Good morning. I always like to say that I love mornings–because anything seems possible. There’s something about the way the light from the morning sun kisses every single corner in my bedroom that makes me so unbelievably happy.
Yesterday was quite a day. I spent the day as a student organizer for a big teach-in at Queens College to educate students about what was going on at Occupy Wall Street (an action as a part of the big November 17 day of action) part of the actions for the . One of the goals was also to convey that if they feel so inspired, they can do something. The day, which included an address from renowned social scientist and activist Frances Fox-Piven, presentations of student artwork and design, and interactive workshop was attended by several hundred QC students throughout the day.
Part of the student discussion at the November 17 Queens College Teach-in
queens college art students present a design for the "winterization of occupy wall street". Collapsable tent made from cheap and reusable materials such as water bottles, plastic, and cardboard.
tent in open position.
Forget if you support Occupy Wall Street, hate it, or couldn’t care less about it—yesterday was a fantastic and optimistic day for activism in a lot of the communities where I find myself organizing. We ended the day last night marching with CUNY at the big protest downtown, and it was there that I realized that OWS was not some vanguard movement that popped up out of nowhere. No. It was an aggregation of all the work I was already doing with worker’s rights, advocating for public education and public media, and homelessness awareness work. To me, it just seemed like all part of one and the same struggle. It was like people just left their grant applications to the so and so foundation on their desks that afternoon and joined the OWS protests in solidarity.
a photo from the demonstration downtown on november 17. Unfortunately, due to a ridiculous amount of tweeting,etc my phone died soon after this photo was taken.
I gave a speech last night at the protest, using the Human Microphone about how sick I was of hearing about “American exceptionalism” is my urban studies and media studies classes. About how the USA always seems to be on the bottom of the line with regards to championing the rights of the voiceless.
Yesterday, my wonderful friend Meher and I led a workshop on activism. It was meant to allow those who had not ever really thought about activism in a serious way to feel comfortable organizing for social change; it was a way for them to see that they too can start a movement. Using a workshop style that we called “Activist Involvement Theatre”, Meher and I engaged our peers and were inspired by their response.
We closed the workshop with one final exercise. “What is one word that you will take with you to this movement on campus and to the movement on wall street?” It was thrilling to hear and repeat their responses to the attendees. Passion, some said. Logic. Solidarity. Action.
On Monday, the campaign for justice for Flaum’s workers saw a huge victory. Tnuva, kosher cheese giant, will no longer be using Flaum’s as their distributor in the USA. Those involved in the campaign know that we are very close to getting the owner of Flaum’s to pay the money that is due to his workers. To my friends in the Jewish Orthodox community, change is possible. We can move things when we organize. We can move things when we have meaningful conversations and we build relationships across difference.
I’m finally starting to figure out my activist identity. I have learned that activism is not some scary thing that aggressive people do, and its not something reserved for intellectuals and academics. It is a crucial exercise in democracy, and for me—a significant part of my spiritual existence.
