Thread by @NelStamp

Today marks 10 years since #OccupyWallSt. I’ll be on this thread talking about my experience, what went down and spilling some tea. And yes I will do it in chronological order. Starting w/ the summer of 2011. A thread …

So I met @msmaryclinton in the summer as she told me that there was going to be a revolution that fall that we were going to occupy and asked if I wanted to go to General Assemblies every Friday and I kindly responded no thanks.

On 9/17 which was a Saturday I woke up hungover, I missed the march but wanted to see what happened next. Could you tell I was skeptical? I really didn’t think anyone was going to sleep out. So I made my way down to where the action landed Zuccotti Park… #OccupyWallStreet

Hours passed I said hello to many of my friends then the General Assembly started. It began w/ the People’s mic. In NYC to have amplified sound you need a permit. So instead we repeated what the person in front (facilitator) said and something magical happened.

1. Facilitators asked folks to say why they were here and hearing all the stories I knew I wasn’t alone.

2. Then they told us this is our movement so join a working group and get to work!

We could actually take ownership of a movement w/out going through a gajillion hoops.

Ok this opening sequence is long but well worth the wait… I joined the outreach we mapped out every labor dispute in NYC. I slept on the floor with some WFP colleagues no blankets no nothing until an angel came in the middle of the night and dropped some on us.

This is the earliest photo of me on 9/19 just before the March to the opening bell. This was out first regular direct action: take the streets & make Bankers feel uncomfortable w/ our presence at the opening and closing bells. That’s where the police started to turn up on us.

Sometime during that first week I think @brookewatershed asked George Machado & myself to be a part of the facilitation group. I legit didn’t know what facilitation was, so I said what does it mean. As an organizer I was always taught to never be in front of a crowd….

Then on Wednesday September 21st the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis. And everyone in the park immediately began to mobilize and take action, tensión was high and cops came after us. But it was also the 1st time I really felt racial solidarity at occupy.

This is a photo from way early one of the nights working groups meeting. But we were really small until that first Saturday March that.

But before I get to that let me tell you about how the institutions were talking about us….

So remember I have been at @WorkingFamilies for 3 years. We shared an office building w/ @nychange.

My very first memory is hearing of @GregTBasta saying folks down at occupy were delusional or maybe we were ridiculous. Let’s just say ppl at 2 Nevins we’re laughing.

Im pretty sure @jwestin2 was like is this the revolution or is this child’s play. My WFP colleagues were basically laughing at us while I was silently printing thousands of flyers for occupy in the office w/ sleeping bag under my desk and all.

Come that Saturday, 1,000 plus people came out I think @SandyforCouncil was leading the direct action team & marched & didn’t stay on the sidewalks. the NYPD got real mad. So mad that this was the cover of the daily news the next day. It was our first mass arrest & mass beatings

See the thing about NYC organizations is they may laugh at you but if the NYPD fucks you up for talking some righteous stuff they will be calling the next day.

I led my first press conference and the next day I was called into @BillLipton office and I thought I was in trouble

So @BillLipton says to me “You at #OccupyWallStreet right” and I said yea. He said great we’re all going to throw down… and I had no idea what he was talking about but he told me to go see Jon Kest.

We will get back to Labor in a second. Down at the park we were growing really fast, special shout out to the urban planning and food committees Y’all never get the light because we undervalue that work in movements but without you all we wouldn’t be a community #OccupyWallStreet

Live streamers they told our story when the media wouldn’t. There are a lot of folks including 1 livestream grifter that have made careers off of the grift. But the only Tim I recognize is Tim Fitzgerald. And I still be rocking w/ @Uneditedcamera who still be doing Movement work.

So 3 things happened after we started growing.

1. Noise became and issue
2. Traditional orgs & labor wanted to be down
3. We recreated some bad shit in the world at the park.

Im going to try and tell these all simultaneously while still taking us through the days.

