That blurb was actually going through my head as I was writing this and something I think is really important; and I definitely think that formulating a vision can/should take time; but I think that the second part of what you said (how Harrisonburg can offer so much) is also really important.
I feel like if we can tap into what we are passionate about, where we see problems, and where we see solutions (the solutions, in my mind, being one of the most important parts) then we ultimately have something immensely valuable to add to the process, which is itself not only important, but revolutionary.
See you tomorrow!
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