Committee Statements for Press Conference
[Note: We are currently collecting statements ready by OO committee members for the press conference on 1/25. They will be added as they are received.]
Lindsey, Raheim Brown Free School
Since day one of the Occupy Oakland encampent, Raheim Brown Freeschool and Occupy Oakland Library have provided well over 1,000 people with books, zines, workshops and children's storytime. Past events included a Black Panther history panel, free yoga, martial arts and creative writing workshops and anti-oppression trainings. The library provides free educational and recreational reading material through tent and mobile libraries, as well as a growing poetry anthology. New projects in the works focus on promoting literacy in Oakland, primarily by developing relationships with existing community groups.
We are committed to creating innovative library and radical learning spaces that serve the greater Oakland community and complement our city’s beloved public libraries and schools, which have faced deep budget cuts, service cuts, and reduced hours.
By naming our free school after Raheim Brown, a young African American man who was killed by police near school grounds we hope to highlight the ongoing trend of defunding social and educational services while increasing policing of Oakland's youth and black and brown communities.
Martha, Occupy Oakland Medics' Collective
Occupy Oakland Medics Collective is a non-hierarchical, consensus-based, autonomous group. Among us are herbalists, doctors, physician assistants, wilderness first responders, nurses, and EMTs. We come together as volunteers to provide first aid at demonstrations and to support the wellness of Occupy Oakland. From October to November, we treated hundreds of individuals at the Oscar Grant Plaza encampment. We continue to provide health support to the Occupy Oakland vigil. We provide free care to all and treat patients with respect and dignity.
Despite providing for many basic health needs of marginalized and under-served people in Oakland, we experience continuing harassment and assault by the city and police, often on the pretext of public health and safety.
On October 25th, campers were tear-gassed and shot with projectiles in the name of public health and safety. 24-year-old war veteran Scott Olsen suffered a potentially life-threatening skull fracture from a tear gas canister deliberately shot at point-blank range. Under police fire, medics pulled Scott to safety.
It is evident that the real threats to public health and safety in Oakland come from:
· Mayor Quan and her administration’s decision to dispossess Occupy Oakland and to stand in the way of community self-care;
· the routinely violent, racist, and destructive Oakland Police Department; and
· community devastation caused by the greed of the corporate 1%.
The city won’t guarantee the 99% what we need for a healthy community, like housing, education, and basic health care, so we are reclaiming them for ourselves. In our new community center, Occupy Oakland medics will continue to provide for the health and wellness for all occupiers and to support the greater goals of Occupy Oakland.
Tess, Children's Village
My name is Tess Unger, and I am speaking on behalf of Occupy Oakland’s Parents and Allies Caucus. When the encampment existed in Oscar Grant Plaza, families were an integral part of the community. The Children’s Village was formed so that parents could feel connected to the movement, so that they could engage in general assemblies and working groups while their children made art or read books or played a pick-up game of soccer. It also existed as a social center for people from all over Oakland, giving parents with young children a chance to interact and network with each other. We always had an abundance of food, clothes, diapers, and toys-- all donated by the goodpeople of Oakland. We didn’t anticipate how many families we would come to know and love that had no other shelter than the tents they stayed in at the plaza. The camp offered too many families something that the system had not- a sense of home. Without the tent city, many families have had no other place to go but back on the streets.
Currently, children comprise 28% of the homeless population in Oakland. There are 16,000 homeless people in Alameda County and half are families. It is a sad commentary on humanity that this system allows an abundance of usable shelter to sit empty and abandoned when there are so many people without homes.
The Children’s Village will march as a part of the move-in day on January 28th. We will have a teach-in and solidarity picnic at a nearby park, and families can decide to join the building occupation should the city officials and OPD act safely and in fairness. While it is our hope that the police always consider the possible presence of children before taking violent action against protesters, we can no longer act in faith that this is so. Our event on this day will happen within walking distance of the building, but far enough away so as not to expose children to any possible violent resistance from the OPD. We hope that we are being unnecessarily cautious, that if police and city officials are present, they come in peace and ready to listen.
This action is an opportunity for the City to begin to restore the trust of its citizens and repair some of the PR damage that has been done over the course of the Occupy movement’s short but amazing history. We hope, for the sake of our comrades, our children, and ourselves, that this is a day of enlightenment and evolution for the great city of Oakland. The whole world is indeed watching. Thank you.