My Blog Has Moved

Hi Friends,

I have moved my blog to the following web address:  http://sharondelgado.org.

Recent posts include:  The Myth of Redemptive Violence, Hope in the Face of Violence, and Light in this Present Darkness.

This blog site has been discontinued, so find me there.

Blessings and Peace in this New Year.

Sharon

When the Music Plays I Just Want to Move

I stand corrected. In my last blog post I quoted some videos circulating on the Internet of these two dancers claiming that they are grandmother and grandson. In reality, this is Sarah (Paddy) Jones at age 75 and her dance teacher Nico. That was in 2009.

Still, pretty awesome. And fun.

Today Paddy is 78 and, according to Wikipedia, they are still competing at Salsa congresses around the world. After winning one competition, she said, "I'm living proof age is no barrier. When the music plays I just want to move."

Amen to that. For me, dance is a metaphor for following the leading of the Spirit. In life, as in Salsa, "When the music plays I just want to move." I do my best to follow the Lead, trusting that practice, intuition, and spontaneity will carry me through.

If I Can't Dance

Emma Goldman said, "If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution."  That's how I feel.  I love to dance, especially Salsa.  Dance is such a wonderful way to express bodily joy.  It's a perfect celebration of incarnation, as children of Spirit, children of Earth. 

This video of a 92-year old grandma dancing Salsa with her grandson says it all.  If I keep dancing, who knows?  With God all things are possible.  Keep dancing.  

Celebrating in Ways that Bring Joy

There are many ways to celebrate the coming of the light in this dark season of the year, including the Winter Solstice, Hanukah, Kwanza, and Christmas.  Christmas is supposedly a Christian holiday, but the orgy of consumption that accompanies this holiday in the United States makes that questionable.  How ironic it is that people celebrate the birth of a poor baby born in a stable (as the story goes) by spending billions on "stuff" that will ultimately end up in overflowing landfills.  However, Christian or not, many are swept along by the dominant media message:  "Buy gifts for your loved ones to show them how much they are loved and how precious they are."  The pressure can be hard to resist.

This may not present a problem for those who practice a Christianity that is conformed to consumer culture, but for those who seek to follow Jesus it challenges us with one of his core teachings:  "You cannot serve both God and mammon." Mammon:  wealth, riches, money, stuff.   

If you haven't yet watched Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff," now is the time.  This 20 minute, easy to watch animation, will inoculate you against unrestrained consumerism during this holiday season. The sequels are also great. 

http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/

The Commercialization of Christmas challenges people of every spiritual tradition to resist cultural accommodation, practice integrity, and celebrate in ways that bring joy. I personally love going to Christmas concerts and street fairs, watching my grandkids in the Christmas pageant and the Nutcracker, singing Christmas Carols, having meals with my beautiful extended family, organizing crafts for the Sunday School children, spending an evening at Hospitality House (our local rotating homeless shelter), reaching out to a family in need, putting cedar branches and nativity scenes in our window sills, decorating a tiny living tree that we'll plant outside after Christmas.  

I plan, with God's help, to weigh my gift-giving choices well.  I hope to not find myself walking vacant-eyed down aisles of plastic toys.  

The organization "Alternatives for Simple Living" has a Treasury of Celebrations with some great ideas of ways to celebrate the different holidays, including Advent and Christmas.  Scroll down the page at their website to find out more: 

http://simpleliving.startlogic.com/indexoth.php?place=archives/TreasCeleb/TOCAdvent.php

May you experience and share the true gifts of peace, joy, and love during this season.

Witnessing at Beale

On October 30 I joined about 100 people for a demonstration at Beale Air Force Base calling for an end to drone warfare.  Beale is home to the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that is used to determine drone targets.  After stopping traffic onto the base for four hours, nine of us were arrested for trespassing onto federal property. 

I took this action because I am convinced that the use of drones for targeted assassinations is immoral and illegal and that their use threatens us all.  Now is the time to stop the new drone arms race in its tracks.  This act of nonviolent direct action at Beale was my way of witnessing to my hope that "another world is possible," a world based not on domination and violence, but on peace, justice, and environmental healing. My "no" of resistance is based on a "yes" of faith. 

The U.S. use of drones for extra-judicial killings is immoral and illegal under international law.  It assumes that the whole world is a battleground and that the United States has the right to inflict capital punishment without trial on whomever it has put on its "kill list."

Targeted assassinations by drones is not a clean as many people seem to think.  Many innocent people have been killed, including children.  In Pakistan, whole communities are paralyzed with fear because of ongoing drone attacks.  "Secondary kills," that is, drone strikes on rescue workers, if eyewitness reports are true, would constitute war crimes.

There are other complications to drone warfare.  Drones are sold on the open market.  Weapon manufacturers, whose sole purpose is profit, have no loyalty to any country but only to their bottom line.  Over fifty countries now have drones.  Most are currently used for surveillance, and in fact, many law enforcement departments in U.S. cities are purchasing drones for that purpose.  But drones can be equipped with weapons, and many countries already have weaponized drones.  With the United States setting the standard and leading the way, we are in danger of a drone arms race without an international legal framework for their use.

The public must become aware of the dangers of this deadly program.  We must rise up in resistance and demand that the United States propose, sign, and ratify an international treaty on drones.  Clearly, this is a tall order, especially given that the United States has not even signed the  Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.  Such an outcome can only take place if there is widespread public awakening to the multiple dangers facing us as a species, and spiritual renewal motivating us to work together for global transformation.  This will entail a rising up of people willing to work for a peoples' democracy rather than acquiescing to the current system of global corporate rule.

In the next few months, those of us who were arrested at Beale will stand trial in federal court in Sacramento.  I'm grateful to have this opportunity to witness to my conviction that another world truly is possible.  

Resisting the Reign of Death

On October 30, I was one of nine people arrested at Beale Air Force Base for trespassing onto federal property in protest of the drones that are stationed there.  I'll write more about this later, but for today I want to make clear how this particular action fits in with other actions I've taken and my life overall. 

I have a long history of writing, speaking, and acting for peace, justice, and the environment.  Most recently, I have specifically focused on foreclosures, climate change, and the drone program.  What ties all these issues together?  I see them as various expressions of a global system that is working at cross-purposes with Love. 

