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While You Were Away, Shit Got Real


I went down to the courthouse today to honor my jury summons. For those of you who don't live in Santa Cruz or haven't driven down Water street in the last 42 days, Occupy Santa Cruz is camped in the adjacent park and has erected a rather large geodesic dome. You have to walk by (at least) the camp the get to the jury assembly room.

As I was waiting in said assembly with my fellow citizens, a young man walked by somewhat loudly trying to address police about what he felt were abuses of their power. I'd heard about similar actions at other Occupy camps. Suffice it to say that I was curious. At lunch I decided to talk to one of my other fellow citizens, a protester with Occupy Santa cruz, about the police. He was very upset about their treatment and their tactics of forcibly removing protesters' tents, ostensibly stealing the belongings of folks trying to make a difference.

Back in the courtroom, I heard testimony from prospective jurors about how they felt about the homeless. Hopefully without getting into trouble I will say that the case involved an alleged homeless person. As one can guess from average Joe citizen (presumably with an address - a home - at which to receive their summons) that the view of the homeless was not kind: the are smelly, mentally ill and have chosen to be homeless in defiance of all that is good & decent. At least one person mentioned the protesters camping outside in a similar vein.

I can only hope that these people were merely trying to get out of their civic duty. I fear that they do believe what they were saying; mostly because I've heard others speak the same way candidly.

When asked about my feelings on authority, like the others in the jury box, I went on record about what I thought about the treatment of the people outside the very walls of the court. The judge visibly stifled a chortle. I also went on record to say that I was disturbed about the almost wholesale condemnation of the homeless. After more questioning of myself & others and a short deliberation later I was thanked and excused. 

It's hard to go on the record about how you really feel in an attempt to make a difference. I went to the Occupy Santa Cruz general assembly later tonight to see some of those people speak. They have an open invitation to members of the community to join on the courthouse steps @ 6pm Mon.-Sat. (2 on Sun.).

The Occupy organizers are pretty damned, well, organized. The process can be quite intimidating to join sight-unseen. But the group is very inclusive and everyone's voice is heard. Some of the people there were committed to making the 24-hour stand on public land to combat the abuse to our system.

They are concerned with the portrayal by the media of being dirty (causing taxpayers to pay for the cleanup) when they regularly police the area of their debris. They were concerned about continuing to keep drug use out of the camp. More immediately, though, they were very concerned about an impending raid by law enforcement.

As I write this, protesters are girding themselves for possible macing and teargas if the police show and try to dismantle their dome along with all the stations and signs they have put up. Anyone could think this is unfounded rumor unless he heard other reports of the city bagging meters to shoo away cars for a midnight "street cleaning". Or, if she didn't hear another eye-witness report of law enforcement refusing to discuss a direct question about an imminent raid.

It was only a matter of time before the powers-that-be got tired of waiting for this movement to blow-over. Protesters have already been kicked out of the park in New York by Mayor Bloomberg. This is the first time in my memory that any group has stood up to redress long-standing ills in our country and the world beyond. They have gained traction, made the voice of the little guy heard and refused to be dismissed.

If you consider yourself part of your community, you may find your time better spent connecting with those you may feel are different from you than complaining how twitters or the facebooking are isolating us. At the least, you could stand behind them instead of tearing them down.

These are some things I heard they need:
  • Antacids & vinegar (to alleviate the effects of mace)
  • Newspaper
  • Pain killers
  • Cardboard
  • Food
  • Poster-board
  • Sticks
  • Rags
  • Art supplies
  • You

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