Open Letter to Occupy Oakland From Bard Occupies Wall Street
Armaan Alkazi
Statement in Solidarity With the People of Oakland and Their Historic General Strike
To the People of Oakland:
While we are very far away geographically and most of us have not met, today we at Bard Occupies Wall Street stand in solidarity with you.
To some, the issue of police brutality in Oakland might not seem like it should be of concern to us, that it is a local issue concerning a community on the other side of the continent. However, today we recall the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
When peaceful protestors in a supposedly free society are violently dispersed by police using tear gas, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades, the freedom of assembly of all people is under attack. Such a clear display of excessive and unjustifiable state violence is intended to intimidate all those who dare to struggle for a better world.
The exciting rise of the Occupy Movement over the last months has clearly demonstrated Dr. King’s principle. Our common humanity binds us together. We all inhabit a world where systems of exploitation and greed has enabled a handful of people to capture the wealth of society at large for themselves, bringing about their own enrichment at the impoverishment of many. In these systems, basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter, and healthcare have been transformed into commodities that have become unaffordable to many, forcing millions to either go without them, or driving them into debt. The same is true of education, which is a basic human right. The ecosystem that supports us has been turned into a mere vehicle for private profit, leading to the pillaging of natural wealth and threatening our very survival as a species.
At the same time, this insatiable pursuit of accumulated wealth without regard for the wellbeing of society has led to an economic crisis. And those who are guilty of creating the financial crisis have not been asked to pay for it, shifting the burden to those who have already suffered so much. Public funding for social programs and education are being cut in order to pay for a crisis caused by a powerful minority. And while we are being told there is no money for such programs at home, billions of dollars continue to be spent on immoral and aggressive wars.
We know that history has proven the general strike to be the most powerful tool of non-violent resistance. In the past, a general strike held in Seattle in 1919 led to the rise of an alternative labor-based governing structure that held de facto control over the city for three days. In May of 1968, a general strike of students and workers in France caused the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle. And it was the general strike that helped to drive out despots in Tunisia and Egypt during the Arab Spring.
The repression of Occupy Oakland is intolerable because Occupy Oakland must succeed, because the Occupy Movement must succeed. The stakes are too high for it not to.
Today, we are all Oakland, because we are all one people, united in the struggle for a more just and livable world. All of our futures depend on the success of our movement.
We wish you success.
In solidarity,
Bard Occupies Wall Street