I see my life work as preaching the gospel of peace, justice, and earth-healing in the midst of  a corporate-dominated global system that is idolatrous and violent to the core.  My book, Shaking the Gates of Hell:  Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization (www.shakingthegatesofhell.org), proposes a way to respond to the growing power of corporations and their domination of the worlds' cultures, governments, and global institutions.  Part I, "The Gates of Hell:  Undoing Creation," outlines the various global challenges we face today as a species, and makes the case that if we don't turn things around we face a living hell on earth of pollution, global warming, runaway technologies, poverty, inequity, violence, terror, and war.

The term "Undoing Creation" comes from theologian William Stringfellow:  "Violence describes all of the multifarious, inverted, broken, distorted and ruptured relationships characteristic of the present history of this world.  Violence is the undoing of Creation... Violence is the reign of death in this world..."

The gates of Beale, home to the global hawk drones, symbolize the gates to a hellish future.  For me, our nonviolent action there was a statement of hope for a transformed world.  Saying "no" to the Reign of Death is a way of saying "yes" to life.  

http://www.nukeresister.org/2012/10/30/9-arrested-blocking-gates-of-beale-air-force-base-in-drone-protest/#more-3313

It Isn't Nice to Block the Doorways

On Tuesday, April 24, several of us from Occupy Nevada County joined over 2000 protestors for the mass action in San Francisco against Wells Fargo Bank during its annual shareholders’ meeting.  Peter and I helped block one of the doorways, Sandy and Billi (who is facing eviction by Wells Fargo) marched with signs, and Guari talked with passers-by and passed out Occu-cards with information about Wells Fargo. 

It had been a long time since I had actually blocked a doorway.  In the Introduction to my book, Shaking the Gates of Hell, Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization, I tell about my experiences in Seattle in late 1999, when I joined in demonstrations to shut down the meeting of the World Trade Organization, which was (and is) untouchable through normal democratic channels.  I quoted an old Malvina Reynolds’ song: 

It isn’t nice to block the doorways, it isn’t nice to go to jail.

There are nicer ways to do it, but the nice ways always fail.

It isn’t nice, it isn’t nice; they’ve told us once, they’ve told us twice,

But if that is freedom’s price, we don’t mind.

These days, normal democratic channels often fail when people seek redress for harm done by the big banks.  For this reason, people gathered to take nonviolent direct action to disrupt Wells Fargo’s annual shareholders meeting.  

On April 23, the day before the action, we drove to the City for a Teach-In organized by Occupy San Francisco and held in front of the Wells Fargo Bank on Montgomery Street.  We heard indebted students speak about the profits gained by Wells Fargo through the vicious cycle of student loan debt, which can’t be discharged in bankruptcy and which now amounts to more than consumer credit card debt.  We heard foreclosed homeowners speak about jumping through hoops for Wells Fargo in the loan modification process while their homes were being illegally foreclosed out from under them.  We heard from former prisoners about Wells Fargo’s investments in private prisons and immigrant detention centers, and about its lobbying to enact tough-on-crime laws.  We heard from others about Wells Fargo’s predatory lending practices, offshore tax havens, and off-balance-sheet accounting practices.   We sang songs, watched movies projected onto a portable screen, and ate a meal prepared and served by local supporters.  In addition, a Wells Fargo meeting had been cancelled, so the caterers came out and gave us the food that they had prepared for the meeting. 

The next day, my 22-year old grandson Jimmy, who lives in San Francisco, joined us for the action.   It began in Bradley Manning Plaza with an Interfaith service and blessing, in which I participated.  It was a diverse crowd, with people from faith communities, various unions, community organizations, and Occupy.  Our various contingents marched to the West Coast Wells Fargo headquarters at 465 California St.  Then we divided up and went to the various entrances.  Some of us went inside and tried to gain access to the meeting.  Others began blocking the doorways.  Both police and protestors stayed calm.


Hundreds of Wells Fargo stockholders, including many clergy, had come from around the country to challenge the bank’s practices inside the meeting.  Most were denied entry.  Only thirty got in.  Some spoke individually.  Others did a mic-check, calling on Wells Fargo to 1) end investment in private prisons, 2) give principal reduction to underwater homeowners, and 3) pay their fair share of taxes. They were handcuffed, cited, and released. 

Why did we take two days out of our very full schedules to drive to San Francisco and join this protest?  Why were we willing to go so far as to try to disrupt the shareholders meeting?  The short answer is:  We (the people) see and suffer the effects of the actions of Wells Fargo and other big banks.  We have used every approach possible within the normal channels of our current system, to no avail.  We have appealed to the banks directly, written and visited our elected officials, spent our scarce dollars on lawyers, and worked to change unjust laws, but the banks have outspent and outmaneuvered us at every turn.  They have used their political and economic power to game the system against us.  What recourse do we have?

We can attempt to enact a constitutional amendment that strips big banks and corporations of their constitutional rights by abolishing the legal fiction of corporate personhood and declaring that money is not the same as free speech.  Such an amendment would make clear that democracy is for people, not for corporations. 

This will take time.  Meanwhile, we the people do have options.  We can (and will) work within the system to bring about needed change, but when democracy fails and unelected, unaccountable, predatory, death-dealing institutions dominate social and economic policy, it is our duty to exercise our first amendment rights (not given to us by government, but our “inalienable rights,” given to us by our Creator), our rights to assemble, speak, and demonstrate our willingness to challenge the Powers that Be and to endure the consequences of our actions for the sake for the greater good.

Back in Seattle in 1999, while I was in Kings County Jail, I made up two new verses to the Malvina Reynolds song, based on my experiences of the WTO protests of the previous two days:

It isn’t nice to breathe in tear gas or be doused with pepper spray,

To be shot with rubber bullets or to hear their sound grenades.

It isn’t nice, it isn’t nice; we’ve told them once, we’ve told them twice,

But if that’s the price of justice, we don’t mind.

It isn’t nice to be beat up or be dragged away to jail,

To spend long hours in holding tanks or lockdown without bail.

It isn’t nice, it isn’t nice, but if that is the price

To save the earth from dying, we don’t mind.

Nonviolent direct action has a long and strong history, and has played a large (though often unreported) part in major social transformations.  When the “nice” ways fail to keep us as a species from hurtling toward disaster, some of us need to step up and be willing to pay the price for freedom, justice, peace, and a living earth.  The Occupy movement is a reminder that people really do have power, that we are responsible for the direction of society, and that there really is hope for the future if we join together in all our diversity and take nonviolent action based on the values of the world we want to see.  

