POOR Magazine Marches to Decolonize the Occupy Movement

I have stated before that I agree with the Indian people's suggestion of calling "Occupy" "Decolonize" instead. It is not just a concept for Indian people to adopt. We all (the 99% of us at least) exist in a colony run by the 1% in one way or another. While at this point changing the name of the Occupy movement would be too much of an internal struggle (plus all the buttons and leaflets would have to be reprinted at substantial cost), changing the name at some future point may be desireable. This would be especially true if the police crackdowns against Occupy movements turn much worse than they are currently, such as if Occupy Oakland suddenly has the same difficulty in setting up tents as Occupy Cal is currently experiencing. Calling the movement Decolonize at that point would be a tactical move designed to make the police actions symbolic successes rahter than failures. Each time a camp stays up we could call it a successfull move towards real decolonization of our communities. Each time a tent city is taken down by the police or by agreement with city officials it would be a symbolic decolonization, demonstrating our desire for real decolonization. In this way we would go from being in a boxing match politically with the 1% to being in a karate match, where we use the weight of our opponent to throw them to the ground, rather than being "knocked out" by superior force. This type of tactic has been used in at least one previous demonstration in an effort to get more press for their movement. A group of anti-prison-industrial-complex demonstrators set up a cardboard model of a prison illegally on a campus square with the full intention of having the police come in and tear it down and confiscate it. The cops showed up and tore it down. The scene was billed by the demonstrators as the police dismantling part of the police state. Just a thought. Many more people than just me would have to be on board with this for it to work. Good luck to you in your struggles.

Indigenous peoples had a ceremony to begin the encampment in front of city hall In Oakland. The ceremony was led by Corrina Gould, who is Chochenyo/Karkin Ohlone

It is my understanding that they named the encampment "Decolonize Oakland" at this ceremony. The name was *not* changed by Ohlone people. It was changed by other people without the input of Ohlone people....so "occupy oakland" is not a valid name to begin with.

I didn't know that bit of history about the Oakland protest originally being called Decolonize Oakland. Interesting. So much for consensus. Does Oakland operate on the 95% agreement rule or is it supposed to be 100% consensus? If that name change had been blocked in San Jose's general assembly it shouldn't have gone through under our form of camp government here.

It seems that putting a public face on my thoughts helps me think them through a bit more. My next thought is that calling the movement Decolonize could change the interaction between the cops and the protesters and make the confrontations less violent. The less violence our movement generates, on either side, could help it grow and generate more support. If, for instance, the Occupy Cal protesters had as a GOAL for the cops to take down the tents, they could have had an agreement with school administrators to have whatever they want for "protest paraphenalia" on the grass until "closing time", say 10PM. After 10pm any tents would be considered to be "camping equipment" and be confiscated. The protesters would simply neglect to take down the tents at 10pm and thus symbolicly be decolonized and also show up the school administration on tv as being too repressive, not allowing free speech in whatever form 24/7. There would be no need for people to surround the tents by linking arms and getting beaten up by the cops. Again, they would be using the weight of the state against it by tripping it up instead of trying to survive being knocked out.

My roommate also suggested that our goals are more important than maintaining a camp or any specific form of protest. We don't yet have the support of 99% of the people (39% are against us, and only 30% support us according to the San Jose Mercury News).

-- the OCCUPATION OF ALCATRAZ
By the Native occupiers !
So please cut the silly shit ! The encampment is as we speak is in imminent danger of a massive Police raid and we should want to wage a major internal battle around the name ? Apart from everything else the main point of the entire Occupy movement is working class unity against the class war being waged against all of us . And some want to reject that to return to divisive identify politics ? i don't think so . Our corporate enemies would like nothing better .

" I live in Durham, North Carolina. A majority people of color city with a majority white occupy movement. Majority is complicated. Because the tricky statistics of majority has been used as a tool of white supremacy to create norms for a long time, it is not merely a coincidence that one of the largest, most compelling, media-effective and participatory convergences of direct action that I have witnessed uses the colonizing military language of occupation." " ...majority is complicated. I live in Durham, North Carolina. A majority people of color city with a majority white occupy movement. Majority is complicated. Because the tricky statistics of majority has been used as a tool of white supremacy to create norms for a long time, it is not merely a coincidence that one of the largest, most compelling, media-effective and participatory convergences of direct action that I have witnessed uses the colonizing military language of occupation." http://thatlittleblackbook.blogspot.com/2011/11/making-majority-majority-consciouness.html?spref=fb