Thomas MacMillan Photo
Ray Neal speaks at General Assembly.
After one of New Haven’s “occupiers” allegedly became physically threatening, it nearly derailed the entire protest. Warned one participant in an hours-long confab that tested the downtown protest’s existential boundaries: “We are going to waste this if we don’t get our asses in gear.”
That warning, from protester Jessica Ferguson, a 30-year-old graphic designer, came at a Wednesday evening “General Assembly” meeting of the members of Occupy New Haven, the encampment that has been settled on the upper Green for nearly a month.
The encampment is not the movement, however, Ferguson argued.
Over two hours of soul-searching ensued, about what exactly the “encampment” and the “movement” are all about. And how they should interact.
Ferguson.
As the campers settle into life on the Green, they are confronting a number of difficulties — how to store food, what do to do with an aggressive occupier — that do not need to be discussed by everyone who considers himself part of the “Occupation,” Ferguson said. Getting bogged down in campers issues will not help the movement move forward, she said.
Occupy New Haven is part of a now-global protest movement that began in New York City as Occupy Wall Street. Protesters are setting up camp in public spaces around the country and abroad to express their discontent with corporate greed and financial inequality. See previous Independent coverage here.
In New Haven and elsewhere, occupiers face the challenges of creating a semi-permanent community of people with differing personal and political agendas. For instance: How do you deal with disputes? How do you enforce the norms of the community if people aren’t abiding by them? And, above all, what are we doing all this for anyway?
Gage with facilitator Martina Crouch.
Rev. John Gage of the Church on the Green called the question on Wednesday night by proposing that half an hour be set aside for a big-picture discussion of the Occupy New Haven movement. (His church has welcomed the protesters inside to hold their meetings there.)
Gage said he was motivated in part by a troubling General Assembly meeting on Sunday, which was taken up almost entirely with the contentious question of what to do about an occupier who goes by the name of Jennifer Lopez.
Occupiers said Lopez had become physically threatening and people were worried that she would hurt someone. Before Wednesday’s meeting Lopez said she was a victim of false rumors. A confrontation she had with a member of the camp’s security committee had been misconstrued and blown out of proportion, she said.
Lopez said that the camp’s internal mediation process was skewed in favor of her accusers. She had demanded that the complaints be handled by the General Assembly, the now tri-weekly meeting of all members of Occupy New Haven. (In addition to General Assemblies on Wednesday and Sunday, occupiers are now meeting en masse on Fridays.)
At Sunday’s General Assembly, a proposal to kick Lopez out of the camp failed by a narrow margin, prompting many to walk away in disgust, said occupier Ben Aubin.
On Wednesday, the General Assembly was held in the basement of the Church on the Green. Rev. Gage stood by the front door to turn away Lopez if she should try to attend. She didn’t show.
“Just because we’re an open community doesn’t mean we’re a boundary-less community,” Gage said. He said Lopez exhibited “destructive behavior bordering on dangerous.”
Downstairs, occupiers helped themselves to a dinner of lasagna and vegetables donated by Gage’s congregation.
Occupiers wiggle their fingers in assent.
After the meeting formally opened, Gage made his proposal: 30 minutes to talk about why the occupation exists and what people want to do.
After half an hour of talking about whether to talk about it, the occupiers — about 75 of them — began talking about it.
“It’s become clear that we have very serious issues for living on the Green,” Gage said. “Are we a movement” that’s camping on the Green? “Or are we an encampment on the Green that occasionally has a movement when we get our shit together?”
He said the occupiers are beginning to lose the trust of the police and personal disputes are distracting the community. “I want us to have a conversation about where we’re going.”
The conversation that followed, to the frustration of some, was less about where Occupy New Haven is going and more about what’s been going wrong — including the fact that the movement remains undefined.
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Ray Neal speaks at General Assembly.
“I sit at the info table and people come up and say ‘What are you doing?’ I say, ‘I don’t know,’” said participant Ray Neal.
Another man wondered what the occupation should do about homeless people in their midst. “Are we going to bring these people with us? … Are they part of this dream?”
“We can’t seem to get out of our own way right now,” said Ferguson. She said she doesn’t live on the Green but considers herself part of the occupation. “We need to allow the occupiers to deal with their own stuff. … The GA [General Assembly] needs to be about moving forward.”
“The occupation is integral to the movement,” Ferguson said later. “But they have different needs than we do.”
For instance, at a recent meeting, a half hour was consumed with discussion of a new food locker system, Ferguson said. “That’s not what we’re here to talk about.”
The occupation can’t afford to get caught up in “bickering” and “details” said a man called Andrew. “This is why people have failed in the past,” he said. “This is why the one percent is sitting back” and waiting for Occupy to fail.
Peccerillo.
Drew Peccerillo offered an emotional plea to “Cut the shit.” He said the camp is succumbing to paranoia about cops, crackheads, and fire.
“If you want to act like a kid, call your mom and go the hell home!” he said. “I love this movement, so start acting like you do too.”
After half an hour, 18-year-old Cheshire resident Jacob Turmelle spoke up. “I haven’t heard one person say what they want the movement to do,” he said.
“Close Bank of America!” one person shouted.
“End corporate greed!” shouted another.
More suggestions followed: End the wars. Occupy foreclosed homes. Boycott big chain stores. Reach out to labor unions.
“We need a mission statement,” said a woman named Sarah.
After two hours, as the meeting broke up, Aubin said he thought it had been a success. People agree that encampment issues need to be dealt with by the campers, so that the GA can focus on the movement. It’s the difference, Aubin said, between “where we’re staying and where we’re going.”
Previous coverage of Occupy New Haven and Occupy Wall Street:
• “I Knew It — He’s A Scumbag”
• “Occu-Pies” Arrive
• Occupation Weather(ize)s Its 1st Storm
• Clergy Bless The Occupiers
• Occupiers Eye Clock Factory
• In New Haven, “Occupiers” Embrace The Cops
• Midnight Drug Warning Sparks Soul-Searching
• Emergency Session Poses Democracy Test
• The Password (The Password) … Is (Is) …
• 1,000 Launch New Haven’s “Occupation”
• Klein: Occupation Needs To Confront Power
• Whoops! Movement Loses $100K
• New Haven’s “Occupation” Takes Shape
• Occupy Branford: Wall Street Edition
• Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$
• Labor, Occupiers March To Same Beat
• Protests’ Demand: A “World We Want To See”
• Protesters To Occupy Green Starting Oct. 15
• Wall Street Occupiers Page Verizon
• New Haven Exports “Free”-dom To Occupiers