Activism

It was just the kind of dark and stormy night we remembered, gathered in the October rains at Washington Square, helping set up tents with a crowd gathered around a cooking fire and huddled in the kitchen tent while stump speeches emanated from the statue, free to all with the passion. It's been two years since I've even protested, three since I was here last, but the same scene we knew so well was about to play out - and this time we'd seen the show before, and had some idea what was headed our way. This time the conflict…

Almost a year after Occupy Rochester fell apart, we're at it again! Marching to City Hall to address the problems with housing in this city, and let them know how defective of an institution it is. Did you know that Rochester has more abandoned, foreclosed or simply unoccupied houses, than it has ever had homeless people? What about that Rochester has slum lords, and the city does nothing about it, even though they hold onto abandoned and underutilized properties as investment, evict rent-paying tenants, and try to sell the houses for a profit? Or that it is illegal in parts…

Finally getting to my pictures from the march last week... for anyone who hasn't been keeping up with current events, the Saturday before last was a terrible one for justice in Rochester, and oppression from the RPD. A peaceful anti-capitalist march was trapped on the East Ave/Inner loop crossing, and 18 protesters arrested, some violently. At the closing of the Puerto Rican festival, RPDs in riot gear began breaking up a crowd with no provocation, setting off a police riot that led to 32 more arrests. Finally, barely 12 hours after the march, a punk show in an East End…

After the beautiful solidarity of the march, and fractious GA, we arrived at a controversial decision, and in my mind a heinous mistake: to try, for the third time in five days, to take the park and create a base for Occupy Rochester. By now we were as well apprised of the situation as one could be; there was little drama, and even less political gain, to be had from either outcome, arrests or a continued stalemate, other than a piece of grass and concrete downtown which we weren't technically allowed to be in anyway. Either way, the scattering crowd…

November 2 at Occupy Rochester started off a beautiful day. After the arrests on Friday night, our leaders united with organized labor, political groups and even religious groups to put together an impressively diverse march, and finally show ourselves as representing more of the 99% than ever. The march went off perfectly, with no police interference to speak of; even the obnoxious nanny-cam staring down at the park from South Clinton finally left, towed away by a city public works truck a few minutes before the GA started. Calling the march to order! WE ARE THE 99%! WE ARE THE…

Occupy Rochester's lighter side! I'd like to see more of this artivism and street theater, even though I suspect most of the Occupy pictures for the foreseeable future will be of the not-so-thin blue line keeping us away from our first amendment rights and agendas.