Street SpiritJ U S T I C E N E W S & H O M E L E S S B L U E S I N T H E B A Y A R E A

Volume 17, No. 10 October 2011 $1.00

A publication of the American Friends Service Committee

by Carol Harvey

On Thursday, September 29, theripples from the Occupy WallStreet protests already hadtraveled across the continent

and triggered a sympathy protest in theSan Francisco financial district. OccupySF was formed in solidarity with OccupyWall Street and it carried out a creativedemonstration in the heart of SanFrancisco’s bank district.

But let’s first backtrack 3,000 milesand go back in time two weeks ago, whenthe anti-Wall Street actions began. TheCanadian culture-jamming magazine,Adbusters, sent word to on-the-groundManhattan organizers that, startingSaturday, Sept. 17, 2011, for severalmonths, thousands of people should set upcamp and occupy Wall Street.

Organizers receiving the message want-ed to use a federal court ruling in 2000 con-firming the legality of sleeping on the side-walk as a means of social expression. Thislegal test was the unanticipated spark thatsent the spontaneous Occupy Wall Streetaction flashing across America, where itcontinues touching off sympathy occupa-tions in cities nationwide.

Manhattan protesters marched on WallStreet, occupying New York’s financialdistrict. They self-identified as the “99Percent” who came to call a halt to banktheft and corporate corruption perpetratedby the One Percent: The 400 familieshoarding U.S. wealth, the fat cat bankersand corporate CEOs receiving enormousbonuses while the poor, unemployed, and

unhoused starve.Ryan, an Occupy Wall Street partici-

pant, was excited by this massive protest,organized by consensus decision-making.He drove cross country to the Occupy SanFrancisco sister protest.

San Francisco Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

The “99 Percent” came to call a halt to bank theft and corporate corruption perpetrated bythe One Percent: The 400 families hoarding U.S. wealth, the fat cat bankers and corporateCEOs receiving enormous bonuses while the poor, unemployed, and unhoused starve.

by Carol Harvey

For years, pundits wondered whenthis simmering social cauldronwould boil over. On Saturday, Sept.

17, 2011, random forces touched off anew American uprising.

When Adbusters, a Canadian culture-jamming magazine, called for people tooccupy Wall Street, political organizersset up camp to test sleeping in the street asa form of social expression and protest.On Monday, September 19, the peopleoccupied Wall Street, successfully block-ing work in New York’s financial district,and causing the market to drop.

This spontaneous direct action spreadimmediately to Los Angeles, Atlanta,Kansas, Chicago, Tampa, and SanFrancisco. Occupy San Francisco sharesWall Street occupiers’ key demand: Anend to corporate personhood and greed.The group is committed to peaceful, non-confrontational actions.

The occupation’s structure is loose,

leaderless, democratic, bottom-up andconsensus-based. General Assemblies areheld at 6:00 p.m. outdoors in theEmbarcadero, with a larger Union Squaremeeting at noon on Saturdays.

Meetings break into working groups,trainings or committees. In the daytime,the demonstrators do public outreach atthe Federal Reserve Building, while oth-ers walk the Embarcadero with signs.Night camp beds down two blocks awayat Steuart and Embarcadero.

The first camp began on September 17at 555 California, and had only 6 to 10 full-time campers. At Justin Herman Plaza, thecore group numbered 15 to 20 people,sleeping, eating, and protesting. The meet-ing on September 30, numbered 50.

A PROFILE OF TWO OCCUPIERSRobb Benson relocated from Arcata to

join OccupySF. Some occupiers are col-lege grads angered by an economy thatprovides no jobs. That’s not Robb.

We Are the 99 Percent“We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced tochoose between groceries and rent. We are denied qualitymedical care. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.”

Demonstrating solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, protesters marched through the S.F. financial district. Carol Harvey photo

“Make Banks Pay.” Marchers carry their message to S.F. banks. Carol Harvey photo

“Tax Banks, CEOs & Speculators. Remove Wall Street from Government.”

See S.F. Solidarity page 7

See We Are the 99 Percent page 7

October 2011ST R E E T SP I R I T2

by Neil DonovanSanta Ana, Calif. — Every American

has the right to self defense, even againstpolice officers, and no one in law enforce-ment has the right to use unreasonableforce in the performance of their duty.

That was the determination made byTony Rachauckas, district attorney inOrange County, after examining evidence

of the July 5th beating murder of KellyThomas, a mentally disabled homelessman whose life was brutally cut short byat least two on-duty Fullerton police offi-cers, Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli.

A total of six officers were put on paidadministrative leave after Thomas’ death.

Then, on September 21, Officer Ramoswas charged with second degree murderfor craven acts that “were reckless andcreated a high risk of death and great bod-ily injury,” to the homeless man, saidRachauckas. Cicinelli, the second officercharged, is now charged with involuntarymanslaughter and felony excessive force.

The California district attorney chill-ingly described the last moments of KellyThomas in excruciating detail, recallinghis numerous pain-filled pleas of, “I’msorry. I can’t breathe. Help, Dad!”

The district attorney described the policeassault on Thomas as a “violent and desper-ate struggle.” Witnesses gave a full descrip-tion of the shocking extent of his injuriesand the brutality of the officers’ acts.

Thomas died from brain injuries, as aresult of overwhelming head trauma. Healso suffered a variety of broken bones inhis nose, cheeks, head and ribs. Thomasalso was shocked repeatedly by policetasers on his head, face, back and chestcavity. The medical report showed thatThomas suffered internal bleeding, caus-ing him to choke on his own blood.

This inhumane assault on Thomas wasconducted by no less than a half dozenofficers responding to a call of vehiclesbeing broken into. Following the beating,no evidence could be found of vehiclesburglarized in the area, nor was any stolen

property found on Thomas.Thomas died because six officers of

the Fullerton Police Department didn’tknow how to react or respond to a mental-ly disabled person in distress and crisis.When faced with a situation that causedconfusion, law enforcement at the scenechose brutal force to subdue Thomas.

This was not an example of appropriatepolice procedures gone awry. This was aclear case of criminal violence, whichcaused the death of Thomas. This couldhave all been avoided by the appropriatetraining of law enforcement in engaging avariety of types of individuals with mentalillnesses. It should have been avoided byThomas receiving the appropriate treat-ment in a place he could call home.

Neil Donovan is the director of theNational Coalition for the Homeless.

Police Charged with Murdering California Homeless ManThe DA described the home-less man’s pain-filled pleas inthe last moments of his life,when he cried, “I’m sorry. Ican’t breathe. Help, Dad!”

by Lydia Gans

It’s no secret that the economy is amess, that hunger, homelessness andillness are stalking the nation. The

newspapers and television carry stories ofchildren going to school hungry, unem-ployed breadwinners suffering depression,families doubling up in small apartmentsor living day to day in motels.

At the same time, there is less reliefcoming from both government and privatefunding. Stories of the Great Depressionin the 1930s tell of compassionate peoplereaching out to help the poor. Photoarchives contain moving black-and-whitephotographs of long lines of desperatemen and women at soup kitchens. Are weseeing a parallel situation today?

We don’t call them soup kitchens anymore and some meal providers try to getaway from the idea of charity and refer tothe people coming to them as guests. Andthe guests today are likely to be a far morediverse population than in the 1930s.

Dorothy Day House has providedmeals in Berkeley since the 1980s. Theynow do two breakfast servings, first at6:00 a.m. to 50 or 60 people in the MASCshelter in the Berkeley Veterans Building,and then at Trinity Church, where theyserve anywhere from 80 to 140 people,depending on the time of the month.

George Edgerton is the kitchen manag-er. He describes his responsibility to “getfood from the Food Bank and buy whatelse is needed, make sure the food is pre-pared and gets to Trinity, basically recruitvolunteers and make sure everything getsin the truck and to the meal on time.”

Afterward, he and his crew go back tothe kitchen to clean up. It’s a prettyintense morning, especially the hour spentat the meal.

“At Trinity I wander around,”Edgerton says, “make sure there aren’tany skirmishes. We have security peoplethere. We have a psychologist from Cityof Berkeley Mental Health so we havepeople to help us deal with problems.”

Edgerton talks about the people whocome to the meal. “We have a large num-ber of people that are mentally disturbed,”he says. “Not angry, mean people but theyshould be getting more help. But rightnow they’re out on the street. The other

50 percent, I would imagine that well overhalf have either drug or alcohol problems.Certainly a number of people that have acombination of those.

