Berkeley protesters defy authorities, pitch tents: Robert Reich hails thousands of protesters

[Better Believe It]

Berkeley protesters defy authorities, pitch tents
msnbc.com news services
November 16, 2011

Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley, pitched tents Tuesday night in defiance of campus officials a week after police removed a nascent anti-Wall Street encampment.

The late-night escalation by students and other protesters followed a day of peaceful demonstrations against economic inequality and set the stage for a possible showdown with police.

Police estimated the size of the crowd reached as many as 3,700 people at its peak a few hours after dark.

The protesters cheered wildly when former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich implored them to take a moral stand against the very rich owning so much of America's wealth.

Read the full article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45319327/ns/us_news-life/


-------------------------------------------

'The days of apathy are over': Robert Reich speaks to Occupy Berkeley protesters
Reuters reports from BERKELEY, Calif.
November 16, 2011

Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley, pitched tents Tuesday night in defiance of campus officials a week after police removed a nascent anti-Wall Street encampment.

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich hailed the Berkeley protesters in a late-night speech from the steps of Sproul Hall, invoking the leaders of the 1964-1965 "Free Speech Movement" at Berkeley.

"The Occupy movement is beginning to respond to the crisis in democracy," he said. "You are already succeeding. ... The days of apathy are over, folks. Once this has begun, this cannot be stopped and will not be stopped."

Shortly after 8 p.m. local time, activists huddling in a "general assembly" meeting voted overwhelmingly to re-establish an encampment in defiance of campus rules. Within about 90 minutes, at least 15 tents were erected and many other protesters pulled out sleeping bags.

Read the full article at:

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/16/8833116-the-days-of-apathy-are-over-robert-reich-speaks-to-occupy-berkeley-protesters



University of California, Berkeley students crowd into Sproul Plaza to listen to Professor Robert Reich speak on November 15

[Enrique]

1. I love that pic

look at their faces, they mean business. :patriot:

[EFerrari]

2. Vandals, druggies and shiftless hippies, all of them.

:loveya:

[dana_b]

7. yeah - far out, man! I keep my stash

in my pockets while smashing windows and robbing old folks. Dig it?? :evilgrin:

[Better Believe It]

10. They really don't look like a whole bunch of people getting ready to beat up and rob old folks!

:)

[dana_b]

14. but that's how some see us

no matter what pictures are shown. We're just a bunch of dirty hippies who want to party and destroy things.

[Better Believe It]

21. That's just a small minority of brainwashed right-wingnuts. They will never change. Screw them!

I have a few relatives that fit into that category.

You can't win everyone over so don't waste your time on hardcore right-wingers.

[dana_b]

22. I have a few acquaintances like that too

I only have to see them on account of my relatives. And you're right - just ignore them. They are not going to change their minds so it's better to live and let live.

[piratefish08]

3. THAT is the face of Democracy. THAT is the face of courage.

our leaders and representatives are cowards.

they left us to protect their corporate interests.

our generation should be ashamed and at the same time ---------

PROUD AS FUCK that our kids are here to rescue us from ourselves.

[Le Taz Hot]

27. Who is "us?"

If you're talking about Boomers, ALL of us didn't make this mess and we have a fine record to be proud of or did they start making minorities sit at the back of the bus again? The activists I knew in the 60's and 70's are STILL activists and most of them are attending Occupy events in their areas. The fact that you would dismiss and denigrate 40 years of activism is shameful. The young Occupy activists aren't trying to divide us, why are you?

[AntiFascist]

4. K&R!

maybe the "ME" generation is finally over.

[Starry Messenger]

5. k&r

[grasswire]

6. those people sitting on the roof scare the hell out of me

what a horrible tragedy would happen if the structure can't bear the load.

[Brother Buzz]

8. Another notable, Daniel Ellsberg, pitched a tent too

Daniel Ellsberg part of UC Berkeley Occupy protest

16 November 2011

BERKELEY, Calif.—Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers, is lending his support to anti-Wall Street protesters at the University of California, Berkeley.

