Occupy Cleveland anti-foreclosure action 3.5.2012 – foto Smith

I physically hurt big time and am chinging along inside like I’m on one hundred cups of coffee, but my faith in the Occupy Cleveland movement just received a huge boost in the admiration and respect department, with an added dash of hope for dessert.

Outside of two non-violent direct actions where Occupy Cleveland camped in the front yards of houses to prevent foreclosure evictions (one successful, one not) and a couple mass public parties full of family, folk, friends and children, Occupy Cleveland has for me been reduced to Lady and I going downtown every morning to bring breakfast to the cold overnight occupiers in the Info Tent on Public Square, which is a worthy act in and of itself — both for their stamina in enduring the cold and cops for the rest of us, and our four months of feeding them breakfast (which seriously hurts our limited income existence).

I mean I’ve gone on a couple marches, but it all seemed sort of like masturbation in that we made a lot of noise and pleased ourselves but it didn’t seem to DO anything . . . although we were certainly raising public awareness, so maybe I’m being too impatient, harsh, and judgmental.

But this morning! Wow!

Since tomorrow is the big Super Tuesday 3-card Monte shell game election, they planned a major anti-foreclosure march and (unknownst to almost all of us) a non-violent anti-foreclosure direct action . . . the direct actioneers kept their plans secret from the rest of us because of the police and DHS and FBI and authority-only-knows what other multi-lettered government agency moles, plants, spies and traitors to the Constitution they’ve slipped into our group to monitor what we do.

It was 27 degrees Fahrenheit this morning with snow (feeling like 17 according to weather.com) when we arrived at the almost empty tent which had promised free breakfast to all the marchers. We found three people and boxes of so-so donuts. My heart sank, but I understood because of the lousy weather. But over the next half hour, maybe 40 people arrived, and four gallons of free coffee, and warm muffins, and bagels, and signs, and drums, and banners, and American flags from across time, and a level of excitement which was totally contagious.

I gave up coffee 8 days ago because it was spiking my anxiety levels, but unfortunately due to being so cold, I drank a free cup -for the heat – bad move.

While we all gathered to march to the (in)Justice Center to stand below the window where they were auctioning off foreclosed houses to the capitalistic vultures, four of our members entered the auction room and disrupted it, trying to stop it. Of course they were “taken upstairs” by the police and the auction continued, so we banged on drums and shouted slogans and waved flags for another hour outside in support. They were still going at it when Lady and I left after two hours due to my pain.

My mistake was in carrying a huge Betsy Ross American flag and waving it all over the place, which destroyed my arthritic hands so much I’m typing right now with two painful clumps of agony.

The Sheriff department showed up immediately of course and six of them moved us from the (in)Justice steps back down to the public sidewalk while they stood above us and watched our protest.

I was aware we were in a potentially dangerous situation where we could have been illegally arrested or abused — had we been in Oakland California, we would have been beaten bloody by their police — but I have to say the Cleveland police were extremely respectful, gentle, patient, even understanding. One cop walking by actually raised his clenched fist in solidarity. Several protestors moved to the middle of the street with their 12 foot banner and disrupted traffic and all the head Sheriff did was walk out and calmly ask them to move back to the sidewalk, which they did. There were no arrests or altercations or harsh words outside. I’ve no idea what happened inside the foreclosure auction.

I was also impressed by the marchers because when the police came out and told us we the public were trespassing on public property and had to leave the public steps of a public building which we own because we paid for it with our taxes (just as we pay their police salaries with our taxes so they technically should be working for us instead of the corporations) we all smiled, said okay and immediately complied.

Non-violence and non-hate are powerful tools, even when they don’t work (like in Oakland, NYC, Boston, Washington D.C. etc).

I don’t know the status of the four non-violent direct action occupiers “taken upstairs,” but will pass the word along in a later blog.

A word of warning – Congress is in the process of passing a new bill that makes it illegal for anyone to protest or even be in any area the Government says is a temporary non-protest area; and they can define any area at any time they choose without telling the rest of us. This essentially eviscerates the U.S. Constitution which says Congress may pass NO laws which abridge our right of free speech. This new law is because they’re afraid of what the Occupy movement has already accomplished and they’re frightened to death of the 50,000 protesters planning on making their voices heard at the upcoming 38th G8 summit in Chicago May 15-22.

The rich are running scared, so they’re changing their own laws in order to silence the rest of us before the G8 summit where the rich gather to decide how to treat the rest of us, thus making it easier to lock us up. In fact, there’s another law in the works in Congress which will allow them to literally take away an American’s citizenship. Can you believe this? They are planning a law which says the rich can decide who is an American and who is not, and those not are to be given over to the military for indefinite detention without recourse to either lawyer or trial — indefinitely.

There are dark dangerous clouds sweeping toward us, but today’s exuberant non-violent cheerful respectful Occupy Cleveland march shows me there’s still a chance We The People will stand up and say to our so-called elite masters that NO, Enough Is Enough — We Are The People And You Work For Us . . . We Pay Your Salaries And We Own These Public Buildings And We Are Tired Of Your Pigging Out At The Trough While Trashing What’s Good And Right And Moral And Just And Fair For The Rest Of Us Who Are The 99%.

If I were an “elite,” I’d start listening. It’s in their own best interest because “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

Our numbers are growing rapidly; pretty soon there will be too many of us for them to make us “disappear” in the night into the depths of their military prisons.

Peace and justice and respect to all, in spite of our many differences and paths and beliefs and desires.

May we all listen, and learn.

If nothing else, Mother Earth deserves it.

Nay, demands it.

Occupy Cleveland anti-foreclosure action 3.5.2012 – fotos Smith

PS – I know I’m doing the government’s work for them by posting what I post, but they’ve had a file on me since 1968 and they’re going to do whatever they want to do anyway and I for one refuse to live in fear and bow down to their lies.