[Wamvan] Justified Rage from an Unsafe Space: Reflection on Occupy Wall Street

[Tami Starlight]

Link:

http://www.peopleofcolororganize.com/activism/organizing/justified-rage-unsafe-space-reflection-occupy-wall-street/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PeopleOfColorOrganize+%28People+Of+Color+Organize!%29&utm_content=FaceBook


Justified Rage from an Unsafe Space: Reflection on Occupy Wall
Street<http://www.peopleofcolororganize.com/activism/organizing/justified-rage-unsafe-space-reflection-occupy-wall-street/>

Posted on 28 October 2011 by bot


*Many Peoples, Many Identities: Racism and Sexism Within the Occupation*

It’s been over a month since the Occupy Wall Street Movement began. Like
many others; despite my active involvement and overall support, OWS has both
inspired and enraged me. It’s made me remember why I became an organizer.
And it’s made me realize why sometimes, I want to quit.

A lot of us have reasons for feeling enraged. At my first GA, several young
white men who identified themselves proudly as those who had been at
Zuccotti Park since “Day One” shouted disagreements with a Black woman who
voiced legal concerns about the risks of arrest for undocumented
protestors.  The men used their self-proclaimed “veteran” status to silence
and ridicule the legitimate concerns of some of the most economically
disadvantaged and historically marginalized of the 99%–undocumented workers.

A few days later, on indigenous people’s day, a white man who identified
himself as “one of the OWS organizers” physically and verbally attacked a
female *jaranera* who was performing *son jarocho* music. Apparently, she
was “standing on the flower bed.”

The two cited examples of racism and sexism that have manifested themselves
in the OWS movement are not isolated occurrences. The arrogant dominance of
young white men is constant and has turned many experienced
organizers—particularly women, queer and trans people, and people of
color—to withdraw support for the movement.

But despite the many amazing organizers who have justifiably left OWS and
vowed to never return, many others just won’t walk away. They see the
potential of the movement. They hate many of the people and ideologies
behind it; they hate the privilege and the arrogance, but they see the
potential.

Every organization, every movement, struggles with acknowledging systematic
oppression. Movements that *deny* racism, movements that *deny* sexism;
movements that are *completely unaccountable* to the very people they claim
to be liberating; these movements will fail. Again and again, we have
witnessed their failure.

*Systemic Inequalities Within the 99%*

As a queer white woman, I’ve struggled with how to contribute to the OWS
movement. After my first GA, I felt conflicted. Inspired and enraged. I
never wanted to come back, but I wanted to set up camp and stay every night.
I recognized that as a white person, it was my responsibility to use my own
privilege and power to try to battle the racism I’d witnessed; but as a
queer woman, I felt uncomfortable and unsafe dealing with such blatant and
unacknowledged sexism. Yet again, the biggest leftist movement of our
generation is seemingly clueless about race, class and gender.

As an organizer, I saw the benefit of the populist message that “We Are the
99%”, but the deeper I became involved, the more I’ve realized that many who
are “occupying Wall Street” neither understand nor believe that there are
systemic inequalities within the 99%.  Many neither understand nor believe
that we are not a big ol’ “American melting pot” of “one people”, but that
we are many peoples, many races, many identities.

Some see nothing wrong with white male voices facilitating every meeting.
Some think it’s okay to curl up next to a surprised sleeping woman and ask
if you can share. Others don’t flinch when a white man hands out white
flyers to white people about Occupying [Black] Harlem.

But some of us—many of us—are not going to sleep as the movement passes us
by. We’re not going to walk away, even though we could. Even though, in some
ways, it would be easier.

*Sexism Unresolved: Queer Women Occupy the Park*

After making excuse after excuse to myself about why I wouldn’t sleep on the
concrete ground of Zuccotti Park like everyone else, I realized that I was
absolutely terrified. Terrified of an unknown body next to mine, of the
potential experiences and memories that they might bring. Terrified because
of stories I’d heard, because of sexism unresolved.

A lot of women, queers, and trans people—along with many people of color and
undocumented immigrants—do not feel comfortable sleeping in an open space
with a lot of men, surrounded by police. Police presence ensures that
protestors could, at any time, be risking arrest; and a racist police system
ensures that people of color will be targeted. Unrestricted male presence in
all sleeping areas ensures that protestors could, at any time, be exposing
themselves to molestation and/or rape; and patriarchy ensures that women,
queers, and trans people will be targeted.

Maybe I was out to prove something to my friends that were too afraid to
stay, or maybe I had to prove to myself that I wasn’t going to let male
privilege prevent me from another experience.

As I walked around the park trying to scope out a safe space to sleep, I was
on the lookout for the women’s sleeping space that I heard about. Despite
many tours and several sleeping invitations from men, I couldn’t find a
single women’s (let alone queer or trans) space. I saw a lot of single men
scattered about the park, heterosexual couples cuddling under their sleeping
bags, and a number of sleeping spaces that were covered in tarp and not
“open to the public.”

After about an hour of roaming and observing, I found a group of three
sleeping young women, and I decided to lay my sleeping bag out at their
feet. As I lay in my “bed”, trying to write, I felt the eyes of several
people fall upon me. The eyes of those who are eager to make conversation.
Eager to be invited.

I decided that I’d feel safest if I de-gendered myself by putting the
sleeping bag over my head and just going to sleep. As I nervously closed my
eyes, I was woken up several times by loud voices. Once by a man yelling
about losing his stuff, another time by an altercation between several men
over politics, and finally by a midnight “mic check” of someone who was
angry about theft within OWS.

I finally drifted off to sleep, and in the morning I awoke with men on every
other side of me, despite my deliberate attempts to be in a woman’s space. I
was annoyed, but validated. My experience proved what so many had told me:
OWS is not a safe space.

*Ends and Means: Making OWS a Safer Space*

It’s been one month since the Occupy Wall Street movement began. Despite OWS
organizers priding themselves in increasing diversity, they have yet to
really address issues of systemic racism, sexism, and classism within the
movement. But in some ways, they are right. The movement is growing. Over
100 cities in the U.S. alone have endorsed the Occupy movement, with over 82
countries participating in the October 15th global day of action.

But again, movements that *deny* racism, movements that *deny* sexism,
classism, homophobia, ableism; and do not prioritize an anti-oppression
framework; will fail. OWS has a critical role to play in eliminating
oppression within the movement; they have a role to play, but they cannot do
it alone. They need us. They need the active participation of queers, women,
people of color, unemployed people, low-income workers, union members, and
undocumented immigrants. They need *all *of us.

Instead of struggling for a new [white man’s] “American Revolution”, we need
to struggle for a People’s Revolution that acknowledges that the “America”
we live in is a history that is founded in genocide and slavery. The
“American Revolution” was founded in colonization and imperialism.

I understand and respect the many people—and there are *many *people—who see
the obstacles as too great and the opportunities too small to further engage
in this movement. But to those optimistic enough to see a purpose, for those
imaginative enough to envision a new future, and foolish enough to dedicate
themselves to its creation: I’m with you.

The movement may not be perfect, but it is *our* movement. Our rage is
justified. Our impact is inevitable.
- *Charlene Obernauer*
--
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/wamvan/attachments/20111029/fb04322f/attachment-0001.html>