Let’s start w/ labor & community groups trying to be down: so I worked at @WorkingFamilies which had a bunch of labor organizations & community groups attached. Jon Kest former ED @nychange basically said we’re going to do a big March on 10/5 all of labor co-signing occupy.

Now this was huge on the first night someone said to me people in power won’t take you seriously unless you get labor and community groups on board. I was nervous about that but I was determined it would happen one way or another. Sad that it took us getting beat up to get there

The first labor union though to support #OccupyWallStreet without any qualms was @TWULocal100 so got to give that shout out because it’s due. TWU also made sure their buses were never used to haul us off again. Which gets to the 2nd Saturday March.

Saturday 10/1 we wanted to get out of Manhattan, so the DA crew decided we would march to Brooklyn the idea was a little patronizing “let’s bring the occupation to Brooklyn” when in reality if BK wanted an occupation you best believe it would have started one

DA (direct action) this is my actual photo from when we were getting onto the bridge. I was on the walkway and all of sudden with nypd tailing alongside Occupiers took the roadway. And absolutely for sure I hopped down to join.

Now here’s the thing in the moment it was thrilling , exciting and we had NO safety plans. Halfway through the bridge the NYPD blocked us off from both ways no way in no way out. It was a beautiful moment of defiance and not thought through safety of the variety of ppl with us.

For instance my friend Adam (May his memory forever be with us) who was trans immediately looked at me and said I have to get out I can’t be in jail they will misgender me it’s not safe. Luckily Adam did get out but it was wild. I’m pretty sure @petelnagy was held for 24hrs.

The NYPD commandeered public MTA buses to hold us. I was held on a bus for hours taken to various stations until I landed in midtown south w/ this crew. It was my 1st arrest but had a lovely crew of women to hold each other down #OccupyWallStreet

Immediately following TWU Local 100 put out a statement saying their members would no longer allow the NYPD to commandeer buses on behalf of repressing the movement and arresting us. Best believe it never happened again.

So it went down in history as one of the biggest mass arrests in NYC history. Back at the park we were swelling and something that came up was the drum circle. The Community Board tried to launch a complaint on us to get us removed from the park I represented occupy at the mtgs.

I just remember someone asking me to go down to rep Occupy … which we DID NOT do this was a leaderfull movement not leaderless so it was a hard thing to do. How do you represent something that has no representation? I struggled w/ this the entire time and till this day.

What I will say though I MEDIATION IN MOVEMENT IS IMPORTANT. I don’t know why we don’t have mediators anymore but damn they were another undervalued working group. They facilitated conversations when folks disagreed or disrespected each other. It was beautiful & helpful w/ noise

So the noise wasn’t 24hrs anymore but another tension was brewing, how do you grow so big, so fast without adjusting? And labor and community orgs wanted to come down in full force so @jwestin2 @camillerrivera @JeremyVOCAL @michelle_esi @s_chiedza & more planned October 5th

October 5th was huge my twitter is being weird so I took a photo of the tweet I mean to sent about it.

It was often my role to help facilitate or be in the front. Part of this was because I am a good speaker part of it was that the Story told about occupy was that we were a bunch of white privileged kids in a park. Having me in front was “strategic” to the movement.

It was awful on one hand I wanted to show that Black and brown Working class people were here and our orgs on the other hand I didn’t really like being used. Till this day I ask myself what would I have done differently. And till this day I don’t have an answer…

Shout out though to the woman of color of #OccupyWallStreet that I still get to call my friends @s_chiedza @SandyforCouncil @nacarty @michelle_esi Sam Corbin and many more who I don’t remember twitter handles.

During this time I also never left @yotammarom & @maxberger side. There were affinity groups (groups that you make decisions w/ on how to role), there were cadre orgs (groups that were orgs of ppl figuring out there way through it) and then there was our special tripod.

I didn’t do anything without checking in with Yotam and Max. It was lovely and most of the time annoying but we remained always on the same page those few months.