Occupy Faith

Last week I went to Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, my alma mater, for an Occupy Faith National Conference, a three-day gathering of people from various faith traditions who support the Occupy movement. I met people from all over the country, including New York, where the Occupy Faith movement started in response to the Occupy Wall Street encampment. We were hosted by people from the Interfaith Tent of Occupy Oakland. We visited Oscar Grant Plaza one evening and led an Interfaith service that was well-received by the people there.

I arrived at the Occupy Faith conference with a question in mind: Is there a good reason to organize a distinct group made up of people of faith to support the aims of the Occupy movement? Or is it enough to support and participate (or not) as individuals who are informed by our various faith perspectives? I am convinced that the Spirit is present in Occupy and is a motivating force in compassionate actions and in nonviolent struggles for justice wherever they may take place.

But I have come to the conclusion that organized Interfaith coalitions can make unique contributions to Occupy and to the overall movement for social, economic, and environmental justice. We can serve priestly, pastoral, and prophetic functions in ways that further the effectiveness and credibility of the movement as a whole. If these terms turn people off, let me explain:

By “priestly” I do not mean promoting religious hierarchy or favoring particular religious traditions, but rather invoking and acknowledging the presence of the holy in the struggle for a more compassionate world. At the Occupy Faith event, symbols of various faith traditions adorned the tents that were placed around the altar. A Native American woman welcomed us to the land of the Ohlone, and a Buddhist centered us with a gong to invite us into silence. A rabbi blew the shofar, a Wikkan invoked the power of the four directions, and I led us in singing the New Testament-based spiritual “Eyes on the Prize.” Not all at once, of course, but at various openings, closings, and transition points along the way. It was also acknowledged throughout that some people are “spiritual but not religious.”

By “pastoral,” I mean compassionate listening, supporting people who are struggling, and offering prayers with them and on their behalf. For instance, many Occupy groups around the country are involved in supporting people whose homes are being illegally seized by big banks. (No, people don’t just “lose” their homes as if they have to look around to find out where they went. We know where they went.) Interfaith coalitions can offer personal support and provide a place for deep listening and sharing that can help heal the shame that comes from feeling alone in such painful and unjust circumstances. Ministries with people who are oppressed by the economic system are already a part of many faith traditions, and we who are connected with Occupy are in a unique position to link such ministries with the movement for justice.

By “prophetic” I mean analyzing and interpreting current events from the perspective of different faith traditions, as an antidote to the dominant culture’s focus on the goals of instant gratification, financial success, and worldly power. Most spiritual traditions call adherents to a life of simplicity, compassion, and just dealings with our fellow human beings and all parts of creation. As we share insights we can gain new perspectives about where we are as a human family and where we need to be. And in those places where we agree our voices will be amplified as together we speak truth to power.

At the Occupy Faith conference we decided on a national action based on New York Occupy Faith’s proposal for an Economic Truth Commission. We will be working out details, but it will include the following elements: 1) The gathering of stories of individual victims and survivors of the current economic disaster and the story of how this economic disaster came about; 2) An economic truth telling bus tour to various cities to highlight these stories and their significance; and 3) A national day of action in Washington, DC on January 21, 2013, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and the third anniversary of the Citizens’ United Supreme Court decision. More will be decided as details and funding get worked out through a smaller committee we convened at the conference.

I came home thinking that there are good reasons to form an Interfaith coalition here in Nevada County so we can consider together what we can contribute uniquely to the struggle for a peaceful, just, and sustainable world at this time when people are realizing what is at stake and are rising up. I also plan to stay in touch with the Occupy Faith network, and to support our joint efforts through that network in any way I can.

Interfaith coalitions can help move us toward a way of being that leaves religious conflict behind and manifests justice and harmony in the world. It can also demonstrate, as the Occupy movement in its best moments does, that “another world is possible.”

Small Victories along the Way

I’m sitting by the fire, listening to the rain in these early morning hours of prayer, meditation, and writing. A Stage Two drought has been declared in Nevada County in spite of recent rain, reminding me that climate disruption and the struggle for climate justice continues. Still, I’m grateful that we have a climate and for all the ways that weather manifests. Precious rain. Precious peace.

The work is ongoing. Last night we had a big success- Nevada City joined other cities and towns in calling for a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood and declare that money is not speech. It was late, after 9:30, when the City Council cut off public comments and voted unanimously in favor of the resolution. Instead of the “twinkles” that had expressed appreciation throughout the meeting as people spoke, after the vote we broke into claps and cheers. Then we stood around outside in the rain celebrating, some of us even singing and dancing to AmousLou’s “Corporations Aren’t People” routine.

The City Council vote was a welcome gift, and in a way it was a gift, as if it had just fallen into our hands. We had done the footwork of organizing a coalition and of educating ourselves and others. When a previously unknown (to us) person named Charly Price submitted the resolution to the Council and we learned that it would be on this week’s agenda, we wanted to maintain our balance and focus as a group, but also respond to this new development. We strategized, put the word out through our networks and helped get about a hundred people to turn out to support the resolution. It passed. We did the footwork, but it felt like a gift.

We needed it. We need these small victories along the way. Our local Occupy Nevada County and Nevada County Move to Amend are experiencing the joys as well as the frustrations of working together. As we get to know each other, our rough edges start showing. Sometimes our goals or our personalities clash. Issues arise related to structure and process. Direct democracy isn’t easy. We have work to do in the areas of nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, and community building if we are going to be a cohesive, persistent, and vital force for creative social change.

I value each person in our group. I feel compassion for us as individual human beings and I feel honored to be getting to know people and to be sharing our struggles and hopes with each other. I am grateful for this amazing community of people, as flawed and limited and beautiful as we all are, people who see what is at stake and are willing to give so much as we travel together on this journey toward transformation and love and healing and peace. Power to the people. We are the people!

Occupy the Church

December 2011

Published in the December issue of Voices and Silences

Okay, so “Occupy the Church” sounds a bit radical.  But how else can I express how important I think it is for us as United Methodist clergywomen to support this fledgling peoples’ movement and to speak out and embody hope for the kind of radical systemic change that will make a just, peaceful, and sustainable world possible? 