“We have a lot of people that really areliving on the edge. They’re very nice peo-ple for the most part. They always thankus for fixing them breakfast and help uscarry the food out. About 80 percent ofour guests are men, 20 percent arewomen. Not all are homeless, a lot havebeen chronically homeless, but a lot nowhave a place but don’t have enoughmoney to eat.”

Edgerton recruits helpers from all over.“In summer, a lot of high school volunteers,long-term U.C. students, right now a lotfrom Holy Hill, and the community.”

Joe Magruder has been volunteering atthe breakfast for seven years. Asked whatmotivates him, he says, “Forty years ago, Iwas a social worker in state hospitals andwe were working very hard to get theseguys out of the hospital and I feel veryguilty about that because here these guysare, stuck out on the street now.”

For many the morning meal is morethan just nourishment for the body.“There’s a number of people that canafford to eat other places but they like thecompanionship,” Edgerton says. “I thinkthe fact that they can come into a warm,dry place for about an hour in the morningand have a nice hot breakfast, reallymakes a difference in the quality of therest of their day.”

One of the regular guests introducedhimself as Mr. Faulkner. He also helps outat the meals. He says, “I eat here all thetime — just come here to get peace ofmind. You might not get it, but if you’rejust sitting here by yourself, you get peace

of mind. I come here because I’m out onthe street. This place here, Trinity Church,I don’t mind coming and having break-fast. It keeps me alive.”

He talks about people and times whenit is not always peaceful. “Sure they mighthave issues, but we can work it out. Endof the month, everybody gets hungry,have no money — it gets pretty crowded.”

He goes on to say, “I come here fordinner. Dinner’s more smoother, no argu-ments, everybody enjoying everything.”

It isn’t really hard to understand andsympathize if some people aren’t peacefulat 8:00 in the morning after a night on thestreet or in some miserable room. And forso many, the stress is exacerbated byphysical and mental health issues.

It’s not even at its worst now when theweather is pleasant and people can lingeroutside in the parking lot with a cup of cof-fee. It can be miserable in winter, when it’scold and rainy and still dark at that time ofmorning and many more people are hud-dled inside the dining room.

Getting enough nourishing food for theincreasing number of people in need is alsoa problem. Money from private donationsand from the city is limited, while super-markets, worried about lawsuits, throwaway huge quantities of food instead ofdonating it to programs for the hungry.

A woman calling herself Flower Childhas been coming to breakfast at Trinitysince she became homeless three yearsago. She described the breakfasts.“They’d have hot cereal every morningsix days a week,” she says. “Often theyhave eggs, occasionally they have pan-cakes, always bread and coffee.”

But she adds, “Now, three years later,there’s two things happening that aren’t

good. One, they don’t seem to haveenough food for everybody or they don’thave the same things they used to have.They used to have an egg every morningfor everybody, sometimes two. Nowadaysthey don’t have eggs every day. They stillalways have the breakfast cereal and cof-fee, but other things there are less of.”

Another bad thing she has observed ismore and more new people coming to themeals. “It’s crowded all the time now.”

Many expressed their gratitude for thesemeal programs. It is clear that as needed asthese programs are, survival for the grow-ing number of people who are homeless oron the edge is incredibly difficult.

There is not enough of anything —food, housing, health care or safe, stress-free places where people can relax andfeel they are respected, whatever theircondition. No human should be deniedthose basic needs and it is shameful thatthis is happening in our society.

by Kisha Montgomery

Iwas walking down the street one daywhen I decided that it was time formy life to take off. I looked down

and found my arms slowly flapping upand down. A homeless man saw me andbegan to sing, "Fly like an eagle."

I began to laugh and flap my armsfaster. He began to flap his arms andsang louder and louder until I was so farfrom him that he had to shout, "That'sright, baby … that's right … fly."

FLY LIKE AN EAGLEThe Bearing Witness Chronicles

Rising Hunger and Food Shortages in Desperate Times

In Berkeley, meal providers get away from the idea of charity and refer to the people they serve as “guests.” Lydia Gans photo

Survival for the growingnumbers who are homelessor on the edge is very diffi-cult. There is not enough ofanything — food, housing,health care or safe places.

October 2011 ST R E E T SP I R I T 3

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October 2011

Editorial by Terry Messman

On October 1, more than 700protesters from the OccupyWall Street movement werearrested as they marched on

the Brooklyn Bridge. This amazing out-burst of widespread resistance to thebankers and Wall Street financiers whohave robbed and ruined the economy is agenuine populist movement.

It began in Manhattan as a protestagainst home foreclosures, staggeringincreases in poverty, police brutality,unjust wars, high unemployment and WallStreet bailouts. It spread like a criticalmass of conscience through the Internet,social media, homemade videos, and, atlast, even through the corporate media.

The corrupt practices of big corpora-tions have been on a rampage that hascrushed underfoot millions of poor peo-ple, minorities and workers. Many havewondered when a populist movementwould finally fight against this behemoth.

So news of the Occupy Wall Streetmovement has been playing like music inmy mind every day. As I listened to theaccounts of so many people defying themight of an unjust empire, I literallybegan hearing music — songs of socialjustice started echoing in my mind likesome playlist from far-off Planet Utopia.

PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER

When I saw the armies of young peo-ple marching on the Brooklyn Bridgeagainst corporate rule, I began hearing themusic of Patti Smith. Her anthem,“People Have the Power,” vividly cap-tures the spirit of this populist uprising:

“I awakened to the cry that the peoplehave the power,” she sang.

“The power to dream, to rule to wrestle the world from fools. It’s decreed the people rule.”That song from Patti Smith’s Dream of

Life is a utopian vision of our longing forpeace to break out on earth. In the light ofOccupy Wall Street, it becomes a sum-mons to believe in this movementlaunched by young people and join thisuprising. Listen to her sing. And believe:

“I believe everything we dream can come to pass through our union. We can turn the world around we can turn the earth’s revolution. People have the power.” Yet standing up to the powers that be

has always meant enduring state repres-sion. When I saw all the young protestersstanding up to the police and being falselyjailed, when I watched scores of womenbeing peppersprayed, I heard the echoesof another time, another movement,another song of social justice.

WHAT’S GOING ON?In the midst of the carnage of the

Vietnam War, Marvin Gaye, one of thefinest soul singers of all, stunned his pro-ducers at Motown by bypassing his cus-tomary love songs and releasing What’sGoing On, an album-long outcry againstwar, poverty and ecological destruction.

“What’s Going On” could be ananthem for the CODEPink activists whomarched for peace over the Golden GateBridge in San Francisco in lateSeptember. In timeless lines, he expressedthe heart of their message:

“Father, father, we don’t need to escalateYou see, war is not the answerFor only love can conquer hate.”As I saw the coverage of young pro-

testers brutally arrested and falsely jailedduring the Occupy Wall Street protests, Irealized that Marvin Gaye’s great anthemgave us an uncanny, up-to-the-minutereport on the police repression they faced:

“Picket lines and picket signs...Don’t punish me with brutalityTalk to me, so you can seeOh what’s going on....”Nearly every social-change movement

has given rise to inspiring anthems ofpeace and justice. All those songs are stillblowing in the wind, still inspiring us to“get up, stand up — stand up for yourrights,” as Bob Marley sang. The youngpeople leading the Wall Street occupationwill undoubtedly leave behind their ownlegacy of songs of social justice.

HEAVEN HELP US ALL

Certain songs, such as “We ShallOvercome” or Bob Dylan’s “Blowing inthe Wind” are revered as anthems ofprotest that have given strength to civilrights and anti-war movements. But manysongs are equally as powerful and shouldbe much more widely heralded.

Stevie Wonder composed many elo-quent songs about racism, poverty andwar in his remarkable string of albums inthe 1970s. Listening to those albumstoday — Innervisions, Talking Book,Songs in the Key of Life — is still a reve-

latory experience.But earlier, in the 1960s, Wonder sang

“Heaven Help Us All,” one of the finestsocial-justice anthems of all time. In a fewshort, poetic phrases, he evoked theessence of the human condition, with allits heartbreak, outrage, longing and utopi-an dreams for justice and deliverance.

It takes a great poet to lay everythingbare in a three-minute song, but it’s allthere in this song — the lost cry of home-less children, the horrible way that warextinguishes the lives of the young, thesuffering of black people in American, thefate of the poor at the hands of the rich.

His song is a work of art, a poem ofuncommon depth, a prayer for deliver-ance, a piece of prophecy that condemnsthe rich and comforts the poor. It makesmy heart race every time I hear it.

