OCCUPY OAKLAND: AN UNBIASED CRITIQUE

     The last three weeks of the Occupy Oakland movement have been very eventful.  I left Oakland, CA three months ago, but I traveled back from Illinois to participate in Occupy Oakland.  I have spent the night three times at the second camp, visited everyday for two weeks, and participated in almost every action since I been here.  There are many good things about O.O., but it is far from perfect.  As with anything worth fighting for, there are changes that would make O.O. stronger.

Problems of Diverse Political Agendas

     Occupy Oakland would be stronger if it prioritized and waged a tireless fight for Oakland's concerns first. Specifically concerns that affect all of Oakland, such as school closures, unemployment, homelessness, criminalization of our youth, and a massive police budget, which is a big part of Oakland's financial woes.  The task of getting everyone to fight for local issues is difficult because of the diverse political agendas.  For instance, when the Stop the Gang Injunction Coalition requested that Oakland show up for a City Council Meeting, it was reported that less then 20 people from O.O. showed up.  O.O. consist of liberals who still have faith in this system, Anarchist. Socialist, Communist, Nationalist, people who are new to politics, and people who could care less about politics.  On top of all these political beliefs there are racial divisions, social divisions, and economic divisions.  With such diversity in O.O., each persons reason for participating is different.  Some participants have goals specifically for Oakland, such as stop closing schools, stop gang injunctions, or recall Jean Quan.  Some goals are directed at the State of California, like refund the billions cut from public education.  Others want to see national change, such as prosecution of Wall Street.  Finally, some want to see International change, like stopping Israel from colonizing Palestine.  Every single one of these goals are equally important, but how can we change the world if we can't change our neighborhood or community?  How can we hold are government responsible if we can't even stop the Oakland City Counsel?  This is why we should concentrate our efforts on Oakland.  Once we change Oakland, then we can move on to bigger targets.

     Tactical Mistakes

     Occupy Oakland would also be stronger if we became more militant and strategic with our tactics and actions. The tactics being used, such as marches and days of action, do not accurately display our serious determination to get our demands met.  In fact, such weak tactics reveal a weakness in our movement that can be exploited at will.  We must plan unrelenting, offensive tactics around changes we want to see in Oakland, and unwavering in our efforts to bring these changes about.  

     If you look at past movements anywhere, nothing was won by one day of action.  For, example the fight to start the Ethnic Studies Department in San Francisco, in 1968, was not a one day fight, but was won over several months.  When remembering this struggle Melanie Young said, "The strike had three major demands. The right of third world students to an education. The formation of Ethnic Studies curriculum and the hiring of third world faculty."  The struggle to get these demands met consisted of a sustained strike. Young states, "That strike was marked by violence, hundreds of arrest, months of disrupted classes, and dozens of faculty firings." In comparison, the tactic of non-violent, one day actions being used in the Occupy Oakland Movement is the exact opposite of the tactics that had to be used in San Francisco in 1968.  The demands of Occupy Oakland might not be the same as the Ethnic Studies struggle but the enemy is.  Except , in 2011, the enemy is much stronger, and the tactics we are trying to use to defeat this beast are much weaker.  We have to be more bold and determined to bring about change.
     Shutting down the Port of Oakland was brilliant, but the powers that be knew it was coming, in addition, they knew it was for only one day.  It is incomprehensible that the people of Oakland did not have one demand they deemed worthy or were serious about getting met.  Any demand we would have put forth on November 2nd, 2011, would have been met, if we would have been relentless with our action and did not declare such an easy victory.  We had the fifth largest port in the country at its knees and we let this 1 percenter get up.  If O.O. would have shut the Port of Oakland down indefinitely, then our general assemblies would not be about what the next step in the movement is, but the G.A. would be about what demand do we want met first and for who.

Racism in the 99%

      There has been a lot of talk about racism in the 99%, and how there is no way for "people of color", especially the black community, to participate.  Yes, its is true that a lot of the participants in the Occupy Oakland movement are "so called"  progressive whites who have gentrified Oakland.  It is also true that these  whites would never address the issue of gentrification on their own freewill.  With this fact being known, we should not expect them to or be mad at them for fighting for their issues.  These white people are participating in Occupy Oakland to fight for their own grievances, which will secure a better future for themselves and those who they represent. 

     The black community in Oakland has to fight for what's important to us.  Marcous Garvey once said,"If you want liberty, you yourself must strike the blow. If you must be free, you must become so through your own initiative."  The great freedom fighter Ella Baker said, "My basic sense of it has always been to get people to understand that in the long run they themselves are the only protection they have against violence or injustice...People have to be made to understand that they cannot look for salvation anywhere but to themselves."  Are community cannot be angry that these white progressives are not speaking up for our issues in Occupy Oakland.  We should be speaking up for our damn selves.  We should organize ourselves around a set of demands, that allows us to speak with one voice so loud that nobody in the 99% could ignore it.  As the saying goes, "A closed mouth does not get fed."
     Despite our current silence, our people have not always been quite.  We have played major leading roles in every movement for justice in America that you can name.  Starting with the Abolitionist and Underground Railroad movement, The Civil War, The Reconstruction Era, The Garvey Movement, The Communist and Socialist Partys, The Civil Rights Movement, The Free Speech Movement, The Black Power Movement, and the Anti-War Movement, to name a few.  You can find our leadership, presence, and contributions in every one of these struggles.  The Black community has a duty to participate in the destruction of this system. Preferably, strike the fatal blow.  We cannot sit on the sidelines talking shit.  O.O. is like a puzzle and the black community is the missing piece.  We have not only been missing from O.O., we have been missing from the Stop the Gang Injunction Coalition, the fight to stop cuts to education, foreclosure takeovers, and the Death Penalty campaigns in Oakland.  We are so affected by these issues that we cannot find the energy to resist.  Well, the time has come for us to stand up and take our rightful place at the forefront of this fight for freedom, and we should not be confrontational with our newly awakened class comrades, but we should show them how it is done.