            In October I spent two weeks at Occupy Wall Street in New York, and I am currently immersed in helping to lay the groundwork for our fledgling “Occupy Nevada County and to support the Occupy movement as a whole.  I don’t plan to give the details here.  You can read about my experiences in New York and my ongoing reflections at http://sharondelgadoblog.blogspot.com.  The first blog, “Why I’m Going to Occupy Wall Street explains why I’m so involved and how it relates to my faith. Here I will relate a couple of scriptural passages to the Occupy movement today.

            Two years ago I went through a thirty-week guided intensive practice of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, through Mercy Center in Auburn, California.  As you may know, the Exercises involve employing the imagination to enter deeply into different biblical passages, to bring them to life.

            One morning in prayer I entered into the scene from Luke 19:41-44.  I walked beside Jesus as he rode on a colt on his way to Jerusalem.  Suddenly, to my dismay, he started weeping.  Then he addressed the people and it was as if he was speaking directly to me:

            “If you, even you (even you, Sharon) had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will build up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side.  They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

            I was stunned, shaken to the core.  I wept with Jesus, and I wept for my children and grandchildren and for the state of the world. 

I was relieved a few weeks later when I returned to that scene and Jesus (in my imagination) assured me that yes, I was starting to get it.  But I know today that I cannot rest on my laurels or take anything for granted.  Knowing the things that make for peace and recognizing God’s presence is a discernment process that requires ongoing spiritual work.

Why was Jesus weeping?  And what are the things that make for peace?  I understand it as an inner peace of mind, of conscience, as well as peace with justice in the outer world.  When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he was not just weeping for his followers, but for the larger community, for all the people.  He could see the disaster that was coming and it caused him to weep.

After this scene, Jesus went directly to the Temple, and “began to drive out those who were selling things there.”  He used the words of Jeremiah in saying that they had turned God’s house into “a den of robbers,” thus bringing to mind the prophet’s distress at the coming disaster and his critique of the prophets and priests of his day:  “You have treated the wounds of my people as if they were not serious, crying ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” 

Jesus’ nonviolent direct action in the temple challenged the economic system of the temple and the stability of the religious establishment’s collaboration with the Roman occupation of Jerusalem.  Note that Jesus not only drove out the people who were selling things, but he and his many followers occupied the Temple:  “Every day he was teaching in the temple,” to the dismay of the chief priests, the scribes, and the so-called leaders of the people.  At night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, but “all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.”

According to Luke, up until then the leadership had been hostile to Jesus, grumbling, ridiculing, and cross-examining him, but after this confrontation their opposition escalated and they began actively planning to kill him.  They were hampered, for a time, in their plot because “all the people were spellbound by what they heard.” 

            How are we, today’s prophets and priests, treating the wounds of God’s people?  What is the peace of Christ that we are offering?  Is it sufficient and relevant for our day?  Are we recognizing the signs of God’s visitation today?  It may be that the Occupy movement is such a visitation, a movement of Spirit rising up just in time to bring hope and transformation to the world in place of the disaster that is surely coming if we do not repent/ turn around.

            It would be easy to criticize this movement and to stand on the sidelines until we see how and whether it progresses and matures into something we can support.  But what alternatives are out there?  Most of what we hear in the mainline media and (sadly) from most of our elected representatives falls far short of what is needed.  People are finally rising up and challenging the assumptions upon which the dominant system has been built. Here is one of many articles about United Methodist involvement in the Occupy movement:  http://www.christianpost.com /news/methodists-increasingly-involved-in-occupy-movement-61360/.

            I feel called to offer whatever gifts I can to help this peoples’ movement mature and succeed in its quest to initiate social, economic, and global transformation through the process of direct democracy, and to learn what I can in the process.  I am also challenged, as always, to maintain balance, clinging to Christ, practicing the presence of God, and trusting that I am growing in my ability to recognize the things that make for peace. 

            Sometimes I still weep when I consider the direction we are headed as a species, but more often now I am exhilarated and hopeful.  After many years of working on these issues, it’s as if people are waking up, not just to the many interrelated crises we face, but to the power we have when we join hands and work together for the common good.  It’s not time to be timid in our preaching or in our actions, so let’s offer what we can to the Occupy movement, occupy the church, and boldly proclaim and embody hope for God’s intended, compassionate future.

Homecoming

November 2, 2011

            I arrived home from Occupy Wall Street exhausted but exhilarated.  I was delighted to find that our fledgling Occupy Nevada County was organizing new working groups and expanding its outreach into the community.  I rested for a day or so, then got to work, writing, attending meetings, demonstrating, organizing, and speaking publicly about my time in New York. 

            A high point was a “Move to Amend” public gathering on November 9 that I had organized before I left, focused on amending the constitution to abolish corporate personhood and overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allows unlimited corporate funds to flow into election campaigns.  The gathering was co-sponsored by several local groups, coordinated with national groups, and held simultaneously with over 200 similar gatherings around the country.  The campaign is ongoing (see movetoamend.org.)  A great short film about this issue is “Citizens United vs. the FEC” (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5kHACjrdEY).

            So now, it’s back to balance, to continuing those practices that enable me to stay grounded and follow the leading of the Spirit moment by moment.  It’s challenging, with family commitments and holidays coming, deadlines for articles, and a seemingly endless array of opportunities to contribute to the growing momentum of the movement for radical political, social, and economic change. 

            Many of us have been working on various social and environmental issues for years, making connections between issues (just follow the money), but only to see the overall situation getting worse and worse.  But now, it’s as if a “Great Awakening” is taking place, with people waking up to the extremity of our situation.  The Occupy Wall Street movement has flipped a switch, turned on the light, awakened people not only to the insanity and destructiveness of the current system, but also to the “power of the people” to change the conversation and to rise up together to call for justice.  I am immersing myself in this movement, offering what I can and learning what I can.  This is no time to sit on the sidelines—there is too much at stake, by every measure.  And at last there is an energetic, grassroots, hope-filled movement made up of autonomous groups in various locales rising up spontaneously around the world.

            Working to build a strong local Occupy movement is not as exciting or dramatic as a two-week immersion experience in New York, but it seems necessary, fulfilling, and real.  What great new friends I am making.  Some I have known before, some I have not, but we are mutually engaged in community building and organizing through direct democracy in new ways. 

            I find the Occupy movement to be filled with inspiration and hope for global transformation.  I see God working through this movement in our time.  Surely the Love that brought the Universe into existence is pulling for us, drawing us into a future that is peaceful, just, and sustainable, where mutual caring replaces greed and exploitation, where global cooperation replaces systems of domination and violence, where protection of ecosystems and species replaces the degradation of the natural world.  May it be so, and may I be so fortunate as to participate in its coming. 

