Everywhere we marched last night, from the Oakland Commune, with its tents, free food stalls, library, media center, first aid center, and a private bookstore fronting works by Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx, and Edward Said in communal proximity, to the Port of Oakland, a good hour's walk away from city hall, businesses were open and marchers were buying food and drinks along the way. It was the first time I've seen downtown Oakland and parts of West Oakland along the route so vibrant (and safe) at night.
Oakland should be lucky it's being occupied at all. Otherwise, downtown is usually a wasteland after 5 p.m. Last night, I saw Gray Panthers marching next to toddlers and infants in strollers; transvestites next to heterosexual and gay couples; people in wheelchairs and on bicycles, skateboards, and rollerblades; and people in unions representing teachers, health care workers, and government workers. I even saw a State Senator, Loni Hancock, although she only marched for a couple of blocks. There were the usual suspects from Code Pink, the Green Party, and Marxists of all factions, but mostly there were people who came because they were mad and they want change from the unregulated capitalism that permeates the politics and economics of this country today.
Although people don't seem to have particular answers -- or solutions, as we call them in high-tech -- they know there is a problem when health care, education, housing, and work are no longer accessible for most Americans. The American dream has become the American nightmare.
The mood was festive and hopeful. Spurred on by live music -- from drums to trumpets, clarinets, and vocalists -- the marchers carried clever signs, "We Need To Set a Maximum Wage," and climbed up on cargo containers at the port to wave on the rest of the crowd. News trucks with satellites bordered the marchers at the final stretch, and organizers with hand speakers moved the crowd along with time-worn political chants.
If I were mayor of Oakland, I'd harness that great good energy and have the marchers occupy Oakland forever. Open up abandoned buildings and fill the deserted streets at night with life, when the daytime bankers and lawyers have gone home to the hills or the suburbs. Occuping a city has far more potential for recreating our society than abandoning our cities, the way our government has abandoned us.
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