Occupy Enters 2012
By Shepherd Bliss
12 January, 2012
Countercurrents.org
Sonoma County’s Occupy movement in Northern California opened 2012
by two well-attended events—one outside in the streets and another
inside. Around 140 people attended a county-wide Town Hall on Occupy
at Sebastopol’s United Methodist church on Jan. 9. Over 400 people
marched on and peacefully shut down two Wells Fargo Bank branches in
Santa Rosa on Jan. 6.
Town Hall participants self-organized into various small groups to
discuss “Reporting Out and Plugging In.” They included veteran
activists from Occupy Sebastopol, Occupy Santa Rosa, Occupy Petaluma,
and from the small towns of Sonoma, Healdsburg, and Guerneville, as
well as newcomers to the movement.
“The goal of this evening,” according to co-facilitator Jeff Aitken,
“is to help Occupy deepen and broaden.” He explained that the Open
Space meeting methodology being employed encourages those present to
create their own agenda based on their “passion and responsibility.”
Aitken noted that “Open Space raises the energy and the spirit.”
“Seeing people connect is what Occupy is about. It is a movement, a
school, a network,” added co-facilitator Ben Browner.
Two-dozen people convened groups based on their Occupy-related
interests and then participants selected a group to attend in each of
two half-hour sessions. One of the best-attended groups in the first
session was on finding and keeping the movement’s focus, convened by
Larry Robinson, a former Sebastopol mayor and City Council member.
Two other popular groups in the first session were on home
foreclosures and the Move to Amend. It seeks to change the U.S.
constitution because “corporations are not people and money is not
speech,” according to convener Abraham Entin.
The best-attended workshop during the second session was convened by
Rachel Dawson, who said, “Transition Towns and Occupy are two
synergistic movements. We need to meet together and collaborate.”
Other groups were on public education, big bank divestiture, having an
Occupy presence at the annual Harmony Festival, racial diversity,
creating an Occupy Learning Center, and organizing the new North Bay
Occupied Newspaper.
Among those present were members of groups such as the Leadership
Institute for Ecology and the Economy, the historic Grange, and
Moveon.org. Individuals included a Sebastopol City Council member and
former Sonoma County Supervisor. The age range was from 20 to 92 years
old.
“This has been like a great cocktail party where you get to meet lots
of people and have the interesting conversations you want to have,”
said co-facilitator Beth Meredith of Create the Good Life
(www.Create-The-Good-Life.com ).
“The habits of how to do democracy and how to tolerate differences are
changing,” said organizer Joseph McIntyre of AgInnovations at a
debriefing the day after the Town Hall. “We need to get more skillful
in how we use facilitation tools.” As the organizers considered how to
proceed, he posed various questions, “What is needed next? Some people
were there for education. Others are more interested in engagement.
Are we going to start organizing ourselves for action?” These are
questions being asked by Occupy organizers around and beyond the
United States.
"I was delighted to see the high level of energy and enthusiasm. The
Occupy movement has tapped a long pent-up desire to take focused,
effective action,” added Barry Chertov of the online WaccoBB.net, an
online bulletin board that co-sponsors the Town Halls on Occupy. "It's
clear the energy behind the Occupy movement is still strong and
manifesting in a rainbow of exciting initiatives, both locally and
nationally focused,” he added.
This was the second monthly Town Hall, which are planned for “as long
as needed,” according to Robinson. The next one will be Feb. 9, also
in the United Methodist Church.
On Jan. 6 Occupy Santa Rosa joined forces with various Latino and
immigration rights groups to peacefully shut down two Wells Fargo
branches. They targeted the bank--one of the largest in the United
States--for various reasons, including investments in two private
prison corporations, foreclosure of local homes, and for receiving $25
billion in taxpayer bail-out dollars, while paying CEO John Stumpf $19
million in 2010.
The dramatic day included a colorful arrival of dozens of cyclists on
a 13.5-mile “Pedal for Justice” ride. “Occupy Petaluma believes that
frustrations with our current system can be channeled in peaceful and
creative ways,” said organizer Jessica Strasen. “We seek to inspire
others to rediscover the ability to occupy our own lives, and be a
part of creating our shared future.”
The rally began in Roseland, a largely Latino neighborhood. It
included Aztec dancers in bright-feathered headdresses and theater on
a large flatbed tow truck. The Graton Day Labor Center, one of the
half-dozen sponsors of the rally, wrote the bi-lingual play.
“The next big event of Occupy Santa Rosa will be in March around
education,” explained Frank Anderson, 20, a moderator of the Wells
Fargo action. “Our educational system is falling apart and getting
worse. The No Child Left Behind Act is for profit and does not help
kids. We are speaking with local teachers’ unions to work together to
protest school day reductions.”
During December the local Occupy movement did not receive much
corporate media attention, especially when compared to its regular
front-page autumn coverage. Yet Occupy groups were quite active behind
the scenes preparing for an expected spring flowering.
The www.occupysantarosa.org website reveals multiple meetings
happening most days. The websites www.occupysebastopol.net and
(www.occupypetaluma.com ) have been launched. OccupySolutions
(www.occsol.org), a small Affinity Group, began a Community Learning
Center at the Arlene Francis Center in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square.
It will offer a series of free and open to the public classes, trainings,
and teach-ins. Other trainings have been occurring at the Peace and
Justice Center and in people’s homes.
North Bay Re-Occupied Press was founded after nearly a month of
meetings and plans to begin publishing a print and electronic
newspaper sometime in the spring. With the daily Press Democrat
newspaper’s recent sale by the New York Times to a conservative
Florida publishing chain, thus opens a large space for a new
publication.
(Shepherd Bliss runs an organic farm, teaches college, and can be
reached at [email protected])
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