             

Unless this Revolution Succeeds

Last night Reinette and I marched with the Occupy Wall Street contingent in the Greenwich Village Halloween party, supposedly the largest Halloween parade in the country.  It was quite an adventure. 

OWS participants had elaborate costumes, with whole sections themed as zombie bankers, corporate vampires, superheroes saving the day from budget axes, Marie Antoinette and her musical courtiers,  marshmallows (“because we are 99% sugar”), and other groups. Reinette and I were in the section of people wearing the ubiquitous Guy Fawkes masks made popular by “Anonymous,” the group that originally issued the call to occupy Wall Street.  In addition to all the colorful costumes, there were huge signs and banners, flags, musicians, and giant puppets designed to express our concerns through art and celebration.  (These videos don't show the 20 or so giant puppets  or capture the whole event, but they can give you a taste of what it was like:  www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Halloween-Parade-Village-Occupy-Wall-Street-132972723.html and www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CY5cGDya4&feature=player_embedded.

It reminds me of the words on my Art and Revolution T-shirt:  “The goal of the revolutionary artist is to make revolution irresistible.”  Not just on Halloween, but every day.

Earlier in the day, we attended a special meeting of the OWS community to address security concerns in Zucotti Park.  The meeting was held on the steps on the west side of the park, where there has been trouble.  Using the peoples' mic, the Peace and Security working groups outlined ways that the OWS Good Neighbor Policy” was being violated.  (see it at www.nycga.net/resources/good-neighbor-policy).  Drug and alcohol use, off-the-wall behavior, aggression, and even violence has increased in the past few days, especially at night.  It also seems that some police officers have directed troubled indigent people to come to Zucotti Park.  The best article I have seen about these issues is at:  www.nydailynews.com/opinion/occupy-wall-street-central-a-rift-growing-east-west-sides-plaza-article-1.969320?localLinksEnabled=fals.e

The facilitators proposed that we brainstorm about how to respond to disruptive, harmful, and/or violent behavior when it occurs.  In small groups we came up with a lot of ideas, including having more lights at night, inviting people from the community to help with Night Watch,  passing out self-defense flyers, feeding people through the working groups rather than providing food to all, call the police, get restraining orders, etc. etc.  The key question was how the community might eject people who cause disruption or harm. 

The experiment taking place at Zucotti Park is vulnerable, not just to the coming cold weather, but to the challenges of our violent and dysfunctional society, magnified by the difficult conditions and the number and variety of people drawn to this occupation.  The problems the protestors face is a reflection of our society and of the very economic problems they are protesting.   We are all affected by the increasing numbers of homeless, hungry, mentally ill, and desperate people, and such people remind us of how vulnerable we and our loved ones are.  In the words of Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickeled and Dimed, “Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It's where we're all eventually headed—the 99 percent, or at least the 70 percent, of us, every debt-loaded college grad, out-of-work school teacher, and impoverished senior—unless this revolution succeeds.”  (Read the article at http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/homelessness-occupy-wall-street.) 

As for smaller-scale disruptions, I've had fun watching creative tactics of de-escalation.  When singing with a group of musicians, a man came up loudly saying, “Sing for Jesus, sing for Jesus.”  The energy shifted and people became uncomfortable as he insisted, pushed, and sought to dominate the direction of the music.  “Sing halleluia,” he shouted.   Finally one musician began singing an old spiritual, bluegrass-style, “Oh glory, how happy I am... glory halleluia!”  All the musicians started playing, it was all in fun, and the jam session was back on track.  A simple creative choice to go with the energy, rather than against it.  Graceful, satisfying, fun.

On a side note:  You may have heard that the police confiscated the diesel generator, but within two days we had several people-powered bicycle generators that passers-by could sign up to pedal.  So creative!  The lights and the computers are back on.

After last night's parade, it took awhile for Reinette and I to get out of the crowd and find a subway.  We finally got back to Brooklyn, tired but exhilarated.  She got up early this morning to catch her flight home, and I'll be leaving tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to being home, bringing back all I have learned and experienced.  

Our Moment is Now

  

It's Sunday now, just four days before I return home, and I'm considering again my reasons for being here at Occupy Wall Street in New York. Things are tough here. It's sunny today, but snow has turned to ice. People are resurrecting tents that have collapsed, hanging out wet sleeping bags, piling up plastic bags of wet clothes for the laundry service to take away, and sweeping up snow.

Now I'm sitting here comfortably in a coffee shop, listening to Neil Young (“Old man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you”). I have a secure place to sleep, a metro pass, and money to buy whatever I food I need. When I get back to Nevada City I'll be returning to my comfortable home, loving husband, with my grown children and grandchildren nearby. Compared to many I live a privileged life. I have a home, an education, health insurance, and pension. But I'm seeing the bottom fall out from under so many, including people in my family, that I cannot just stand by silently and watch the social, economic, and environmental collapse that is underway.

I call on others who are comfortable, or who are not: find a way to lend your support to this movement for social change. It's easy to criticize, to judge, to dismiss. But please. What is your alternative? Join us. Put in your two cents, share your experience and learn from others who have had different experiences. Please don't let this opportunity pass you by.

Fortunately, after writing this “call” I was heartened to again attend Judson Memorial, where I found kindred spirit celebrating All Saints Day, remembering those who have gone before us into death. (I was missing my mom, while also feeling her presence.) There were prayers for the people at Zucotti Park—one member of the congregation was knitting scarves for them. The service included a sermon relating the Christian message to social and economic justice and a song by REM entitled “Occupy.”

In the afternoon an Interfaith group called Occupy Faith joined a march planned by historically black churches across the Brooklyn Bridge, on this 33^rd anniversary of the Black United Front's March on Wall Street. I joined the procession as it got closer to the park. The energy was very high. People were carrying the Golden Calf (modeled after the Wall Street bull), chanting and singing. The march was followed by an Interfaith service made up of speakers from various faith communities, with hundreds of people singing songs and amplifying spoken words through the “human mic.” Inspiring.

I later went to the Atrium for a Teach-In on the banking system, given by a woman who had worked on Wall Street. She did a great job of explaining, in simple terms, derivatives and other complex financial instruments, as well as the system overall, how it works, and who it works for. I think we need Teach-Ins on “economic literacy” all over this country, so that we can better understand and speak coherently about what is going on.