Street Spirit has documented the tragicloss of homeless people who suffer anddie on the cruel streets of our inhumanesociety. How can a mere song ever hopeto express that inexpressible tragedy? YetWonder’s song tears me apart.

“Heaven help the child who never had a home,Heaven help the girl who walks the street aloneHeaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall,Heaven help us all.”His beautifully melodic singing and

heart-stopping lyrics strike so deeply inour conscience, that his song has thepower to awaken us from the sleep thatblinds us to the suffering in our society.

We see in our mind’s eye the childwho never had a home. He sings the storyof nearly a million homeless children inour nation, and countless more abandonedto foster homes. We see that girl walk thestreet alone, and we realize how vulnera-ble homeless women are on the streets.

Wonder reminds us of another threatthat hangs over the head of all children:“Heaven help the roses if the bombs beginto fall.” Nuclear bombs not only threatentheir lives, but Pentagon spending is a keyreason why children are left destitute.

“Heaven help the roses” is such a pow-erful line of poetry. It reminds us that peo-ple need more than bread. They need breadand roses. Roses have always been thesymbol of beauty and love, and the bombwill not just end human lives, it will utterlydestroy beauty and love. But then we real-ize with a start that Wonder is indicating,with poetic economy, that the homelesschild and the lonely girl are themselves the

beautiful, fragile roses that will be turnedto ash if the “bombs begin to fall.”

And Wonder’s song has only begun tolay bare the human condition.

“Heaven help the boy who won’t reach twenty-one,Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun.Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall.”He sings that verse as such an electric

outcry that is shocking to hear. The boywho won’t reach 21 has been shipped offto die in Iraq — and heaven help the gen-erals who gave that boy a gun, and endedhis life. Wonder’s outrage is palpable.

And heaven help “the people with theirbacks against the wall.” The war machinehas indeed put our backs against the wall,in the slang phrase that signifies oppres-sion, but Wonder conjures up an evenmore frightful image of people executedagainst a wall by wartime firing squads.

Then he takes his song one step fartherand turns it into a prayer for deliverance.

“Now I lay me down before I go to sleep.In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep —keep hatred from the mighty,and the mighty from the small.”I love those words and wait for them

every time I hear this song. They lay bareeverything that is wrong about the waythe rich prey on the poor. Wonder exposesthe same oppression that the prophets of

Songs of Justice OnlineMusic has been part of nearly all

movements for social change. This col-umn is the first in an online series onSongs of Social Justice. Every month,we’ll add new songs to the Street Spiritwebsite, and describe their impact onour lives. We’ll have links to each songso you can hear the music yourself.

See the Street Spirit website:http://www.thestreetspirit.org

Street SpiritStreet Spirit is published by the AFSC.The vendor program is run by JC Orton.Editor, Layout: Terry MessmanWeb designer: Ariel Messman-RuckerContributors: Fatana Jahangir Ahrary,Jonathan Burstein, Joan Clair, NeilDonovan, Lydia Gans, Carol Harvey,Verbena Lea, Stephen McNeil, KishaMontgomery, Jane NorlingAll works copyrighted by the authors.The views expressed in Street Spirit arti-cles are those of the individual authors, Contact: Terry MessmanStreet Spirit, 65 Ninth Street,San Francisco, CA 94103E-mail: spirit@afsc.orgPhone: (415) 565-0201, ext. 18Web: http://www.thestreetspirit.org

See Songs of Social Justice page 6

Young people with OccupySF march in the S.F. Financial District. Carol Harvey photo

Songs of Social Justice“A change is gonna come.” Sam Cooke saw it andsang it and wrote it down in indelible words for all of us to see. Nothing can ever erase his voice now.Nothing can stop that change from coming.

GLIMPSESOF THESPIRIT

October 2011ST R E E T SP I R I T4

by Carol Harvey

On September 11, Bay AreaCodePINK, the NationalOrganization for Women and 22

Bay Area peace and justice groups orga-nized a Golden Gate Bridge march memo-rializing the 2,819 New Yorkers who losttheir lives in the destruction of the twintowers in 2001. They also honored themillions of U.S. military and Iraqi vic-tims, collateral damage in the wake ofU.S. retaliation for 9/11 and “the continu-ing violence of war and occupation.”

California participants from SanFrancisco, Berkeley, Martinez, RedwoodCity, San Mateo and Danville joined insolidarity with Muslims and Arab-Americans — including Syrians,Afghanis, and Pakistanis — and walkedtogether across the Golden Gate Bridge.

On the San Francisco side of thebridge, Renay Davis and Nancy Keiler ofCodePINK spoke out against the war tothe gathering crowd. Davis said that fornearly five years, CodePINK has marchedfor peace on the Golden Gate Bridge onthe second Sunday of each month.

On this tenth anniversary, CodePINKmourned 9/11 victims while denouncingthe U.S. government’s use of this tragedyto justify “an endless cycle of horrific vio-lence” by conducting the longest wars andoccupations in U.S. history, resulting incountless deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ironically, the common people inAfghanistan, the world’s second-poorestcountry, “likely have no knowledge of theevents of 9/11 itself — no television, noiPods, no iPads, no cell phones — barelyenough food to eat each day,” Davis said.

Davis said that 50,000 U.S. troops andmercenaries still occupy Iraq. This year,the Afghanistan occupation cost U.S. tax-payers $122 billion. Meanwhile, the hous-ing and medical needs of U.S. citizens areignored, while education, infrastructurerepair and the creation of green jobs aredefunded, she stated.

“These wars of greed are not our wars,”she said. “We, the people, have the power.We demand justice. We demand peace.”

Nancy Keiler read a statement fromSeptember 11th Families For PeacefulTomorrows. The families of September11th victims expressed gratitude for theconcerned remembrances: “We ask thosewho feel compassion for our loss toexpand their compassion to include otherswho continue to experience loss ten yearslater,” referring to the innocent families inAfghanistan and Iraq who lost loved onesand experienced displacement.

“The lesson of 9/11 is that we live in aconnected world. We rise and fall together.On this 10th anniversary, let us recognizekinship with people all over the world andaffirm the values and principles that willaffirm peaceful tomorrows forever.”

Before the march began, Syrian-American Imam Khaled Hamoui told me,“Arab people (historically) have beengoing through 9/11s over and over again.”

Propelled by social media, on Dec. 18,2010, a revolutionary Middle East wave ofArab Spring rebellions began in Tunisia.Catching fire in Egypt and Libya, theouster of tyrants Hosni Mubarak (formerEgyptian president) and Libya’s MuammarQaddafi inspired strikes, demonstrations,and civil resistance in Bahrain, Yemen,Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Oman,Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi

Arabia, Sudan, Western Sahara, the Israeliborder, and Syria.

Totalitarian state authorities reactedwith violence against demonstrators in theArab world. One of their slogans is “Ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam,” (“The peo-ple want to bring down the regime.”)

The Imam described what he called anearlier “Grand 9/11” in Hama, Syria. In1982, Hafez al-Assad, the father of brutalSyrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, in onemonth carried out tortures, disappearancesand murders against 20,000 of his people inHama, then a city of about 20 million.

In the current Syrian revolution, he said,thousands of courageous Syrians “are dyingin the cause of freedom and democracy.”As Bashar al-Assad conducts a crackdownagainst his people on Hama’s streets, “Syriagoes through a 9/11 every day and has beengoing through 9/11s for the last sixmonths.”

He said that after Manhattan’s 9/11attacks, “the United States took its war onterror against the innocent people of Iraqwho had absolutely nothing to do with9/11 here. In fact, they would have lovedto have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein inthe same fashion that the Syrians,Yemenis, Egyptians and Tunisians aregetting rid of their own dictators — with-out outside interference.”

At that point, the solemn processionbegan across the Golden Gate Bridge.Berkeley marcher Roberta McLaughlinsported “No To War” and “Free BradleyManning” stickers on her flowered hat.

U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning’sfate was a major concern for many. InMay 2010, Pfc. Manning was placed insolitary confinement at Quantico,Virginia, on suspicion of passing a hugecomputerized cache of diplomatic cablesand other material to the whistle-blowingsite, WikiLeaks. These cables and videosdocumented U.S. wars of aggression,including war profiteers’ Bush, Cheney,and Rumsfeld’s flimsy 9/11 excuse tograb money, power, and oil by bombingIraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, ostensiblyto flush out Osama Bin Laden.

Public protests led to Manning’s trans-fer to less torturous conditions at FortLeavenworth prison, Kansas. “If he actu-ally did what he’s accused of doing, he’spatriotic,” said one Martinez marcher.

