Occupy Oakland Says "No" To the Violence and Vandalism of Fringe Black Bloc Group

"We resoundingly reject their goals, strategies and tactics. They have twisted Occupy Oakland to serve their narrow, academic interests, rather than serving the people."

By Kevin Zeese

Perhaps no other Occupy has seen the turn in fortunes that Occupy Oakland has seen. Initially it was one of the most successful occupies in the country, drawing tens of thousands to their events, shutting down the port, organizing a mass general strike and having broad appeal to a diverse group of Oaklanders.  Then a cadre of Black Bloc -- who, we are repeatedly told, are mostly white and come from out of town -- began to vandalize stores and seek conflict with the police.  Now, Occupy Oakland has shrunk and lost community support. This week it has taken the first steps toward re-starting.

The Occupy Oakland Media Collective published a public statement distancing itself from the violence, vandalism and police conflict of the Oakland Commune, which is the fringe group pushing these tactics. The statement points out that the division between the Commune and Occupy has existed but not been discussed in public.  The Media Collective seeks to "fully expose the division" and acknowledge the divorce between the two groups.

In a post on the Occupy Oakland website, "Brining Mass Participaton Back to Occupy Oakland," the view could not be more clearly expressed:

"We resoundingly reject their goals, strategies and tactics. They have twisted Occupy Oakland to serve their narrow, academic interests, rather than serving the people."

"Under the guise of diversity of tactics, they leave room for only one tactic, namely, random property destruction."

"We disagree, because these tactics have alienated the vast majority of citizens of Oakland. We disagree because we believe these tactcs will not allow us to build the better world that we want."

Occupy goes through specific areas of disagreement.  For example, it disagrees with the Commune calling for property destruction for the sake of property destruction. The commune says "we love property damage. This is a very non-political (in the classical sense of the word) love and really we just love to see things fucked up."

The Occupy Oakland statement also criticizes infiltration by the Oakland Commune without the participation or consent of its people with the effect of reducing Occupy to a fringe movement. It points out that the Commune rejects "Occupy Oakland's commitment to mass participation." Instead the Commune describes itself as a fringe group writing "We do not count. If we have any power, it is because we are the enemies of all majority, enemies of 'the people.'" This is the opposite of Occupy Oakland which seeks to be an inclusive mass movement.

Prominent members of Occupy Oakland are speaking out as well.  Oakland musician, activist and resident Boots Riley wrote last week "The use of the blac bloc tactics in all situations is not useful. As a matter of fact, in situations such as the one we have in Oakland, its repeated use has become counter-revolutionary." In his column he describes the wanton breaking of windows, including car windows of Oakland residents and the reaction of the Oakland community. He notes that “the job of the revolutionary is to make the revolution seem irresistible” and that the black bloc tactics are having the opposite effect.

Riley reports everyone he talks to criticizes the vandalism of Occupy Oakland, Riley wants to be effective, he wants to win "it’s about is a tactic that is detrimental in this situation. I would like to win, thank you. Not just lose with style. A style that the people around you don’t understand."

Riley points out a refrain we have heard over and over - the people doing this are not from Oakland and do not want to understand Oakland: "Most of the folks doing this don’t know anyone from Oakland, and - I believe - don’t plan on doing any sort of base building to find out where the pulse of the people actually are."

Khalid Shakur, an Oakland activist who is quoted in the Oakland Tribune echoes Riley's views saying "People are tired of the Santa Cruz kids and the Oregon kids coming here with their one-dimensional agenda of destruction."

The Oakland Tribune reported today that the vandalism and violence has had an impact on Occupy Oakland:"Occupy Oakland no longer has the support to draw thousands of people as it did during a general strike last year. Many of its supporters have dropped out entirely, while others have joined similar efforts to open libraries and preserve urban farmland." The article goes on to describe a series of protests where counterproductive Black Bloc vandalism occurred.

"We had thousands of supporters; we had so much love from the community, and now it's just mostly a small group," said Occupy's Shake Anderson to the Tribune. "Thousands of people who marched with us are turning their backs on us now based on this small group of people."

The Tribune points out that "Police made no arrests in connection with any of the incidents." While Occupy Oakland made no allegations that the Commune was a police infiltration effort they did note "we can only speculate on the specific origins of the Oakland Commune" and are "suspicious of what is going on inside this organization." But whether police infiltration or not, it is evident that if someone wanted to destroy a movement that was actually having an impact and had the potential to create real change they could not have done a better job than the Oakland Commune has done.

This is not a critique of all Black Bloc activists, and certainly not a critique of anarchists or anti-capitalists (many of whom are productive members of the Occupy Movement), rather it is a criticism of people who are acting in ways that are ineffective and counterproductive. As Riley says there is wide agreement on this "I’ve talked to many a person in Occupy Oakland and even in some anarchist collectives who agree with me on this, but the idea is that to criticize this publicly is to make the movement look divided. But, the public non-critique of this has the effect of making the movement look monolithic, hegemonic and uninviting." It is evident that this small group of people are outsiders who are undermining what was once an effective movement.

It is good to see people in Occupy Oakland creating a clear separation between itself and the tactics of violence and vandalism. The group recognizes the damage that has been done and says that one of its projects is "starting an apology campaign to heal the rift between the community and Occupy Oakland." Further, they intend to show their "support for the renewal of efforts to build a mass movement in Oakland by actively participating in the Oakland Empowerment Movement celebration." It sounds like Occupy Oakland is moving toward a re-birth to become an effective political movement that can once again challenge the power structure and make radical, positive change.

Photos, November 2, 2011 General Strike in Oakland, Saikofish's Photosream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lou/page1/.

Below is an article posted in the IndyBay by the Occupied Oakland Trbune rebutting the Occupy Oakland Meda Collecte.

KZ

The Occupy Oakland Media Collective claims to represent Occupy Oakland, speaking on behalf of the movement claiming that the tactics of the “Oakland Commune” turned people off. But these new “official” representatives played no serious role in organizing any of the mass actions. However, they have done much to take credit for them and even, it seems, profit off of them.