The General Assembly met as usual at 7 pm, and dealt with issues through modified consensus, as always. This process can be contentions at times, and there are disruptions at every meeting, with various people, including passersby, challenging or trying to disrupt the process. People are drawn to this encampment for all kinds of reasons. Not all are here to bring about social change. The De-escalation and Security teams have their work cut out for them. They utilize various tactics to talk down or otherwise take the attention off the disruptors so the meeting can go on.

It is a real challenge to facilitate a group of hundreds under these circumstances, and to maintain a confident, friendly demeanor while keeping the meeting on track. I have gone to several facilitator trainings and have sat in on their working group meetings. I think it helps a lot to have group support, ongoing trainings, and a clear, consistent, and transparent process agreed to in advance by the whole General Assembly. I have seen facilitators handle chaotic situations very skillfully, surfing waves of disruption and discord that threaten to capsize the whole meeting. You can see these meetings, as well as the Spokes Council meetings that will be starting on Wednesday, every night at 7 at: http://www.livestream.com/occupynyc. You can find the guide with the hand signals that are used to communicate in meetings, at: http://www.nycga.net/resources/general-assembly-guide.

Actually, none of this is comfortable. People are standing or sitting on cold concrete, sometimes even in the rain. It can be exhausting—exhilarating, but exhausting. But the facilitators remind us, and we remind each other, that we are here to change the world, that this is a global nonviolent revolution, and that our moment is now.

Rained On But Not Rained Out

It rained Wednesday night and all day Thursday here in New York. I was grateful to have a warm, dry, comfortable place to spend the night—thank-you Karl and Mary! Karl made us a hearty and delicious breakfast. Later I took the “train” uptown to the Interfaith Church Center to meet with Yvette Moore, Editor of Response Magazine, for lunch and conversation. I now have two new assignments for articles, including one on this coming Sunday's “Day of Faith,” when church groups are planning to march across the Brooklyn Bridge to Zucotti Park and participate in an Interfaith service there.

From there I took the subway down to the park. It was pouring rain and everything was soaked, but the occupation continues on. The biodiesel generator was still running. The kitchen was still functioning. People were meeting inside tents and under tarps. Many were still standing in the rain with their signs.

There are some very dedicated people here.

Reinette and I ate in the upstairs alcove of a deli across the street, where we could look out over the park. While eating, we got into a lively conversation with two young New Yorkers and a couple from Brazil about this movement and the potential for global change. (Now we're all friends on Facebook.) Looking out over the park, it seemed like a patchwork of tarps and tents, people with umbrellas and rain ponchos blowing in the wind, vulnerable to the elements, there in the shadow of the highrise buildings of Wall Street, surrounded (as always) by police. Vulnerable, but strong.

It brings to mind the words from First Corinthians: “God chose the weak things in the world to shame the strong. God chose the foolish things in the world to shame the wise. God chose those things that are low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are so that no one might boast in the presence of God.” The “foolishness” of this peoples' movement has revealed that the generally accepted “wisdom” of this world's dominant system is a sham—exploitive of humankind and the earth. The spell that has kept people feeling helpless and hopeless is broken. People are waking up.

I have also spent many hours in the Atrium at 60 Wall Street, the huge public space with plants, tables, and moveable seating at 60 Wall Street. It's a far cry from other subway entrances, which are far less “sanitary” than Zucotti Park, especially with the Sanitation Team always cleaning up the park with their brooms and Simple Green. (I hear that a “Clean Up Wall Street” action is planned using the same tools.) Sitting there in the Atrium, participating in focused discussions and Working Group meetings, gives me a sense of how things are organized here. It's remarkably sophisticated considering that the occupation is just six weeks old.

Friday was sunny, beautiful, and cold. Last night (Friday), the Structural Working Group proposed to the General Assembly that we create a Spokes Council made up of working groups and caucuses, to make day-to-day and financial decisions about Occupy Wall Street in New York, and let the General Assembly focus on decisions that relate to the movement as a whole and relationships with other occupations. It passed through a process of modified consensus. In other words, since there were several blocks to consensus, it went to a vote. It needed to pass with over 90% of the votes—the final vote was 17 opposed and over 280 in favor. There had been many more people there earlier, but the GA went pretty long. This was the fourth time the proposal had been brought, and it had been amended many times in response to concerns. It seems like a very democratic process, and I support the Spokes Council model, which I have participated. To see the exact proposal that was passed, go to http://www.nycga.net/groups/structure/docs/final-proposal-thursday-oct-27-afternoon#comment-1330.

Well now it's snowing, and I'm going to figure out how to get some boots so I don't slip and slide in the snow. I miss you all and look forward to coming home and getting to work. Love....

Another Day

Rain is coming. In addition to tents here at Zucotti Park, people have put up tarps to protect the library, media and legal booths, information tables, and the food preparation and serving tables. There are several large indoor public spaces nearby where we gather for discussions, trainings, and working group meetings throughout the day, but I don't know how the General Assembly will meet in the park after the rains come.

Reinette arrived last night and dropped off her backpack here in Brooklyn, then we headed back over to the occupation, where we met up with Jason. A film maker who lives here in New York is following her around, making a film about Occupy Wall Street by focusing on Reinette's impressions and actions during the week she is here. I think this will make for a more viewer-friendly film because there are so many competing images and so many things going on here. As of today there are 66 working groups. (See http://www.nycga.net/groups).

How do I decide what to do each day? I want to contribute what I can while I am here and bring home what I can to share. I've been focusing on facilitator, nonviolence, and direct action training in order to update my organizing skills. I've taken lots of pictures and had lots of conversations. When I walk past people who are singing, I can't resist joining them. (I guess I take after my mom that way. She loved to sing.) Plus, songs are a part of the “cultural commons,” which are wonderful to learn and share.

I've gone to General Assembly every evening. Tonight we had about a thousand people gathered to discuss several agenda items, including two emergency items related to Occupy Oakland. You may know that many people were arrested at Occupy Oakland over the past two days, and many injured, including a veteran who is in critical condition with a fractured skull. Tonight we passed an emergency measure to send $20,000 to Occupy Oakland to help with bail and medical expenses, and also to send them 100 tents to replace the ones the police destroyed. Contributions of money, food, tents, and other goods have come in from all over the world to Occupy Wall Street, and we agreed through consensus to show solidarity with Oakland in that way.