Back to the park. So largest protests occupy is spreading to hundreds of cities and towns across the country, And I don’t remember from where but there was a global call for 10/15 a global mobilization. That year remember was the year of the Arab Spring, the Indignados in Spain

So we began to mobilize for a big event and then one night (I actually Home this night) a person appeared no one paid him that much mind until they realized it was Mayor Michael Bloomberg putting up a notice. If the park wasn’t cleaned by 10/15 the city will remove occupy…

Context:

1. The NYPD sent People who were unhoused and in need of services to the park. Groups like Picture the Homeless and @VOCALNewYork helped with their expertise in organizing these communities… and we were mostly 20 yr olds with no experience.

2. We tried to get port-a-potty’s and things that would help us keep the space sanitized and as clean as possible but we’re often denied by the owners of the park.

3. Brookfield properties which owned Zuccotti had a senior exec who was the then partner of the Mayor of NY.

So we were told that within days 72 hours that we had to drastically clean or else. They also gave us a time like 4 AM on the 15th.

So everyone gets to work…

Goddesses bless the clean up working groups again always undervalued they put in work we made sure to have a mass call for supplies and help. Direct Action crews worked to figure out how we could hold down the camp. And @WorkingFamilies organized electeds to take a stand with us.

This was the evening of October 14th. In this photo is the future AG, the future Mayor, Public Advocate, Speaker all standing behind 23 year old me saying Bloomberg can not evict occupy and that they all were willing to put their bodies on the line for #OccupyWallStreet

You see no occupier was allowed to negotiate with elected officials, and I never did, however I had colleagues who weren’t sleeping at the park that took the knowledge of what was going on and made moves. By the time it was 2 AM their was circles around Zuccotti

One circle was elected officials ready to be arrested, the next was the flying squadron of @CWADistrict1 members in their red, then community orgs and occupiers in circles so that they would have to get through every layer of us to take the park.

Then @BillLipton said get up there we won. I had no idea what he meant but I rushed to the front to deliver this captured at the time by @MoveOn #OccupyWallStreet was able to stay.

We marched all over downtown that day and got ready for a big mobilization my Mom went to her first protest that day this is @msmaryclinton and I marching with the labor March on 10/15. Then we changed our venue for the General Assembly that night to Washington Sq Park.

Ok I’m going to take a little break from this thread and come back with Act II post Occupy going global, the last month of our occupation and what was left after. All day all week #OccupyWallStreet

Oh I forgot one clear thing the role of @Twitter. So the first night someone said tweet with #OccupyWallStreet and I said what’s a tweet…. Well 9/17 is also my twitterversary I joined twitter when you could text to tweet and it’s a big part of how we got the word out.

Ok I’m back actually for a bit because my story is not ending with the park it actually goes all the way to 2016. So hey ready for a ride…. After 10/15….

So we were everywhere undeniably so. @1199SEIU brought food and ponchos that fall was weird weather, hello climate change. @32BJ_SEIU let us use their downtown office for meetings and @AFTunion which was across the street held us down.

We were growing so big that we ended up recreating our own world with all of its problems. Organizations sometimes would use us as a “army for hire” not intentionally but the impact was there. And racial & gender issues started popping up in full force at the park.

The media was trying to pinpoint leaders. Ok so let me break this down we functioned as a leader full movement meaning you were a part of a group your group made decisions and moved accordingly. No one was there to tell you what to do if you believed in the cause it was your mvmt

It was also strategic, no one could speak on behalf of us they had to speak for themselves as a participant. There was definitely people who tried to use the brand but it was impossible for folks to co-opt or to single people out because there wasn’t a small crew of leaders.

So the Kanye’s of the world come but they didn’t get special treatment. Yes that’s him shaking my hand by way of @MichaelSkolnik introduction.

Jay tried to sell a 99% shirt for $50 and he quickly pulled that off the shelves

The infighting got worst. It is extremely hard to sustain an occupation when you feel like your sustaining it just to sustain it. I remember days where I wished they would kick us out not because I wanted it but I didn’t know what to do.