Trisha Mills from Danville waved anAmerican flag at passing cars’ sympathet-ic honks. Mills said she commemorates9/11 every year because “my heartbleeds” for the people jumping from thatburning building. She attended the funeralof Tom Burnette, a Danville local, one ofthe passengers on the plane that wentdown in Pennsylvania. “This is the way Iexpress my sadness.”

As she walked, high school teacherSusan Witka recalled wondering out loud

to students, “What would it be like to livein a country that wasn’t addicted to war?To use that money to have a free educa-tion like in some European countries? Ican see in my students’ faces they’re wor-ried about their future. Education shouldbe a human right like health care.”

Reaching the bridge’s midpoint, thehuge procession joined hands facing theSan Francisco Bay. Turning toward theocean, they stretched across the bridge,their upraised arms connected by pink rib-bons. For two minutes they stood silent,mourning global victims of U.S. wars.

Then each person in the human chainspanning the Golden Gate Bridge hurled apowerful proclamation west across thePacific, one after another: “These are notour wars. The people demand peace!”

Reaching the Marin staging area, eventorganizer Toby Blome announced eachspeaker. Rabbi Alissa Wise was shockedover morning coffee by the burning build-ings in Manhattan ten years ago. Hergroup, Jewish Voice For Peace, conductsdivestment campaigns against companieswho profit from Palestinian occupation.

They disrupt state acts of Islamophobiaand anti-Arab profiling. “Think about onething you can start to work on, trying todisrupt that normalization,” said RabbiWise. “Make a commitment to acting asthough the world is different.”

On 9/11, Fatima Mojaddidy, Afghansfor Peace, wondered, “What will happen toAfghans?” She recounted stories of the warin Afghanistan: One boy raped by U.S. sol-diers, one shot pleading for his life. “Didthe (Afghani) people really have to be pun-ished like this?” she asked. “Why did theyhave to pay the price for something theyhad nothing to do with?”

In a quavering voice, a military motherfrom Military Families Speak Out said,“My name is Patty Bennett. My son is inAfghanistan, and I want him back alive.”

Each evening rounding that last corneron her drive home, Bennett looks for

strange cars or anyone on her porch bear-ing condolences. She regrets she lied toher son, saying, “This will all be oversoon, and you will be home.” She sup-ports the troops, but added, “I do not sup-port these wars.”

Was 9/11 an “inside job?” Syrian-American Imam Khaled Hamoui obliquelydrew parallels between the U.S. 9/11 withthe Lavon Affair, a covert 1954 false flaganti-Arab operation in which Israeli mili-tary intelligence recruited Egyptian Jews toplant bombs inside Egyptian, British, andAmerican targets. Intended to be blamed onthe Muslim Brotherhood, the Lavon opera-tion was contrived to create an unstableenvironment so Britain would keep troopsin Egypt’s Canal zone.

Decrying anti-Muslim racism closer tohome, he spoke of the violent imageswhich appeared in Palestinian children’sdrawings after the Israeli occupation ofGaza. After this art exhibit provoked con-troversy, it was removed from theOakland Museum of Children’s Art.

CodePINK’s Rae Abileah urged atten-dees to stay engaged. She said that, for thenext month until the Afghan invasion’s10th anniversary, CodePINK is launchinga national campaign inviting people tomake peace art for a giant on-line quilt.[Check out CodePINK.org/create.]

This march was cosponsored byAfghans for Peace, American FriendsService Committee, American MuslimVoice, ANSWER Coalition, CodePINK,Bay Area Women in Black, BuddhistPeace Fellowship, California chapters ofNOW, Courage to Resist, East TimorReligious Outreach, Global Exchange,Grandmothers Against the War, IraqVeterans Against the War, InternationalSocialist Organization, Jewish Voice forPeace, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service,September 11th Families for PeacefulTomorrows, South Bay Mobilization,Veterans for Peace, Women for GenuineSecurity, and World Can’t Wait.

Vigil on Golden Gate Bridge Condemns ‘Wars of Greed’“These wars of greed arenot our wars. We, the peo-ple, have the power. Wedemand justice and peace.”

— Renay Davis, CodePINK

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, hundreds of protesters held a peace vigil on the Golden Gate Bridge. Photos by Carol Harvey

October 2011 ST R E E T SP I R I T 5

by Stephen McNeil, AFSC

In 2009, the American Friends ServiceCommittee (AFSC) put out a nation-wide call to artists through the Chicago

Public Art Group and the PhiladelphiaMural Arts Program, seeking contributionsfor a traveling memorial to Afghan civilianswho have died in the war. The responseexceeded our expectations.

Over the next few months, more than 40muralists donated their talents by designingand painting individual murals on sheets ofacrylic cloth. We thank them for their gen-erosity and commitment to peace. Four BayArea artists contributed, including StreetSpirit’s own Art Hazelwood and artist JuanFuentes whose joint work, “KabulWedding,” highlights the immoral use ofdrones in modern warfare:

The war in Afghanistan is now thelongest in U.S. history, yet for many of usit has been rendered largely invisible.“Windows and Mirrors: Reflections onthe War in Afghanistan” is an invitation toreflect upon the impact of this war on acivilian population caught in the crossfire.

The 45 panels created by internationalartists and U.S. students help us imaginethe experience of Afghan civilians —from death and destruction to hopes forpeace. Drawings by Afghan students inKabul, collected in June 2010, provide anup-close look at life in a war zone.

This mural is not a single painting, butan oversized statement on the human costof war, measuring more than 900 squarefeet. It is not the voice of one person, butthat of an engaged artistic community.Their collective voice comes through withpower and passion, speaking to us on bothintellectual and emotional levels.

We are present in every shot fired,every missile launched, and every bombdropped. But this is not our only option.We also can be present in acts of diploma-cy and reconciliation, community recon-struction and peaceful partnership. Thechoice is ours.

The war is costly not only for Afghancivilians, but for those of us at home. Allwe hear about in the mainstream mediaare endless cutbacks of social services andenormous deficits caused by militaryspending and tax cuts for the rich.

What do we spend our taxes on? Warsand past wars. Tax breaks and subsidiesare for the wealthy, while working-classtaxpayers pay for our misplaced prioritiesand endless wars. Right now, Oaklandtaxpayers have spent more than $1.5 bil-lion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.U.S. taxpayers will pay out more thanthree trillion dollars.

It’s time to stop the nonsense.New Priorities Campaign (www.new-

prioritiescampaign.org) has a declarationat their website that you can sign whichcalls for new priorities in spending.

AFSC has a great organizing tool,“Move the Money—Move the Economy”at www.afsc.org/resource/move-money-action-toolkit. Share this with yourfriends and faith group and join AFSC infighting for cuts to the Pentagon budgetand for funding human needs and jobs.

On October 15, join with AFSC at theRebuild the Dream rally and march begin-ning at 1 p.m. at Laney College (oneblock from Lake Merritt BART). Therally is at 3:30 pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Ten Long Years of War Is the Whole World Really Watching?

The war in Afghanistan is now the longest in U.S. history,yet it has been rendered largely invisible. Artists help usimagine the experience of Afghan civilians, from deathand destruction to hopes for peace.

Promiseby Fatana Jahangir AhraryRemember you promised When the birds fly back home When the winter is gone When the spring sun shines again You will be here You will be back Winter is gone Birds are back home Spring sun is shining But.... You are not here You are not back

WINDOWS AND MIRRORSWINDOWS AND MIRRORS: Reflections on the War in Afghanistanis a traveling exhibit of 45 panels created by artists and U.S. andKabul students to help us imagine the experience of Afghan civil-ians – from death and destruction to hopes for peace.

In Oakland: October 4-30 Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, 1433 Madison St.4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday

In San Francisco: October 6-30 University of San Francisco (K-Hall)7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-FridayContact: SSchwartz@afsc.org to schedule group tours.

by Verbena LeaEUREKA, Calif. — A jury delivered a

resounding victory for a homeless mankilled by Eureka police officers, awardingthe total sum of $4,575,000 to his five-year-old daughter and father, the plaintiffsin a police misconduct civil rights case.

The jury in the court case ruled againstthe City of Eureka and Eureka PoliceOfficers Adam Laird, Justin Winkle, andGary Whitmer for the death of MartinCotton II. Punitive damages wereassessed against the three officers.

Cotton, a 26-year-old homeless manliving on the streets, died of blunt-forcehead trauma. The plaintiffs, representedby attorneys Dale K. Galipo and Vicki I.Sarmiento of Los Angeles County, wereCotton’s daughter and his father.