We also agreed to march here in New York to City Hall tonight at 9, while simultaneous marches are taking place in Oakland and in Washington, DC. We stopped our meeting early and headed out to City Hall. Instead of describing my experiences to you, I'm just giving you a link to Starhawk's blog, which describes how she felt on a similar march yesterday. http://starhawksblog.org.

I, too, prefer disciplined and restrained protests, even if I'm risking arrest. I prefer having clear guidelines that all participants have agreed to—that makes me feel secure. I didn't witness violence at the march, but I witnessed anger, and I'm not sure whether the majority of people have had nonviolence training. I did feel compassion for the young people in the march who are fed up with the way things are, including police brutality. I do understand.

I was one of the older people on the march. I stayed out of the center of things, I stayed safe as I promised my family I would do, and I came back to Brooklyn when the march was over.

Reinette's not back yet, but she's being followed around by the filmmaker, so I'm not worried about her.

I left her a message on her cell phone, but I think her battery is dead. I hope she's not worried about me.

This is What a Leaderless Movement Looks Like

In April, 2000, Time Magazine ran an article about the organizational structure of the groups who planned the demonstrations in Seattle during the meetings of the World Trade Organization in late 1999, and of those who were planning similar protests during the upcoming meetings of the IMF and World Bank. I had participated in the demonstrations in Seattle, and at the time that the article came out Guari and I were helping out at the Convergence Center in Washington, DC, where the IMF/World Bank protests were being planned. We led nonviolence trainings and participated in the “spokes council” meetings, where we made decisions through a consensus process for nonviolent direct action.

The writer of the article compared what the media called the “anti-globalization” movement to a school of fish, with individual fish moving together in a particular direction, intentionally and organically, without an identified leader. There are important differences between those earlier demonstrations and what is going on at Occupy Wall Street, but it seems to me that the school of fish metaphor still holds. This is a “horizontal” movement, without the commonly assumed hierarchies of race, class, gender, gender identity, name recognition, or connections. Decisions are made through consensus. I'll write more about this later. But essentially, no one is in charge. There is no head.

On of the strengths of this form of organizing is that without a leader, there is no one to target or discredit in order to destroy the movement. If there is no “head,” the movement can't be beheaded. If there are no “followers,” there is no one to be led astray. There are simply individuals who treat each other with respect, talking, listening, and working together for the common good.

Individuals are encouraged to educate themselves, listen to their consciences, claim their space, and find their voice. Those who are used to leading and who think they know how things should be done are encouraged to make space for others and to open themselves to perspectives that they may not have considered before.

Facilitators encourage this dynamic by explaining the concept “Step up, step back.” If you have been traditionally marginalized, if you have not been encouraged to speak, or if it has been hard for you to express yourself, step up! Claim your right to speak, to say your piece. On the other hand, if you have been privileged, and if you are used to speaking out and making your voice heard, step back. Make space for someone else. Don't dominate the conversation. The principle “Step up, step back” is not imposed. Rather, it's a principle that people are asked to consider and observe. It's a consciousness-raising practice

Okay, tomorrow I promise I will give you stories and pictures, not ideas and concepts. Reinette arrived this evening and we went back down to the park and met Jason there. Tomorrow you will get specifics. And now, good-night. 

Another World Is Possible

I'm beginning to get my bearings here at Occupy Wall Street in Zuccoti Park. I came down yesterday after attending the Sunday service at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan, a church that has a long history of involvement with social issues. They're the ones who created the golden calf modeled after the sculpture of the Wall Street bull. They bring it to demonstrations and carry it on a pedestal that says “false idol” and “greed.” United Methodist clergy gathered at the occupation to offer encouragement and support, followed by an Interfaith service that was projected out through the “peoples' mike.” That is, when one person spoke, those nearby shouted out the words so others could hear.

This supportive presence of people from different faith traditions highlights the hopefulness of what is happening here. But for me the hope runs deeper, as we come together in all our diversity and rise up to defeat and create alternatives to the present unjust and unsustainable global system. This movement is a movement of spirit, not just in this place but around the world, both bringing and embodying change in this time when change must come.

I connected with many people today. During the Interfaith service, I looked out over the crowd and saw Jason Rainey, past Executive Director of SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League) and current Executive Director of Rivers International (www.internationalrivers.org). He told me about the fate of rivers due to dam-building, not just by the World Bank, but by China and India, and about successful peoples' movements that have saved rivers from that fate. We walked together to 60 Wall Street, a huge space where people gather at all hours for working group meetings. I went to the gathering for facilitators, Jason to the one on structure.

 

The actual people who sleep in the park may be two hundred, but thousands of people come through each day. The park is actually quite organized. There's always a line for food, which is donated (or money for food is donated), cooked off site, then served to occupiers, homeless people, visitors—without distinction. The sanitation working group is always busy. The peoples' library, which gets donations of money and books from authors and publishers, is organized and working well. The outreach working group reports back about concerns of local businesses. There are stations for media,legal issues, scheduling, first aid, comfort, safe sleeping spaces, think tanks, etc. I understand that many of the original occupiers are so busy with “housekeeping” that they can't even make it to the General Assemblies.

Musical jam sessions just spring up. Yesterday I sang during a jam session with about ten musicians. Emma's Revolution was there. (Their name is based on Emma Goldman's line: “If I can't dance I don't want to be a part of your revolution.”) Their new song, “Occupy the USA,” can be downloaded for free at http://emmasrevolution.com.

Signs are everywhere. Most are relevant to the core concerns of the movement. A few are completely off topic or even offensive (to me). No one is policing content—the First Amendment is respected here—but there are lots of conversations going on.

War and its costs (human and economic) are highlighted by many. One man dressed in an orange jump suit, with a black hood over his head, stayed on his knees all day, demonstrating for prisoners in Guantanamo. I could only imagine how he felt. He certainly made the point.

There is a lot of consciousness raising about issues of oppression: racial, gender identity, etc. Whatever has been said about this movement being mostly white, it's not true. It's quite diverse, at least here, and the effort is being made to empower those who have traditionally been marginalized so that their voices can be heard, and to create an equitable and just model of leadership.

It's truly remarkable. “Autonomous individuals” drawn together through common concern are working cooperatively through a consensus process to make joint decisions for the general well-being and for social transformation. It is a form of “direct democracy” in which every voice can be heard. Clearly, the spirit is alive, gathering people together, breaking the spell of paralysis and despair. During the Interfaith service, the Unitarian Universalist minister closed with the words that have become a mantra for the global justice movement: “Another world is possible.” Three times she shouted it out and three times we shouted it back. Powerful. It reminded me of the words of Arundhati Roy: “Another world is not only possible, she is here. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

Today I can hear her breathing.

