welcome to the occupation

by russell

I'd been wanting to head down to the Occupy Boston site, just to see what was what as much as anything else.  Last Friday, I took the day-after-Thanksgiving holiday as my opportunity.

I checked the website to see what they were asking for that day.  Shopping list in hand, I headed over to my local Dollar Store and loaded up on stuff like snacks, juice, Band-Aids, and baby wipes, hopped on the T, and headed for town.

The occupation site itself is in Boston's Dewey Square, which used to actually be kind of a big downtown square, but is now a small park at the end of the Rose Kennedy Greenway.  It's a well-chosen location because it faces Boston's financial district and the Boston Fed.  It's also one of the access points for the "Big Dig" I-93 tunnel, so a ton of traffic goes by every day.  Last but not least, it's right at the South Station T stop. 

So, convenient, visible, symbolically resonant, but not actually in anybody's way, because it's somewhat apart from the nearby buildings, and is surrounded by a large plaza.

Here is the view of the occupation site from the T entrance.  The whole camp is surprisingly small - my guess is that it's fewer than a hundred tents, maybe a population in the low hundreds.

Upon arrival, I looked for some place to hand over the supplies I had brought down with me.  The young guy at the information booth was busy trying to sort out some kind of issue with his walkie-talkie, so I walked over to the logistics booth.  The young man there was gruff, but basically helpful.  I handed him what I had brought, asked a few questions -- "do you mind if I walk around?  is it OK to take pictures?" -- and was on my way.

First stop was a visit with Gandhi.  The statue was donated by the folks at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn MA, and functions at the Occupy site as a combination of welcoming presence, tutelary spirit, landmark, and meeting place.

The basic logistics of the site are pretty well organized.  The utility tower at back of the site functions as a sort of natural stage and meeting area.  Rows of tents are arranged around the existing gravel paths, or around paths made of loading dock pallets.  There is an accessible and well marked fire station and kitchen.  The medical tent is pretty well stocked with over the counter medicine counter supplies.

Delicious hot Vietnamese food too, right on-site, courtesy of an enterprising local entrpreneur.

Who's there?  There are some hippie kids, but also a number of older folks. LGBT, represent!  Some veterans.  Some folks who are out of work.  More Gandhi fans.

Some folks were very outgoing and interested in engaging with the many folks who wander through.  This guy provided a sort of comic relief, greeting folks as they walked down one of the main paths in a comically exaggerated Boston accent.

This gentleman is Glenn Connick, "like the astronaut and the singer", and he runs the art tent.  He does a great job, the tent was well organized and full of materials (although donations of more are welcome!)  Glenn was a self-described newbie, having only been on site for three weeks.  "I came, then I got sick, then I got better, and here I am". 

Other folks were less interested in talking.  A lot of folks were just plain busy moving trash, wrangling supplies, organizing tarps, and generally running the campsite.

At the moment, the Dewey Square camp is one of the last Occupy sites standing.  As of yesterday, the restraining order preventing the City from clearing Occupy Boston from the site remains in place, but the Mayor and the folks who run the Greenway would like them to move on.  The judge will render a final ruling in the next couple of weeks.

There is something of a quixotic flavor to the site.  A hundred tents, maybe, on a postage stamp of a park site, standing in the shadow of the colossal buildings of Bostons's financial district.  A big plastic statue of Gandhi, a bunch of cardboard signs.  Folks living on leftover Thanksgiving Day mashed potatoes.

What's going to come of it?

My thought is that, whatever happens to the camp itself, Occupy Boston represents a few hundred people who have now had the experience of doing something.  Doing something, as opposed to sitting at home on the couch, b*tching at the TV.

Some of the hippie kids may have been involved in some kind of protests before this.  For most of the folks here, participating in Occupy Boston is a very large step out of their up-to-now normal life.  They've made some kind of hands-on contribution to building a community, however transient.  They've experienced some discomfort and deprivation, and have put up with it because it was important to them to do so.  They've worked with other folks to figure out how to make decisions, build consensus, and get basic, practical things done as a group.

Not least, they have all recognized and respected the voice inside themselves saying "This sucks, and it shouldn't be this way" by getting up off of their @sses and doing something.

When and if they leave, they will take all of that with them.

I will look forward to seeing what happens next.

Comments

[Doctor Science]

Thanks for visiting, russell. Last night, the Boston PD went to OccupyBoston and arrested ... the kitchen sink. There's now a trending #sinkgate topic on Twitter, of course. More LOLs and also WTFs here.

[peggy]

A few nights ago police confiscated $1200 worth of winter quality tents as they arrived at the site.

The park is part of the Greenway which has elaborate landscaping. When those trees and bushes arrived, why couldn't I have driven up with my truck and carried them off just like the cops did?

The restraining order against the City of Boston is upheld and the Occupiers paid for those tents. I doubt the police will surrender them.

Their statement on the steps of the court was eloquent.
http://www.occupyboston.org/2011/12/01/statement-steps-suffolk-superior-court/

[russell]

Last night, the Boston PD went to OccupyBoston and arrested ... the kitchen sink.

Here is the Occupy Boston writeup on the confiscation of the offending kitchen sink.

The Occupy Boston folks have a sense of humor.

The park is part of the Greenway which has elaborate landscaping.

It's true that Dewey Square had very nice, and not-cheap, landscaping in place before the occupiers moved in.

Their goal is to leave it the way they found it. Toward that end, they are raising funds to pay for the landscaping to be replaced when they leave.

[russell]

From the Nation, an interesting read.

[Gary Farber]

I regret that I haven't posted about Occupy (or much of anything else -- sorry, still working on personal issues), but I've been following a tremendous amount of news, and sporadically posting short bits on Facebook, Google + and occasionally Twitter.

It's such a huge topic now that there are an infinite number of angles of approach. Dozens of people posting non-stop (and there are lots more than that) can't cover it all.

But the crucial part is that the Overton Window has been moved.

Elsewhere, this decision by the administration to not allow stocking of Plan B, the morning-after pill, is horrendous, and everyone should protest to the Obama administration for caving on this, unless you want a lot more unwanted children, abortions, and lives in upheaval.

[russell]

But the crucial part is that the Overton Window has been moved.

IMO that is, precisely, the value of the occupy encampments.