But the mission continued and then at the end of October #Occupy Oakland was violently kicked out where Iraq Veteran Scott Olsen was slammed in the head with tear gas. We knew we had to act, Oakland called for a general strike and we did whatever we could to answer the call.

While having internal tensions that ranged from Fucked up racial and gender tensions as well as class we started planning for November 17th which would mark two months since we took Zuccotti. #OccupyWallStreet

Our plan was to take this growing movement and actually shut down Wall St for a full day. What ended up happening was a bunch of mayors across the country were getting on phone call and planning a joint multi city eviction of a bunch of occupations.

On the evening of 11/14 despite having three days to plan I went home because 11/15 is my birthday and I was turning 24 years old. Right after midnight @yotammarom calls me and he says have you seen @questlove tweet? I was highly confused…

Sir @questlove tweeted something like “is this Batman or are the cops about to make moves on Occupy” see they were filming the final movie in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy on Wall St. I got in a cab immediately and went to Zuccotti that was shut down and closed off

I got pepper sprayed (happy birthday me!) and called @camillerrivera crying. Pretty sure I freaked her out. @SandyforCouncil came right to me with some solution or milk, one of my contacts popped out and we marched away.

We marched for hours I was furious they kicked out #OccupyWallStreet in the middle of the night with no warning and we couldn’t document what they were doing. A few hours later Im walking on the sidewalk a cop car rolls up points at me says “that’s her” and well photo tells ya

I walked into 1 PP and @maxberger led Happy Birthday song for me and it was beautiful but I was alone I wasn’t arrested with anyone, I was in an NYPD vehicle alone for an hour and it was pretty depressing.

“You Can not Evict an Idea whose time has come” was on our press release after the eviction. I was released on the evening of the 16th let out I went home showered and went out for my birthday drinks with Liz Pitt who is one of my colleagues and mentors at WFP.

Ok so THIS IS WHERE ISH GETS INTERESTING. ATL, NYC and MPLS, we All wanted to rise up and take on foreclosures in our communities. A group in NYC called Organizing for Occupation which @michaelpremo was a part of came together and said we want to launch Occupy Our Homes.

We decided 12/6 we would take over homes like NY ACORN did in the 80s massively move people in and continue occupy movement there. We threw a huge block party in East New York and moved in a family to a home.

We did this in partnership with @nychange and @VOCALNewYork and let’s just say it was beautiful and a full on hot mess in NYC. But Occupy our Homes ATL and Minneapolis were huge successes they saved many from foreclosure and brought a new Gen of activists as well.

We continued to turn up on banks we moved a bunch of furniture into banks as they did in Spain & other places and we attempted to get Moodys to downgrade Bank of America. Our crew was called F the Banks. #OccupyWallSt

We continued to organize we just planted seeds everywhere and organizations like @changethenypd @VOCALNewYork and more were leading the campaign to end stop and frisk

In Feb of 2012 Ramarley Graham was shot and killed in his home in the Bronx many occupiers supported orgs like @changethenypd who were leading the fight around policing. We did escalated actions that were led by frontline communities.

Two weeks later Trayvon Martin was killed. A friend of mine at MoveOn asked if I wanted to go down and train on civil disobedience (I guess I was a trainer now) and I went down to Florida for a 40 mile march on Easter weekend and joined @Dreamdefenders

While this is happening many orgs got together under leadership of @maxberger and did the #HereUsNow National Student Power Convergence in the summer of 2012 in Columbus Ohio. @OHIOStudents was the host and they have become a leader in the youth movement in the US.

There were a lot of gatherings both here locally and internationally @IshamLakatos and I even went to Tunisia!

In the summer of 2012 on Father’s Day we held a massive 50K March to End Stop and Frisk I was happy to serve as the lead organizer collaborating with @1199SEIU @NYCLU and @NAACP for #SilentMarchNYC

I am telling all these stories because the movement didn’t end when we got kicked out and I’m about to go into how we continued even past 2012. Y’all ready attn: @JessLivMo @iPhilSomething @Tiffanydloftin

Ok so after the student power convergence we were all still grinding, building our organizations and still making sure escalation was happening. The #Not1More movement and organizations like @UWDAction were taking the streets saying undocumented and unafraid.

