Diana Pei Wu, Race, Poverty & the Environment. May 17, 2012.
The arena of struggle revealed by Occupy the Farm is not just organic farming, food justice, and food sovereignty--it's also about an increasingly privatized university.
One of the most important characteristics of the Occupy movement is the expanding universe of media makers --citizen journalists, livestreamers, artists and others.
Organizers and activists have planned direct actions and mass rallies, marches and blockades, as well as mutual aid and concerts to include as many people as possible.
Strikes, walk-outs, marches and rallies are part of Occupy Oakland's May Day plans, but the centerpiece, an attempted shutdown of the Golden Gate Bridge, may be off.
Occupy actions planned on May Day are tied to the generations-long movement for the eight-hour day, to immigrant workers, to police brutality and repression of the labor movement.
ACT UP developed a model of direct action that is in many ways a template for Occupy--so it's not surprising that they're joining OWS for a march on Wall Street.
The question is not if we should practice civil disobedience, but how we can do it in ways that push the struggle forward in effective and healthy ways.
