Hope to See You in the Streets: Reflections from D.C.

By Vasudha

Lately, I’ve been ending most of my e-mails with “hope to see you in the streets!” This revolutionary corniness can be directly attributed to my participation in the OWS protest on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1st. Like many of my friends, I was pretty cynical about this at first. I saw some of the early photos of the occupiers and almost collapsed from activist PTSD. America’s Tahrir Square wasn’t going to be lead by the same crusty white anarchists I’d brawled with for much of my organizing life…was it?

And then, you know the story- the pepper spraying incident was the collective “come to Vishnu/Allah/Jesus etc.” moment for many of us. More of my friends in NYC were attending the GAs and participating in meaningful ways. This was enough of a reason for me to hop on a bus from D.C. to NYC to raise some hell on Wall Street. Full disclosure: I grew up in New York with the NYPD.  I’m fully aware of what they are capable of, but even I was shocked by their shameless kettling and subsequent arresting of 700 protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge. In spite of all of this, I came back to D.C. with a renewed fervor to recreate this incredible space here.

Community Justice, Community Safety

By Divad Durant

“The highest patriotism demands the ending of the war and the opening of a bloodless war to final victory over racism and poverty.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

During last week’s Community/Labor March, I was a part of an organized group of community based organizations that collectively marched as the NYC Communities Contingent.  Amongst the waves of tens of thousands of people at Foley Square, community organizations like CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, FIERCE, Picture the Homeless, BAYAN, Justice Committee, members and volunteers from People’s Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability, and CUNY student groups gathered at the southeast section of Centre and Worth street to discuss logistics such as: conducting a 101 know your rights training, coordinating our security team of People’s Justice members, and sharing a lawyer’s phone number by writing it on our bodies with a permanent marker, in case any of us got arrested.