The student debt crisis became a large issue and many of us had meetings across the country to address it now #CancelStudentDebt is a demand and today would be a great day for the admin to take action. We protested at Sallie Mae as well.

Although a lot of us were in movement we were siloed. In the summer of 2013 many of our collective movements leaders were taken off the program of the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington. We were hella pissed so we started to meet and the birth of #FreedomSide happened

Orgs @UWDAction @Dreamdefenders @OHIOStudents Get Equal, @18millionrising, & movement folks at big orgs like @JessLivMo Scott Robert’s and myself came together to form the #FreedomSide to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer little did we know what 2014 would hold

We sang and we acted this is now 3 years after #OccupyWallStreet. One day I suggested we target the national governors association in Nashville. We did a silent march through town & then folks laid a flag and got arrested… if you’re rolling w/ me this might be how the day ends.

But because of Occupy was a training ground for getting arrested we legit knew what to do. @JessLivMo got a fundraiser going and got it on the inter web, I ran to get money out and we had the @NLGnews supporting us locally.

Then August 9th happened and when I tell you former occupiers got into formation and #FreedomSide got in national formation. The original mass calls on maestro (before zoom zoom) were actually Occupy Our Homes/Homes Defender League accounts. We did the back end.

My comrade and now boss @MauriceWFP will tell you he was like y’all got a conference line… and we did movement got right to it and shared resources rather than hoarding it. #FreedomSide could have been cagey but we weren’t it was just movement flow.

I say these lessons because they are critical and important. I also forgot a few things.

1. @OccupySandy (I was in Florida at the time) but the year after occupy, occupy veterans became first responders to communities across NYC after Hurricane Sandy.

2. This motley crew formed @TheWildfireTeam we facilitated emergent movement organizations. Not teaching them a one size fits all Strategy. Instead allowing them to work through movement dynamics. We learned from occupy that we need healthy solutions for internal dynamics

I’m getting all over the place where we’re we let’s fast forward to 2016. Now mind you by the start of 2016 occupiers went on to build movement training orgs like Momentum and Wildfire, continued to be involved in movement despite the odds and then Bernard Sanders runs for Pres.

I don’t give a rats ass what you feel about electoral politics or Bernie but Occupy walked so he could literally RUN for the highest office in the country. Period full stop yup I’m claiming that ish.

Actually I’ve never fully took that in until this moment and now I am crying. Personally I don’t think I’ve stopped moving since September 2011 (that means so many things) but it’s nice to know you did something that led to some pretty big shit… and to continue to after 11/8/16

Ok so Trump wins and everyone gets angry. People take the streets they begin movements like Women’s March, Indivisbile and more. But one thing I will say that I haven’t felt in the streets in a long time is class being a very specific point in our fights post ‘16

The critique on occupy was definitely that of gender and race and the critique I’ve had with movements especially post 2016 has been one of class war erasure. Even though we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, eviction crisis and climate crisis!

At this stage in the movement 10 years later people in movement look at me when I say I’m a high school drop out “omg really I never thought” … I learned code switching at what was mostly a white org for a while so there.

Anyway what I manifest is a day when our movements come together and we have a uprising level that is centered on gender, class and race unapologetically so that doesn’t have to LAUNDRY list all the issues, that ppl can hear something and attach that to it.

It’s what I hope for the most daily a movement that addresses all the needs that has a uniting narrative that isn’t a 18 page manifesto but is simple, clear has a level of democracy and not 2-6 leaders at the top it’s hella messy but I do hope for it.

So here in ends my thread about #OccupyWallStreet legacy, lessons learned. I have so many more photos and will share via Instagram stories. But my hands are tired of typing. Thanks y’all for tuning in and If your looking for a political home text WFP to 30403

@sarahljaffe

Shout out to @VetsAboutFace for holding it down there

@threadreaderapp unroll