The jury found that Officers Laird and

Winkle used excessive force, and that theofficers failed to provide medical care.

On August 9, 2007, Eureka PoliceOfficers Winkle, Laird, Whitmer, and fiveothers were involved in beating theunarmed Martin Cotton II to death. Inbroad daylight, officers pummeledCotton’s head and body, then brought himto jail, failing to seek medical assistance.

Expert testimony presented by theplaintiffs established that timely medicalcare would have saved Cotton’s life. Hedied in the jail cell within two hours. Apainful video of Cotton dying in jail waspresented during the trial.

The fatal beating of Cotton occurredoutside the Eureka Rescue Mission.Police were dispatched to the Mission fora disturbance involving Cotton. Whenthey arrived, Cotton was no longer in theMission and was alone and defenseless.

Laird and Winkle claim they orderedhim to put his hands behind his back andhe did not move. Both officers pepper-sprayed him. Officer Winkle kneed him inthe ribs and forced him to the ground,where the officers beat him.

Cotton made no moves against thepolice and remained prone on the con-

crete. Officer Whitmer, the third officeron the scene, gave a running kick toCotton, battered him with a baton, andpepper-sprayed him. More officers arrivedand joined in the beating.

The trial of Siehna Cotton et al v. Cityof Eureka included police readily admit-ting that they sat on Cotton, forced hishead onto the concrete throughout thebeating, kicked him, hit him with a metalbaton, kneed at his vulnerable organs,deployed pepper spray three times, anddid not seek medical assistance for him.

The officers, however, denied hittingCotton on the head, most likely becauseblunt-force head trauma was determinedto be the cause of death.

Crucial testimony came from two civil-ian witnesses who bravely reported thatthey had indeed seen at least OfficerWinkle pounding on Cotton’s skull multi-ple times on the concrete. One witnesssaid he heard “fist-to-skull” and “bone-on-bone” noises from those head strikes.

The verdict was announced on Sept.23, 2011, after a two-week trial in FederalCourt in Oakland. Siehna Cotton, hisdaughter, was awarded $1,250,000 for thepain her father suffered and $2,750,000

for wrongful death damages. MartyCotton Sr. was awarded $500,000, whichrequired plaintiffs to show that the offi-cers’ actions “shocked the conscience.”

The jury also found that the police offi-cers acted with “malice, oppression, orreckless disregard” to the decedent’s orplaintiffs’ rights, and assessed punitivedamages of $30,000 from Officer Winkle,$30,000 from Officer Laird, and $15,000from Officer Whitmer.

Cotton was one of many people killedby police in the Humboldt region from thefall of 2005 to the fall of 2007. AttorneyVicki Sarmiento said she hopes the ver-dict sends shock waves to other officerswho may consider committing such atroc-ities. “We don’t want this to happen toanyone else,” she said. “We as a commu-nity, we as a society, cannot tolerate it.”

Sarmiento said of the victory, “Thejury’s decision showed respect for MartinCotton’s life. They acknowledge the wrongthat occurred and acknowledge thatMartin’s life had value. The issue of humandignity and humanity is what this is about,and everyone has a right to have that.”

Verbena Lea is a member of RedwoodCurtain CopWatch.

“ABSENCE” (cropped) Art by Jane Norling, San Francisco artist

Police Viciously Beat Homeless Man, Left Him to Die in JailPolice officers kicked Cotton,battered him with a baton andpepper-sprayed him. They alsokneed his organs and poundedhis skull on the concrete.

October 2011ST R E E T SP I R I T6

old condemned in Biblical times and theyoung prophets today are condemning bymarching on Wall Street.

He starts with the familiar childhoodprayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep.”But the desperation in his prayer is clear.He asks the Lord to “keep hatred from themighty,” because he knows it will takenothing short of divine intervention tokeep the rich from persecuting the poor.

In the next breath, even though he hasprayed that the mighty will not hate, heknows full well that the rich will alwaystrample the poor under their merciless rule,so he prays that the mighty will be keptaway from the small. It is a chillingmoment for me every time I hear his heart-felt appeal that the meek will not bedestroyed by the powerful, but will some-how be protected. It is a last-gasp appeal,born of desperation: “Heaven help us all.”

TALKING ‘BOUT A REVOLUTIONIn the late 1980s, Tracy Chapman

released a glorious shout of hope and lib-eration. Her song is an updated and radi-calized version of “We Shall Overcome”for all the homeless people standing in“unemployment lines” and “those armiesof salvation.” Many people doubt thathomeless people can ever become orga-nized enough to resist the laws that crimi-nalize and banish them — let alone over-come the all-powerful system of econom-ic injustice that subjugates them.

Chapman’s powerful song was a won-derful shot in the arm for a newly emerg-ing homeless movement that was strug-gling to even stay alive. She sang“Talking ‘Bout a Revolution” with thefervor of Gospel, and her song carried for-ward the best folk traditions of WoodyGuthrie, Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan.

Her song is more relevant than ever,given how much homelessness hasincreased since she wrote it in the late1980s, and how much more repressive theanti-homeless laws are now. Chapman’slyrics paint an utterly haunting picture:

“They’re standing in the welfare linesCrying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvationWasting time in unemployment linesSitting around waiting for a promotion.Don’t you know they’re talking about a revolution. It sounds like a whisper.”Then she sings: “Poor people are

gonna rise up and get their share.” I thinkher expression of faith in the power ofpoor people comes from something as ele-mental as the human dignity she observedstanding “at the doorsteps of those armiesof salvation.” She saw a level of humandignity which cannot ever be extinguishedby the powers that be.

DEAD END STREETSRay Davies, the masterful songwriter of

the Kinks, is one of the most sensitive,thoughtful lyricists of all. In the rock arena,where virtually no one writes songs aboutlives destroyed by poverty, Davies writeswith rare understanding of the underdogs,the poor, the little people, the desperatemiddle class, the people growing old whosedreams are fading away unrealized.

In “Dead End Streets,” he describesthe quiet desperation of poverty, the wayit strips people of humanity. Yet hisdeeply sensitive account of these dead-end streets somehow ends up as a roaringrock-and-roll tribute to the dignity andpride of the inner-city poor.

First, the songwriter takes us into ashabby apartment on the dead-end streetsand confronts us with the everyday scenes

of misery many would rather not see.“There’s a crack up in the ceiling, And the kitchen sink is leaking. Out of work and got no money, A Sunday (meal) of bread and honey.”Many affluent people blame the poor

and homeless for their own poverty,accusing them of not wanting to work.Davies demolishes that belief born ofprejudice by describing the challengesfaced by this poverty-stricken couple who“are deep in debt.” He writes: “We bothwant to work so hard, / We can’t get thechance, / Dead End!”

This desperate couple fears everyknock on the door in the same way thatthousands of people in Oakland fear hear-ing the knock that brings eviction.

“What are we living for? Two-roomed apartment on the second floor. No money coming in, The rent collector’s knocking, trying to get in.”Then Davies does something magnifi-

cent, something that can scarcely be putinto words. After carefully drawing thispicture of lives driven into despair bypoverty, he rejects their dehumanizationwith a great shout of rebellion.

“We are strictly second class, We don’t understand, (Dead end!) Why we should be on dead end street. (Dead end!) People are living on dead end street. (Dead end!) Gonna die on dead end street.”But what can’t be read in the lyrics,

what must be heard in the music, is thejubilant shout of resistance and defiancewhen they sing “Dead end!” over andover. Instead of surrendering to their fateon dead-end streets, this song depicts peo-ple on the verge of rebellion.

Ray Davies and his brother DaveDavies are extraordinarily gifted singers,and they somehow convey a wild andexultant sense of pride that even thoughthey may live on dead end streets, theywill never surrender nor succumb.

The Kinks’ song is pure, melodic rockand roll, but its attitude comes straightfrom the heart of the blues. Singing aboutsorrows and hardships somehow enablespeople to transcend bleak circumstancesand affirm their life in the very shadow ofdeath. You can see that same dynamic insome of the best blues songs.

WHY I SING THE BLUESB.B. King is one of the finest blues

guitarists of all time. In 2010, Guitaristmagazine published Blues Guitar Heroes,and named B.B. King as the top bluesmusician in history, calling him “the trueliving embodiment of electric blues.”

