PRESS RELEASE: Occupy Cville–– In an effort to address concerns raised by the public and the media, several Occupy Cville protestors committed to giving a press conference at the end of their first week of occupying Lee Park in Downtown Charlottesville.
This is a transcript with selected highlights of the Occupy Charlottesville protest press conference of Saturday, October 22 at 3 pm. It features a half-dozen speakers, addressing various issues as to why we are in Lee Park indefinitely, responding to the allegations that our occupation was started without first involving the city, what is being accomplished and offered in our public space, and the nature of the movement. This is followed by selected questions and answers including the intended duration and legality of our occupation. Selected quotes are highlighted for your convenience.
A full video of the 34 minute press conference is available for the public at occupycville.org.
Chelsea Weber-Smith: Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless, resistant movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99% who are striving to recognize the greed and corruption of the top 1%. We are using the general assembly model to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. The Occupy Wall Street movement (and the Occupy Charlottesville movement) empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard and on every street corner because we don’t need the politicians and Wall street to build a better society. This is a world movement, and we are trying to be in solidarity with the world. Everyone here is speaking on their on behalf, and none of us is speaking as the voice of the whole movement.
Flora Lark Bailey (speech as written): I have been here since the first real meeting at the Pavilion on Wednesday. We are already a week and a half into this and we have already made so much progress. I would like to speak to the spirit of what I believe this movement is about which is, “What can we learn from you. What can we create together?” I invite anyone who is curious about what Occupy Cville is doing to please come and talk to the people who are here. Don’t rely only on the media or the people who have never been to the meetings. If you come talk with us you will have experiential knowledge as to what and why each individual is here for. As much as this is about Anger- about the state of how things are, all the economic (in)justice and disparities that fuel all the inequalities that exists in Charlottesville and by extension America. And as much as this is about Staying Put, and Standing Up, and Standing Out, it is also about Bringing People Together. I believe Anger stems from Pain and (said Anger, I meant to say Hurt). PEOPLE ARE HURTING RIGHT NOW. And one resource this occupation is providing the city of Charlottesville is the ability to heal, and be heard, and listened to. To give people the opportunity to express their concerns, to give people a reason to care. This is about the people of Charlottesville, about the community in which we all live in. If it wasn’t for the support of everyone donating food, time, energy, and money, this space, this, I believe sacred space, this safe space, would not be able to exist. And it is here, and that is hopeful. There is support for us. In my personal opinion, slow change is good change. It is more sustainable. No one has ever done this before. We need to keep this in mind. This is a learning process. This will take time. We have to be patient. But we are not the only ones who are doing this. There are others in cities all across America and this occupation by association connects our voices with theirs. And any issues we are having with this occupation are directly related to and a direction reflection of how Charlottesville as a society is fragmented as a whole. And we want to address these sources of fragmentation. Where we focus our energy and attention grows. How and why we spend our time and energy is a direction reflection on what we value as a society. Money is Energy. We have an issue with Money in this Country. I think we can all agree with that. Your time is Valuable. You have to value your time and your voice enough to know how much it is worth to this movement. One last point I would like to say is, people are feeling helpless in this time of unprecedented problems. We are the people. Do you remember that statement? We have historical significance in the country (meant to say city, but either works). We the people, need to feel heard and validated and that in and of itself is healing. We are healing people one conversation at a time.