Jet-lagged but excited to report back

Hi Everyone.

I'm up early after little sleep, still jet-lagged but excited to report back after my first day here in New York. I arrived at JFK Airport late Friday and got a cab to Brooklyn where I am spending nights. The driver was highly critical of the protestors and cynical about who ran the country and whether it could change. He had worked his way through college and had a four-year accounting degree, but could only find work as a driver. Still, he thought the young people at Occupy Wall Street should go out and get jobs and do their best to make it in the system. As it turned out, he was Egyptian, and he was proud of what his fellows had done in nonviolently overthrowing Mubarak. But, he said, everyone knew what they wanted—an end to dictatorship and a change to democracy. It's not so easy here.

Occupy Wall Street has caught the imagination of people all over the world. It has also been criticized and treated with contempt. Is this movement capable of triggering the great social, economic, and political shifts that are needed? I believe that the answer to that question depends upon us.

The driver shared with me that he had been to see the Occupy Wall Street demonstration, and he didn't like it. When I arrived early Saturday, I could see why someone who didn't know much about the movement would be put off. It seemed like a haphazard conglomeration of people, tents, books, music, food, and signs with a variety of messages, some of which I agreed with and some not. Tourist buses came by every few minutes, and small groups of people were sitting cross-legged in circles on the ground. The human mike was used every few minutes for announcements. I walked through the crowded park, following the flow of traffic past the tables focused on various aspects of the occupation: legal, media, schedule of events, food, health, silk-screening t-shirts, button-making, etc. I was on sensory overload, not yet having found my grounding in the midst of all the activity.

Things started looking up when I joined a discussion of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Mission Statement Working Group. (Anyone can join.) Its task was to discuss whether OWS should have a mission statement and if so, what it might look like. Of course, any recommendation would be taken back to the General Assembly (GA). I felt right at home. It was a similar conversation to the one we had just had the night before at the Peace Center in Nevada City with a local OWS-NC working group.

This conversation is still ongoing, both in Nevada City and here in New York. It's important for us to have a big tent, so as many people as possible can come in. It's also important for us to have clear goals, so people can know what we stand for. In listening to someone speak yesterday who was from London, I realized that the goals can't just focus on US domestic policy. This is a global movement. More to be said about that later. Also, building a participatory democracy is an important goal in itself, and it will take time. And practice. That's what we're about. 

Later I found the “Protest Chaplains” from Union Seminary, and had some interesting conversations with them. A priest from the nearby Episcopal church was there, as well as other clergy. There was an Interfaith altar, meditation circles, and offers for prayer.

In the afternoon I went to an initial meeting on the consensus process used at General Assembly meetings. It was fascinating, and even more so later when the GA actually met and followed this process. I have facilitated consensus-based meetings, and I've participated in meetings run by consensus that have included hundreds of people. This was the most clear and streamlined way of facilitating a large group that I have seen. This could have been the topic of this whole blog, but that will have to come later. Today I plan to attend a facilitators training, so I can bring what I learn home.

For now, I'm on my way to attend worship at Judson Memorial, a progressive church in Manhattan, with my hosts, who tell me that one Sunday people marched from the church to join the protestors. After church I'll go to Liberty Plaza and see what there is to see and participate as I feel moved to do. I'll let you know how it goes.

As for the question of whether or not this movement can trigger great transformation, I do have hope. I'll leave you with a quote from my book (Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization):

"In resistance to the institutions and systems that destroy the earth and crush the life out of people, hope comes alive. As we withdraw our consent to these Powers, practicing noncooperation, finding or creating life-supporting alternatives, what has seemed impossible becomes possible because we are willing to pay the price to make it so. It is like the difference between being a spectator in the stands and being a player on the field. As Dorothee Soelle said, 'Only when we ourselves enter the game and bind our own life inextricably to the game's outcome does hope arrive.'”

In Our Diversity is Our Strength

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Dear Friends,

Thank-you for all the prayers for my recovery. I’m regaining strength and am eager to set off for Occupy Wall Street in New York at the end of next week. I’m excited and hopeful about the “great awakening” from confusion and paralysis that seems to be taking place all over the world.

News commentators who criticize us because we have signs at our demonstrations about so many issues miss the whole point—we are making the connection between issues. We are seeing that the underlying cause of many social, economic, and environmental problems is that huge corporations dominate our culture, government, and global institutions. For this reason, if we follow the money, we can see that our tax dollars are being spent in the wrong way.

We bail out the banks and give them tax breaks and they sit on trillions of dollars, while jobs, schools, health care, infrastructure, and social safety nets are cut. We subsidize big oil companies, pay high prices at the pump, and suffer the environmental consequences, while their profits rise and they fund lobbyists and think tanks that refute the reality of fossil fuel induced climate change. We subsidize research and development of new drugs and medical technologies, while pharmaceutical and health insurance companies charge high prices and refuse medical care. We subsidize agricultural giants, which support legislation that continues to marginalize small and organic farmers. We pay for more prisons and detention centers while private prison corporations lobby for tough on crime and anti-immigrant legislation. We fund huge defense contractors and private security firms, and allow them to lobby Congress to purchase hi-tech weapons and wage war, while their stock prices rise and their CEOs make a killing.

What’s not to understand, especially with people “occupying” Wall Street? To me, the message is clear. And to me, in our diversity is our strength. As long as we maintain nonviolent tactics, make decisions through participatory democracy, and refuse to be co-opted, our movement will continue to evolve in the direction of creative social change.

More of us are seeing that society’s wealth should be shared among all the people, not hoarded by the elite few. That’s why the call “we are the 99%” has struck such a powerful nerve. Policy decisions should be made not by corporations, but by the people. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about. If corporations dominate the political process, it’s not democracy but corporate rule.

This is not hard to grasp. All you have to do is follow the money.

One of my favorite signs from last week's Occupy Nevada County demonstration is this: "Who represents you? You do." People are awakening not just to the extremity of our situation as a species and to the economic underpinnings of our interrelated global problems, but to the power we have when we take responsibility, represent ourselves, speak out, join in solidarity with each other, and work together for the common good. Now that's democracy.