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!