Evan Knappenberger: We do not at Occupy Charlottesville endorse any specific political or religious system. That being said, I would like to speak today as a Christian. We have come up with two points in Occupy Charlottesville that we are about: economic and social justice. As a Christian I remember the words that Jesus Christ said: “He who will lead must be servant of all.” Therefore as we seek to build a society on Earth which reflects the wisdom of the God of justice, we are working in the prophetic tradition in solidarity with the homeless, the afflicted and the oppressed. We are healing the sick of heart, and the sick of the spirit, through community and solidarity: two things which the capitalist culture of consumerism has regularly destroyed. We are offering lots of programs here: tutoring, NA/AA/twelve step programs, yoga, meditation, philosophy classes, food, blankets, tents and books. We are offering them to everybody: the mentally ill, the homeless, the disabled, the substance abusers; anybody that is here. What we are really trying to do here is to create a new culture in this space. We have to acknowledge that this space is public, that what we are doing is freedom of expression but it is more than that. We have to thank the city of Charlottesville for allowing us to use this in accordance with the first amendment. We have to set something straight that was said in the [Daily Progress]. We have been cooperating with the city and law enforcement before the occupation process was started and before we even applied for the permit. So we have to set that straight. We are not a political protest and this is not a publicity game that we are playing. It is not a game with two sides with any other group. What this is, is a tipping point for the Earth and for this culture that we have of selfishness and self-righteous greed. I feel like this is the time we have made for ourselves to step up and change things. I would like to end with a little quote from the Book of Isaiah:
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
Ashley White: I am here because I feel oppressed. I have been oppressed all my life by the state of society and my heart is broken. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I’m sick and tired of watching people around me suffering, and I am sick and tired of suffering. I’m hungry, my friends and family are hungry. I will stay here as long as it takes in order to make the change that we need to see. We need to come together and stop fighting each other, focusing on our differences. We need to come together as one people, be one, and form that solidarity. Now is the time for change. Now is the time for revolution. Now is the time to make a difference instead of waiting for it to come to us, because there is something coming. I don’t know what that is, but I want to be prepared for it, and I want to see us get through.
Zac Fabian: What I think this is really about is we need to ask ourselves, “What kind of world do we want to live in?” “What kind of world do we want our kids to grow up in?” “What kind of world do we want to build together?” I feel like we’ve reached the point in our history where many people are feeling complacent, they aren’t ready to talk about or address most of the issues that are facing most of the people in this country. Those people who are being oppressed right now almost don’t have a voice anymore. A Democracy is dependent on everyone having a voice, everyone participating. It doesn’t make sense that there is one minority group that is in control directing everyone’s lives. I really want to ask you, how involved can you be? I get the question “What are you doing here just camping out?” and what we are really doing is just “something.” We have a feeling that something is wrong. Everyone here has different problems, being from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and that is what makes this Occupation great: this is not one small group of people. We are the people. This is everyone, we are all experiencing the same world. We really need to bond for this to get anywhere. I really feel that what happened in my experience was that I grew up without a community. I was educated, but what was the importance of all that? I lived in this spot and I don’t even know the people that I live around. What we are doing here is having that dialogue. Bringing all the groups together and discussing whats going on. It’s so easy to go through your life with blinders on and not even know what your neighbors are experiencing, even just on a local level. On a global level, people are at the whim of this very small group that are benefiting, which we call the 1%. In the 80’s we had a policy of deregulation, which I feel got us into this predicament. I feel like government is there to protect the people and somewhere along the way they stopped protecting us. If the government is not going to protect us, we need to do it ourselves.
Bailee Elizabeth: There have been a lot of questions about what we are doing here exactly and how we think we are gonna change things. I want to tell you why I’m here. This greed and this level of corruption which we have in our society has directly affected my life. My dad lost his job and shot himself at work. My mom became physically disabled from her factory job and when she filed for disability, lost all her benefits and had to sue to get any insurance. My brother worked for DuPont, became disabled, applied for disability and ten days later was laid off. This is my family. This is my life. I work two jobs, and I’m homeless. I’m 31 years old, and a GED recipient. I am nobody special, just like anybody else that has an opinion, and what I want for people to know about what we are doing here is that we are trying to stand up to help people in need, and we are saying that we are sick of what is happening in this country, sick of what is happening in the world. The problems that we are having in this space are direct reflections of the problems we are having in society. We have mentally ill, drug addicts, alchoholics, doctors, lawyers, nurses, factory workers, homeless people, every type of person you can imagine has been participating in this. We need more people to participate in this. This has been a very democratic process and we need the public with us. We need people who care about these things here to have their voices heard, so that we can more fairly represent the 99%.
