Occupy Humboldt, Unfiltered – October 28, 2011
Note: In response to queries from readers, we asked Occupy Humboldt activists why they take part in the Occupy movement and what they want? These letters were submitted by OH participants. occupyhumboldt.org – Ed.
The Soulution
About Occupy Humboldt,
I am a resident of Arcata, a parent of two, and have been a local business owner.
I am here to actively be a part of transforming the dream of this world into paradise on Earth. To some, it may sound like an impossible task. To me, it is just a simple, inevitable collective consciousness shift, from victimization to total responsibility.
This process is well underway.
The break down of the barriers of separation in-between individuals is the first step. That is what the current stage of the movement is all about. This is why everyone is outside, gathering, all over Earth.
Re-membering that there is no “them”; only us.
We are all in this Together.
We Are One.
We’ve Got This!
We Are The Soulution NOW!
It’s All For LOVE.
Roy Buchanon
Arcata Resident
America awakens
I am a Humboldt Occupier.
I used to believe my generation enjoyed sleeping. But they finally woke up.
We have been asleep behind our flat screens, flat monitors and flat paychecks. The time has come for us to not just converse ideas between each other, but to act upon them, and create the change we demand, the change that political parties have promised to create and continue failing to pursue.
In case you have been living under a rock, on September 17 over 1,000 people, from all backgrounds, gathered together in Liberty Square and organized a nonviolent protest representing the 99 percent of America who face inequality every day.
On October 1, Humboldt citizens, veterans, students and travelers gathered together in solidarity with the nonviolent protestors of New York and countries around the world like Egypt and Europe. Each night since then, we have occupied Humboldt State University and have general assemblies at 7 p.m. Our general assemblies are a place to present ideas and demands and how we are pursuing them.
For those who are confused about our results, this movement will not be producing large-scale results today, tomorrow, or next month. This current generation demands instant gratification, a type of gratification that is unrealistic to creating global change.
This movement has nonetheless, brought people together, politics, religion and race aside and given them a place to freely express their First Amendment rights.
For those of you who are interested, curious or skeptical of our motives, I suggest turning off your television and come to a general assembly to find out first hand what exactly is being done.
To the Occupiers who are occupying over 1,600 cities globally, thank you.
Get ready for the American Winter.
Ashley Ward
Arcata Resident and Journalism major at HSU
A new paradigm
Greetings,
My name is Justin Gallant and I have been a part of Occupy Humboldt since day 1, October 1st, 2011. I am a part of the Outreach Committee, and Photo and Film Committee, while also being a full time student majoring in history. I believe in this movement specifically because I believe in life; we are heading in a disastrous direction that has huge implications not just for me and my fellow students, but for every single person on this planet.
The distinction of the 99 percent and 1 percent equality ratio is much more symbolic than actuality because if the 99 percent fail, the 1 percent is taken down with all of us. The world is set up in such a way that profit is not only the bottom line, but the actual goal and business model.
Instead of hoping that our imaginary monetary system (one that we have literally made up for resource distribution) can solve the problem, I would like to see people, community and empathy the common human goals. I think this movement has so much potential precisely because it is global in nature. The global capitalist plutocracy is in fact an international phenomenon and cannot be dealt with, at this point, on a domestic scale.
I would suggest anyone interested in a model for what a new world paradigm could look like to check out the film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, or the books The Best That Money Can’t Buy by Jacque Fresco, and Critical Path by Buckminster Fuller.
Most of all though, get involved, this is your future – take control of it.
Justin Gallant
Arcata
End the outrages
I have long been active with Vets for Peace, Unitarian Universalists Social Action and related groups and such. It would therefore be assumed that I would be very much pro on the national and local occupy movement and that would be an accurate assumption. As a senior citizen now I have spent much of each day since the onset with the university group known as Occupy Humboldt.
May I pose a question that is born of direct and first hand observation: How, in a democracy does 1 percent gain political strength which often surpasses the 99 percent?
The only answer that I can come to has devastating ramifications. They cheat.
They rig elections. They have required voting machines that have modems and secret source codes, that such machines be placed in all precincts. These are machines that can be easily invaded and votes can be easily flipped by those with such technical knowledge that I believe that exactly this what has been happening to our country while the rest of the civilized world insist on verifiable paper ballets that can be manually counted and recounted wherever required.
Yes, I support the Occupy movement and I do so with the fervent, perhaps desperate, hope that this outrages abuse to an end.
David H. Goggin
McKinleyville Resident
Dream cleanup
When I graduated from High School the my Economics teacher gave us a speech, he told us that each of us should strive for the “American Dream,” that we should go to college, get an education, work our dream job, get married, have 2.5 children and live in a house with a picket fence and a golden retriever. He then laughed at us and told us our reality was that we would drown ourselves in student debt, never get a job in our field, our marriages would end in divorce, our dream house foreclosed, and our golden retrievers would be poisoned from tainted imported dog food.
At the time I thought that he was simply jaded from years of teaching that his message could not be correct, however year after year I have simply not seen anything contrariety to his message. But I have reached a point where I want my dream despite that. When I look at the economy of our county, I feel as though I am cleaning up after a party I was too young to attend, but I will continue to clean up because that is the only foreseeable way I can imagine for my dream to be a reality.
That is the why I have been with Occupy Humboldt since October 1. I feel that these people are part of my clean-up effort, and I believe this is the best chance I have to get my “American Dream.” Perhaps the agenda is still muddled, and our message may not be clear to everyone, but this movement is still in out infancy. I can only hope that we grow and continue to work together as a community to fix the problems facing our county.
Angela Dabney
Arcata
Growing hope
A little more than a month ago, a small group of disgruntled US Americans met on Wall Street in New York with a multitude of grievances. United under the flag of discontent, they continued their occupation despite different objectives, contrary opinions and a blackout in the mainstream media.
Since that time, a hacktivist group which calls itself Anonymous has issued a call-to-action for similarly disappointed and frustrated citizens. The result has culminated in 1,140 occupied cities worldwide. The number continues to grow as more people answer the call. I have been fortunate enough to participate in the nascence of the movement here in the north of Northern California.
This movement has had to face a lot of violence by the police, it has risen to resist corporate greed and a lack of governmental participation. Everyone who constitutes “the 99 percent,” everyone who makes less than the 1 percent of this, the richest nation in the world, from the youth to the elderly, from the radicals to the conservatives feel disenfranchised by our economic system.
Our qualms are many, our motivations varied, our experiences stem from a plethora of systemic oppressions, discriminations and so-called “realities” which keep us in check. Despite all of the negativity which has pushed us here, the messages which are pronounced in the meetings are those of active democracy, respect for each other, our community and our Earth.
According to a recent NPR report, the Wall Street protesters have created a space in which they can practice an active democracy to represent the 99 percent. Occupy Humboldt has done just that for the members of our community.
What does this mean to me? This movement instills in me a deep sense of fulfillment and hope. Many of us who have become involved have expressed that we have been waiting for the right time, for the tides to change, for the 100th monkey, so to speak. I’m thrilled to see that the fighting spirit of our generation is not dead; we are not as apathetic, or as helpless, as we have been led to believe.
Occupy Humboldt allows a space for real conversation and has provided an accepting family for the ideologically disillusioned who have yet to give up. The movement is hopeful in that it proves that we are not fragmented, we are not alone, we are the 99 percent and we are willing to stand up for a better future.
Alexandra McGee
HSU Student