King’s fluid guitar lines grace an outra-geously funny, yet tragically down-and-outsong, “Why I Sing the Blues.” It is a bril-liant example of how the blues enablespeople to expose horrible conditions, whileat the same time rebelling against injustice,and even overcoming hardships withlaughter. King describes scenes of harrow-ing, yet hilarious poverty:

“I’ve laid in a ghetto flatCold and numbI heard the rats tell the bedbugsTo give the roaches some.”In a scene that is all too familiar to

anyone who has ever tried to get low-income families into subsidized housing,King visits the County housing depart-ment, and is reassured by some utterlyuntrustworthy bureaucrat that, “We’regonna build some new apartments fory’all.” Then he goes to the welfare office

and meets the same dismal dismissal.“I thought I’d go down to the welfareTo get myself some grits and stuffBut a lady stand up and she said‘You haven’t been around long enough’That’s why I got the blues.”If those encounters are described with

sardonic humor, the most staggering versedescribes in cruel detail how the policetreat homeless people. He describes in afew utterly heartbreaking lines how thecops treat blind, disabled homeless peoplewho ask for help. It happens every day inAmerica’s cities. That’s why B.B. King’ssong should be claimed as an anthem forall poor and oppressed Americans.

“Blind man on the cornerBegging for a dimeThe rollers come and caught himAnd throw him in the jail for a crime!Mm, I’m singing my blues,I’ve been around a long timeI’ve really paid some dues.”

LOVE AND MERCY

There is an antidote to that kind ofheartless injustice, and Brian Wilson, oneof the most brilliant composers of our era,described what our society needs in twowords: love and mercy. It is a profoundlybeautiful experience to hear Wilson sing“Love and Mercy,” as he often does at theend of his amazing concerts.

Wilson has written many incrediblycomplex and lovely compositions, yet thissong is so simple, and when he sings it, itseems to come straight from his heart.He’s like an innocent child, and simulta-neously a wise, heartbroken, old soul,reflecting on how violent and cruel andlonely life is for too many people.

He sings these words for all of us whoare trapped in this culture of violence.

“I was sitting in a crummy movie with my hands on my chin.Oh, the violence that occurs —seems like we never win.Love and mercy that’s what you need tonightSo, love and mercy to you and your friends tonight.”Of all the brilliant songs that Wilson has

written, this one is becoming his anthem.He sings in such a compassionate voiceabout how life is so unfair, violent andlonely for too many people. Then he offershis hope for love and mercy, just like Godwould, if God were a broken-down andglued-back-together songwriter. Wilson,the founder of the Beach Boys, enduredthree decades of psychological devastation,before emerging from this nearly endless“dark night of the soul.”

It makes me feel blessed to hear himsing “Love and Mercy” in an era when somany musicians are too cynical, or“sophisticated,” or in love with lyrics ofdarkness and despair, to offer us some-thing as sentimental as love and mercy.

He feels the joys and cruelties of life asintensely and simply as a child, then writeslike an angel. He’s channeling the samedeep feelings as the Beatles when theywrote “Eleanor Rigby,” and asked, “All thelonely people — where do they all comefrom?” Except that Wilson is not willing toleave the people he cares about in suchloneliness and despair, and offers them loveand mercy from the bottom of his soul.

A CHANGE IS GONNA COME

Young people have been the mainstay ofOccupy Wall Street, and they are inspiringpeople all over the land. One problem theywill soon confront is the intransigence ofpowerful systems of injustice. That dis-covery can be deeply disheartening. Whenthe initial flash of inspiration wears off,will many of them remain on the longmarch to freedom?

So let’s consider one of the most mov-ing reflections ever written about the per-severance necessary to keep believing thatchange is possible. “A Change Is GonnaCome” was written by Sam Cooke as an

anthem to equal rights at the height of thecivil rights movement; yet tragically, hedied just before it was released.

As lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, SamCooke was one of the finest gospel singersof all. He went on to fuse gospel with popand rock music in his breakthrough cre-ation of soul music. Music historians creditCooke with laying the foundation for soulmusic, along with Ray Charles.

In his anguished and eloquently soar-ing voice on “A Change Is Gonna Come,”we can hear the hopes and dreams and bit-ter suffering of generations of AfricanAmericans who held fast to the dream offreedom for hundreds of years. OtisRedding and Aretha Franklin, two of thefinest vocalists of the 20th century, eachrecorded beautiful versions of this song,out of their great respect for Cooke. Buthis version outshines everything.

This deeply touching song is a testa-ment to the human spirit that never givesup, no matter how great the obstacles.Listen closely as Sam Cooke sings thesecret of all social-change movements —a hope that will never die, never give up.

Listen to the great pain and suffering inhis voice, and, in the very same breath,the deep humanity and evergreen hope ashe sings about the long road to freedom.His song begins in poverty, and the singeris born facing a life of hardship and exile.

“I was born by the river in a little tent, Oh, and just like the river I’ve been running ever since.It’s been a long time coming,But I know a change is gonna come.”As he grows up, the singer encounters

hatred and the twisted racism that gavebirth to hundreds of segregation laws thatprevented African Americans from eatingin restaurants, voting, riding in buses andfrequenting downtown areas. He singsabout it so simply, but it burns like fire.

“I go to the movie, and I go downtownSomebody keep telling me ‘Don’t hang around.’It’s been a long, a long time coming, But I know a change gonna come. Then, he goes to his brother and appeals

for help, just as Black Americans went totheir government and their fellow citizensand asked for help in the civil rights era.But in answer to his urgent plea, “brotherhelp me please,” his brother just “winds upknocking me back down on my knees.”

The singer is tempted so many times tojust give up. The oppression he faces isunendurable and the road to freedom is fartoo long. But in the midst of despair, hefinds a newfound hope that a change willtruly come. As Martin Luther King said,“The arc of the moral universe is long butit bends towards justice.”

Even though it’s a long, long timecoming, we must have faith that a changeis gonna come. Sam Cooke did.

“There been times that I thought I couldn’t last for longNow I think I’m able to carry on It’s been a long, a long time coming B ut I know a change gonna come, Oh, yes it will.”Oh yes it will. Cooke’s voice is packed

with the sorrow and anguish of a peopleforced too wait far too long for human dig-nity and freedom. A people who launchedthe most courageous struggle for humanrights our country has ever seen. A peoplewho had all the odds against them, yet whokept organizing and going to jail and endur-ing police brutality until they triumphedover the evils of segregation.

Now, we face a long struggle againstthe forces that have plunged millions intopoverty, and have sent millions into unjustwars. We know one thing well: It’s a longtime coming, but a change is gonna come.

A change is gonna come. Sam Cookesaw it and sang it and wrote it down inindelible words for all of us to see.Nothing can erase his voice now. Nothingcan stop that change from coming.

Songs of Social JusticeRay Davies’ sensitive account of these dead-end streets endsup as a roaring rock-and-roll tribute to the dignity of the pooras he rejects their oppression with a great shout of rebellion.

from page 3

October 2011 ST R E E T SP I R I T 7

He said, “On the morning of September19, the first Monday after the action started,we actually had a moving picket in front ofWall Street that slowed people from gettingto their jobs by the opening bell, and theStock Market took a hit that morning.”

Soon, the New York police brutalizedthe marchers and moved them two blocksaway to Zuccotti Park, where they get freefood and medical care and are building ahighly committed social movement.

Their strategy of holding the area nightand day has been very successful. Crowdsgrow daily. Notables have visited andspoken, encouraging the occupiers.Roseanne Barr, Susan Sarandon, MichaelMoore and Cornell West appeared in thepark and on live stream videos posted byoccupiers on their daily blog.

According to Michael Moore, speakingon “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,”“Mayor Blumberg said last week, if wedon’t provide jobs right away, there aregoing to be riots. This is Mayor Blumberg,the billionaire, talking. This is not MichaelMoore saying this. The smart rich knowthey can only build the gates so high, andsooner or later history proves that people— when they’ve had enough — aren’tgoing to take it anymore.”

The Occupy Wall Street blog posted avideo of Professor Cornel West talking tothe crowd. As he spoke, the crowd usedthe “people’s microphone” by repeatingeach phrase of his speech to all aroundthem. West said, “There is a sweet spiritin this place — everyday people, whotake a stand with great courage and com-passion because we oppose the greed ofWall Street oligarchs and corporate pluto-crats who squeeze the democratic juicesout of this country and other placesaround the world.”

“A similar story happened in SanFrancisco,” observed Ryan. On Saturday,September 17, “people tried to occupy theFederal Building and 555 California Bankof America.” The police moved them out toJustin Herman Plaza for their nightly 6 p.m.meetings, then two blocks down to a parkwhere homeless people regularly sleep.