Jona Noelle Bailey: It’s so good to see everybody! I am so glad you are all here, it makes me feel so alive! I want to share a poem that I wrote while I was canvassing for Virginia Organizing two years ago. It was door to door. This poem was written about my experience with the potential for one-to-one action. We are asking that you come to this public space to have conversations. I am so excited about what we are doing here, and I am becoming a better citizen, learning about the way we live and the rights and voice that I have. I want to encourage people out there who aren’t sure what is going on or how to respond to just come and check it out. We will embrace you with open arms, and we want to know what bothers you.
come-in-unity (community)
for a brief time
we come into your lives
hoping to find
an open mind
and comfort in humankind
a clenched fist knocks on your door
eager to release it and reach for
a connection between two strangers, a cause and “come in!”
for this truly is where social justice begins
although we cannot step into your house
we will gladly talk with you about
the issues that bother you and what you want to see changed
for you deserve to be listened to
when you call out those issues that need to be named
how close the houses are in proximity
but how distant they feel from unity
too many voices have been silenced
by those who choose fear over kindness
whose sharp words bleed verbal violence
with all the discrimination and pain in this world
i can’t help but wonder what we all are here for
is it not to come in to people’s lives and find
the unifying Humanity that resides
in the grateful smiles and hands that we shake
in the long lasting connections that we make
for a brief time
we come into your lives
searching to find
like-minds
and although it may be hard to believe
you hold all the power that you need
to transform your situation and community
for when open doors meet open minds
possibilities fill the sky
and we can change all that is unjust and wrong
we can create a community of which everyone belongs
for in this small space
between a front door and welcome mat
our Humanity brushes up against each other
and we exchange just that
for what is a community (come-in-unity) based on but
different people willing to open up
to each other and each concern
for justice is something everyone deserves
and because there will always be
interns working for VOP
who unite under justice and equality
we cannot be discouraged, we cannot weep or cry
because we are standing up for people whose access is denied
therefore, we will continue to door knock
and adopt front porches as our own
for like front porch flowers
there will always be room for hope to grow
Selected Questions and Answers:
Q: One problem that has been stated is that you don’t have a clear set of demands. What do you hope to accomplish by being here?
A: Basically, each person that participates in this movement comes with their own beliefs, problems and values, their own experience to share and how that relates to the overall structure (legislation and regulation) of the society that we live in. We each have our own solutions to the problems that we face. We are here to do something. Before this movement we each felt that something was wrong but we didn’t all have the agency to do something about it. In order not to alienate anyone, we don’t make it official that “this is the problem and this is how we solve it.” That kind of language is part of the problem, because these issues are really complex, and you can’t fit them into one little catchy phrase. It’s going to take lots of dialogue and communication to get to a solution. In an immediate sense we are helping the community that is suffering, offering meals and a safe place, tutoring and AA programs. The first step is to air all the grievances; everything needs to be on the table before you can even consider some kind of solution. The way the mainstream media works is that they want you to think “problem-solution, problem-solution” and that is not the reality of this world.
Q: At one of the first group meetings you decided you were going to stand for economic and social justice. How do you define that?
A: Social justice and economic justice are tied together. Today is actually the international day of justice as far as the global picture of the Occupy Wall Street movement. What we are doing today as part of the actions of what we decided to do last night was to come together and have a discussion about what this actually means. What we are getting so far is that we have a sense of responsibility to our fellow human beings. It is this self-righteous, greedy hording of resources that we are against. Money is the medium of exchange, and not meant to be horded. What we are definitely against is the 80% of the resources being directly and indirectly controlled by only 1% of the population. That in a nutshell is social and economic justice.
Q: My observation of some of the differences between the Tea party and the Occupy Wall Street movement is that you are essentially sticking around. It is essentially present, which is a very different aspect of revolutionary action. It is not going home. That seems to be changing the conversation in America and the World. In the Washington Post last week it was stated that some 70% of the population support the Occupy movement. What are the plans for the global movement for how long to stick around? What about the Charlottesville group plans?
A: There’s been no consensus as far as the global movement goes, but the general idea is that we’re in this for the long haul. We are here for as long as it takes.
Q: How are you handling the permitting process deadlines and extensions?
A: Our understanding is that the permit itself doesn’t really fit with what we are trying to do here. There is no real permit that the city can give us that fits what we’re trying to do. That being said, we are following the spirit of the law, much more than the law itself is actually. We are trying to make this a safe place, clean sanitary and a safe place for everyone, which is the spirit of the law, the three-day length process, the curfew. At the present moment we are filing for three-day intervals of extension. We have requested that the city review their permitting process to allow for longer chunks of time.
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For more information, please search our website, or email Media@occupycville.org .