OCCUPY EVERYTHING.

El 1 de Mayo, 2012 / May 1st, 2012

Ocuparse de todo. Que nuestros derechos corren en peligro.

UPDATE: Protest at City Hall (4/2/2012)

This morning I walked down from my flat to city hall in downtown Portland to attend the protest/rally against the ruling to reinstate Ron Frashour, a Portland police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back with an assault rifle in January of 2010. Frashour had already been fired by the department but an arbitrator recently made the recommendation that he did nothing wrong after an almost two-year battle. 

The protest was fairly well-attended and there were multiple keynote speakerings including the very eloquent Rev. LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, representatives from the Urban League of Portland and many local lawmakers. Haynes urged us on and demanded that we never give up this fight for justice. 


Unfortunately, I noticed some people milling around with signs that had the faces of various members of Socialist groups "for president" pasted on the placards and not one but two people from different so-called Socialist groups came up to me and tried to give me their literature. For the record, I lean Socialist, but their obvious co-opting of the event to spread their propaganda kind of pissed me off. Especially when a super-blonde milktoast beardie guy was trying to explain to me the connection of racial profiling. I've been racially profiled, more than once. I don't need a straight White man to tell me what it is. Another representative that spoke to me was from the Bread and Roses Center, a location of the Freedom Socialist Party, and I have had dealings with them when working for the Portland Queer People of Color group and Las Mujeres de La Raza (associated with M.E.Ch.A.). Basically they wanted our support as tokenism, which of course none of us were okay with. Shockingly, all these people with their magical flyers disappeared as the keynote speakers began, which I felt really spoke to their true agenda. Thanks guys.

I know I am digressing, but that really set the tone for my day and was really disappointing. I am, however, very grateful for the White allies and allies from other communities of colour that were truly present. I only hope that as we continue to protest this ruling, more people can join us in our demand for justice and racial equality in Portland. 
Signing off, 
Fuck la policia! 

Occupy This!

I love freedom, and the media is attacking freedom.

Don’t talk to the media, that’s what it all boils down to. I have been watching the how the media has been presenting the Occupy Portland movement and issues and at this point, on the eve of the eviction from the two downtown parks, I believe I can safely say that the media is not on our side. One only has to look at the tone of the stories from outlets such as the Oregonian, KATU and KGW. These agencies highlight drug overdoses; criminal backgrounds, assaults and a thinly-linked Molotov cocktail, rather than focusing on the fact that these brave folks are, in fact, democracy in action. Why isn’t the media talking about the camp’s library, the fact that the kitchen has only servers with food-handlers cards, that there is a General Assembly and that the movement does not condone violence. It seems that the media has an agenda (of course) and that agenda is counter-revolutionary, pro-capitalist and anti-democracy.  

Our freedoms are under attack. We live in a country where hate speech is protected as "free speech" but our truly free speech isn't free. This must end. We must not be scared into complacency by the media. 

I urge you to continue to support the Occupy movement and the brave citizens demonstrating here in Portland. Don’t support the police, don’t support the media. KATU isn’t “On Your Side”. They’re on the side of money and fascism. Support your fellow citizens. Support freedom.