The growing band of occupiers becamehonored participants at a “Make BanksPay” rally that marched down MarketStreet on Thursday, September 29, stop-ping to protest at banks along the way.

Milling around 555 California Plazawaiting for the gathered group to march, a

balding blue-collar worker jokingly said,“I am a broke, unemployed ‘drone’ withOccupy San Francisco, a grassrootsmovement.” He spent his last dollar buy-ing a plane ticket to attend the October 6,2011, protest in Washington, D.C.

Pat Gray, a retired teacher, handed outflyers. “I am so upset with the political sys-tem,” she said. “Congress is 100 percentcorrupt. Our Congressional members listento their contributors, not their constituents.”

She announced that from 3:00 to 6:00p.m. on October 6, at the 7th and MissionFederal Building in San Francisco, agroup named “The 99% Coalition,” whocan’t afford to go to Washington onOctober 6, will speak “loud and clear, andtell them what we want.”

Supervisor John Avalos helped launchthe protest, nodding toward the Bank ofAmerica skyscraper. “This building is asymbol of the incredible greed and wealthaccumulated into fewer and fewer hands inour country,” he said. The Bank of Americareceived a $230-million bailout.

“They are firing 30,000 workers acrossthe nation,” said Avalos. “Our economy’sin shambles. (We have) joblessness andhomelessness in San Francisco. You strong,union, community, and small-business peo-ple fighting back give me hope.”

Avalos reported that the Bank ofAmerica and Wells Fargo each hold $3billion of San Francisco’s $6.8 billionbudget. “If we pooled our money fromBank of America and Wells Fargo, andcreated our own bank, we would havecontrol of our own tax dollars,” he said.“We could leverage that to build our local

economy,” support small businesses andproperty owners, create more services,and build more houses.

To resounding cheers, Avalos called,“Can we create our own municipal bankin San Francisco? Yes we can!”

The rally participants chanted, “Whobailed the banks out? We bailed the banksout!” “Make Them Pay!”

Marchers stormed Market Street banks,massing before police lines outsideCharles Schwab and Citibank doors.Protesters who got inside were arrested,notably a Vietnam veteran’s widow,Brenda. Brenda said her mortgage wassliced and diced, then Citibank tried toevict her. She vowed to the crowd that thebank would never get her home.

Unemployed Tom Komita trudgeddown Market Street. “I currently can’tfind work,” he said. “My situation is partof this larger situation, so I’m here in sup-port of everybody.”

Paul Larudie, a shirt-sleeved, graying,business type, yelled, “All banks areresponsible for the home foreclosures.We’re the ones that kept them in business.They need to renegotiate in good faith,reduce the principal, and make paymentsaffordable to people who lost incomes.”

Charles Schwab employees stoodbehind protective glass on the upperfloors and scoffed at protesters below.One protester remarked, “Before her headrolled, Marie Antoinette said, ‘Let themeat cake.’”

Chris Tully walked past, saying, “Theyplayed a shell game and brought down theeconomy. We’ve been robbed. We’ve still

got the collapse of the dollar coming.Let’s come out, be aggressively nonvio-lent, and make our point.” He marched tothe Occupy SF meeting at 6:00 p.m. atJustin Herman Plaza.

Erica, a woman who came from Ukiah,now camps with Occupy SF in solidaritywith Occupy Wall Street, she said, “so theOne Percent (won’t) hold onto all themoney of the 99 Percent anymore. If wejoin together little by little, the OnePercent will have to pay attention to the99 Percent. We are the people, and we arethat 99 Percent.”

Erica reported that San Francisco occu-piers have been gathering for regular 6:00meetings in Justin Herman Plaza. “The Citylikes to hose the park down,” she said, “sowe can’t sleep there.” The group peacefullycomplies with requests to move.

On this beautiful Thursday eveningacross from the Embarcadero waterfront,a group of about 50 people at the 6:00General Assembly sat in a circle on theconcrete, passing a microphone to eachspeaker. New attendees funneled in fromthe march, fleshing out the numbers,which 13 days ago had been only six toeight attendees.

Ryan speculated that the GeneralAssembly would discuss, and hopefullycome to consensus, on “whether we’regoing to move our occupation to an actualplace like the Bank of America or theFederal Reserve,” make a stronger state-ment, and make something bigger happen.This move would be inevitable in an ever-evolving occupation in San Francisco.

S.F. Solidarity withOccupy Wall Streetfrom page 1

Watching corporations gobbling upmom-and-pop shops as a child drove himoutside that system. Since 1992, Bensonhas been a Deadhead roadie and pad thaivendor. He admits working for corpora-tions — but only rarely. In 1992 heaccepted emergency food stamps. Hislifestyle doesn’t require much. He com-municates via computer and drives a van.

If he stayed in one place, it might havebeen harder to survive. But movingaround in a gypsy lifestyle, it’s not.

Searching for a law library to defend hisFirst Amendment rights, Benson foundOccupy San Francisco. On the road inArcata, a small town where police do what-ever businesses demand, he campaignedfor Ron Paul in front of a restaurant. Theyhad him arrested for standing on the side-walk. He believes this is classist discrimi-nation against poor people. Would he havethe same problem in a suit, clean-shaven,with short hair?

After BART cops shot and killed ahomeless man, Charles Hill, Robb joined

the protests. Offended by California abus-ing poor people, he suggested the Boardof Supervisors draft a declaration recog-nizing poor peoples’ equal rights.

Benson is primarily concerned aboutpeople’s sovereignty, and said that sover-eignty has been transferred from people tocorporations. After the Civil War, heexplained, industrialists and bankersopened the door with the 1871 OrganicAct, establishing the United States as afederal corporation. “That’s how they gotour sovereignty,” he said. “They regulateus like commercial entities.”

Others believe that the U.S. SupremeCourt wrongly conferred the rights of per-sons to abstract corporate entities.

Some OccupySF campers are scrutiniz-ing built-in constitutional corruption.“Everyone agrees our government doesn’tfollow constitutional law,” Benson said.“Opinions differ on how to redress it. TheConstitution is explicit. If, for any reason,the government doesn’t follow its strictures,we, as sovereigns, have the power — no,the duty — to enforce or change it.”

Mike Clift, 44, is an artist fromSacramento. He bounced with his AirForce father from Maryland to Virginia,

and then to Southern California. “Heavy stuff” affected his generation,

he said, citing Vietnam, the Jonestownmassacre, Charles Manson, the moonlanding, the Iran hostage crisis. Inept pres-idents, drugs and news of official corrup-tion jump-started his high-school, punk-rock rebellion and his political awareness.

While stationed in an artillery unit inGermany from 18 to 20, his eyes openedto U.S. foreign policy and corporate influ-ence on military structure.

Unlike certain of his “successful, shin-ing” relatives who work at Exxon, JetPropulsion Labs, and Microsoft, Clift saidhe walked away from a corporate artist’ssalary which purchased useless “shinygarbage.” He believes that every level ofsociety’s problems ties into corporatemanipulation and wealth addiction.People become conditioned to acceptthings that upset them, he said.

Empathy with others is disintegrating,and even the interface between neighborsand family is recast in corporate terms bythe ever-present question: “What is yourpractical value in this economic unit? Ifnone, we’ll dispose of you.”

“If it’s poor or homeless people, it’s

jail,” Clift said. “With mental illness ordrug problems, it’s mental hospitals.Funding cuts leave dispossessed peoplewalking around.”

Clift believes it’s crucial to help youthkeep their idealism and desire for a betterworld. If forced to keep a job, they canlose touch with their younger self, let theworld walk all over them, grow old anddespairing. He said it is important for peo-ple to see others joining the movement. Aperson going to work in the morning maypass five people talking. Then, on his wayhome, if 20 more are sitting around,engaged in the occupation, it draws newpeople to participate.

“A guy came by,” Clift said, “dropped a$40 donation, and said, ‘My job is on theline. I can’t hang out with you guys becauseUpstairs is probably watching. If I lose myjob and end up here, remember I was a niceguy.’ He looked like a total millionaire.”

Clift thinks about this and says, “Wedon’t want you to quit your job. Questionwhether it fulfills you. Is it worth laboringfor something you don’t believe in?”

See the Occupy SF website:http:www.occupysf.com

We Are the 99 Percentfrom page 1

Young people in San Francisco take part in Occupy SF meetings just as their counterparts do in New York. Carol Harvey photo

October 2011ST R E E T SP I R I T8

Interview by Joan Clair

In her book, Disrupting Homelessness:Alternative Christian Approaches,Laura Stivers explores ways that peo-

ple of faith can build a prophetic move-ment to overcome homelessness and eco-nomic injustice. She calls for churches togo beyond charity and develop a newlevel of solidarity with homeless people.

The ultimate goal is not only to createhomes and economic justice for all, butalso to nurture a new sense of compassionand sharing as an alternative to a societybased on self-centered materialism.

Her book comes at a promisingmoment when many religious leaders arespeaking out against the nation’s risingeconomic inequality and calling on gov-ernment officials to stop balancing thenation’s budget on the backs of the poor.

Many religious traditions state thatGod has chosen a “preferential option forthe poor,” and that people of faith musthear the cry of the poor and join withthem to overcome injustice.

A recent letter from Catholic profes-sors at Catholic University and otherCatholic colleges criticized Speaker of theHouse John Boehner for his economicproposals involving cutbacks to programsserving the poor, elderly and vulnerable.

The letter stated, “Mr. Speaker, yourvoting record is at variance from one ofthe church’s most ancient moral teachings... from the apostles to the present, themagisterium of the church has insistedthat those in power are morally obliged topreference the needs of the poor.”

This preference for the poor cuts acrossfaith traditions. Huston Smith, a renownedprofessor of world religions, discusses thethird pillar of Islam — charity. Accordingto Smith, Muhammed instituted a graduatedtax on the haves to alleviate the poverty ofthe have-nots in the 7th Century AD. Thehaves were called yearly to distribute 1/40of the value of their possessions to the poor.

Yet, U.S. government officials haveturned their backs on these teachings tochoose a preferential option for the rich.

In her book, Stivers examines what itmight look like if people of faith actuallymade a preferential option for the poor.

Elizabeth Bounds, professor at EmoryUniverity’s Candler School of Theology,wrote, “Laura Stivers never wavers fromprioritizing a view from the margins, call-ing for solidarity with those experiencingsuffering and dislocation.”

I interviewed Stivers about her views onhomelessness and theology in September2011. Stivers is Chair of the Religion andPhilosophy Department at DominicanUniversity of California in San Rafael. Shereceived a Ph.D. from the GraduateTheological Union and an M.Div. fromPacific School of Religion in Berkeley.

Street Spirit: What do you want to seehappening in churches and other placesof worship to bring about the compassion-ate and just society you envision?

Laura Stivers: There needs to be moreadvocacy. Soup kitchens and hospitality,though wonderful, do not go far enough.There needs to be more advocacy such asorganizing for living wages and low-income housing, advocacy which affectsthe political and other societal structures.We need a social movement which incor-porates the most prophetic aspects andvoices of the Judeo/Christian tradition andother religious traditions to bring home-

lessness and poverty to an end.Street Spirit: In the book Small

Miracles of Love and Friendship by YittaHallersham and Judith Leventhal, one isadvised to think of the panhandlers livingon the street corners of New York City as“little angels.” Are the roots of this wayof thinking in the Judeo/Christian tradi-tion and other religious traditions?

Stivers: Jesus himself could have beenconsidered homeless. He was the son of acarpenter. Carpenters did not own landand so they were from the lower class.Many of Jesus’s disciples also gave uptheir homes to follow Jesus. All sharedand there was not hunger among them.Jesus emphasized community and sharingto all who are in need, a very differentfocus than today’s preoccupation withindividual salvation.

Street Spirit: Peace Pilgrim, anactivist, once gave away all her posses-sions and began a pilgrimage for peaceacross America. She said, ´The price ofpeace is to abandon greed and replace itwith giving, so that none will be spirituallyinjured by having more than they needwhile others in the world still have lessthan they need.” Do you think havingmore than one needs while others haveless results in spiritual injury?

Stivers: Goods don’t buy happiness.Happiness results from living simply incommunities of care and concern and inharmony with nature. Working for moreand more unnecessary possessions blocksright relationship with one’s self, and withGod, nature, and other beings, bothhuman and non-human alike.

Instead of playing outdoors amongleaves and dirt, being in nature, more andmore children are indoors in front of acomputer. So many people have morethan one home while others have none. Inaddition to causing spiritual malaise,materialism and overconsumption are tiedto social and environmental injustice.

Street Spirit: Why does there appearto be so little sympathy for the homelesseven in this economic turndown? Thereseems to be more concern for the middleclass. We see negative attitudes towardsthe poor and homeless even among so-called religious people and church-goers.

Stivers: In my book, I talk about theAmerican belief in meritocracy, that is, thatwe are in the positions we are in based on

whether or not we have worked hardenough. In America, we are taught tobelieve that if we work hard enough we canachieve anything. Consequently, peoplebelieve that if a person is homeless or poor,he or she hasn’t worked hard enough and isto be blamed for the position he or she is in.

Street Spirit: You mention other atti-tudes in your book which lead to lack ofempathy for and blaming of the homelessand the poor. What are other examples?

Stivers: The American emphasis onindividualism can also lead to blaming thehomeless poor. People with privilege tendto think they made it on their own —apartfrom the privileges they were born with andthe structures that helped them to succeed.

Growing up near Harlem in New YorkCity, I encountered homelessness andpoverty at an early age, but I was broughtup in an upper-middle class family. I camefrom a healthy home and my educationwas paid for. I did not get where I amtoday on my own. My self-esteem wasnever low as a result of the effects of abuseor poverty. Not only do people with privi-lege not realize they didn’t make it on theirown, they also do not understand thatstructural factors make it difficult for manyto achieve the so-called American Dream.

It is not a coincidence that many home-less people grew up in poverty. Whenhardship hits, such as job loss, divorce, orinjury, these individuals do not have thesafety net of family and friends with privi-lege and wealth to fall back on.

Street Spirit: Yet it seems that prior tothe New Deal, many of the same negativeattitudes towards homeless people were ineffect. However, as a result of the GreatDepression, these attitudes began tochange. Social programs were institutedto help the homeless and poor. Why in thecurrent recession is the opposite happen-ing? Why is there less help for the poor,homeless, seniors and the unemployed?

Stivers: During the period in which theNew Deal was created, there was morebelief and hope in progress, the idea thatwe were always moving forward. Today,there is less hope that the younger genera-tion will do better than their parents.People are sensing an America in decline.Policies that helped create a middle classand supported the ability of people to behoused and cared for medically are beingeliminated or defunded.

While economic globalization and out-sourcing of jobs is a factor in the declineof the middle class, domestic economicpolicies that have weakened labor,decreased the safety net, made tax policymore regressive, deregulated finance, andprivatized and defunded multiple publicgoods have done even more to put manyfamilies on the edge.

People are feeling financially insecureand fearful. Many Americans thoughtthey had made it to the middle class inpart due to cheap credit and rising housingprices, but with the recession they arefeeling the pinch. Rather than viewing thisvulnerability from a structural lens, theylash out in anger at “low-income renters”who they think will bring crime and drugsinto their neighborhood and at the home-less or people on welfare who they thinkare lazy and don’t deserve handouts.

Street Spirit: Michael Kazin’s book,American Dreamers: How the LeftChanged a Nation, laments the fact thatthe left has lost its ability to effect changeand says the passion of the left is neededfor a transformation to greater materialabundance and social harmony for all.

Stivers: There is not enough organizedpush from the left to hold politiciansaccountable to the interests of the poorand working class. Today labor has lessleverage. Churches used to be a morepowerful voice for social change, but themainline churches that had some progres-sive voices are losing members.

Conservative interests have organizedand powerful think tanks and politicalgroups who lobby politicians and craftmedia messages that convince Americansthat their interests are in line with the rich.

Politicians who are open to a more pro-gressive policy agenda also want to stayin office. Unless the left gains a deeperpower base to ensure that a more progres-sive agenda and message will keep thesepoliticians in office, many of them willend up acquiescing to a more conservativepolitical agenda that does not address thesocio-economic injustices in our country.

People of Faith Must Hear the Cry of the PoorDisrupting Homelessness:Alternative Christian Approachesby Laura StiversPublished by Fortress Press, 2011

“Dumpster Dive” An angel visits the desolate streets frequented by the hungry and homeless. Art by Jonathan Burstein

“We need a social movement which incorporates the most prophetic aspects andvoices of the Judeo/Christian tradition and other religious traditions to bringhomelessness and poverty to an end.” — Laura Stivers, author of Disrupting Homelessness

Haiku: Left Untoldby Joan ClairBlankets on the street,sleeping bag against a wall —stories left untold.