The 80-year-old Ellsberg spent the night on campus with protesters who have set up camp there in defiance of a ban on camping. He told the San Francisco Chronicle he was energized by the students and called the Occupy demonstrations a "worthy movement."

He has been arrested 83 times in civil disobedience actions, and said he is prepared to be arrested again.

Ellsberg was a young defense analyst in 1971 when he leaked a top-secret study dubbed the Pentagon Papers packed with damaging revelations about U.S. conduct of the Vietnam War.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19348001

[mod mom]

9. love it and 80 yo no less!

[GliderGuider]

11. Echoes of 1964

In the fall of 1964, Mario Savio announced to a teeming crowd of 5,000 Berkeley students on Sproul Plaza: “There comes a time when the system becomes so odious that you can’t take part, you can’t even tacitly take part.”

[lunatica]

15. Some of those students are standing on the Mario Savio plaque

This plaque is on the steps to Sproul Hall

[Better Believe It]

16. Listen to Mario Savio's 1964 speech at:

http://174.132.193.190/~eiden/mp3clips/politicalspeeches/mariosaviosproulhallsitin1122.mp3

[snappyturtle]

12. Does my heart good! nt

[redqueen]

13. K&R

That pic is so inspiring.

[dana_b]

17. police now telling them to disperse:

BerkeleyPatch Berkeley Patch
The #OccupyCal encampment made it through the night. Police now issuing dispersement orders, but not enforcing. Follow @aaida_samad

[Better Believe It]

19. We need many thousands at the encampment in order to make such an order unenforceable.

The key is numbers.

[dana_b]

20. true

I hope Occupy Oakland goes there again today. We are supposed to have a GA at 6:00 but maybe we should go to Cal again today. Unfortunately so many of us can't actually camp there.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. Exactly. Stand up and be there! No one is going to do it for you!

[TriMera]

18. K&R. n/t

[dana_b]

23. UPDATE:

aaida_samad Aaida Samad
UCPD issues same warning: It is unlawful to set up tents and camping equip.remove or face possible arrest #occupycal

aaida_samad Aaida Samad
Buses are at Bancroft and Telegraph leaving for SF soon. March at 1 pm to protest #UC regents


She is in the plaza now.

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. FREE YOUR MIND

[Yo_Mama]

26. What's the purpose?

Occupy Berkeley? For what?

I'm getting more and more mystified about this. What are people trying to accomplish by pitching tents on this campus? This just seems weird to me. It seems like pretending to do something instead of doing something. It's not even symbolically meaningful, is it?

Maybe I'm just clueless and there is actually some purpose behind all this, but whatever happened to stuff like organizing for primaries to get candidates who support political goals? Are people deluding themselves that tents are going to replace a functional political process?

[Better Believe It]

28. These folks worked hard supporting the "functional political process". They feel betrayed by it.

They have not weakened in the slightest the control of Wall Street and corporate America over this process.

So who do you think has real power in the White House and Congress .... working people or the rich?

[Yo_Mama]

30. I think we ALL feel betrayed by the political process

I know I do.

And you are right - if anything, it seems like the last two elections did solidify corporate/financial control over our elected officials. None of that is an issue and I think at least 80% of the country would agree that it's a major problem. Probably more like 95%, but definitely 80%. So we have an electoral majority - if we care to organize and use it.

But what, precisely, is pitching tents on the Berkeley campus going to do to change how politics is working?

One thing I know that would change it would be to throw the bums out and elect representatives who are responsive to the country and not just large corporations. I am really starting to wonder if the people behind this sort of thing aren't preventing that from happening?

Is this an attempt to divert public anger AWAY from political incumbents, or an attempt to make public officials responsive to the public?

[Zorra]

29. Functional political process? Do you live on the Dineh Rez, or in Denmark, maybe??

They still have pretty functional political processes in those places.

Our political process is tragically and irrevocably broken here in the USA.

It is controlled by, and for, wealthy private interests.

We'd like to have a genuinely democratic functional political process, but the wealthy private interests that control our political process and our government won't let us.

So we are engaging in non-violent civil obedience as a first step toward establishing a genuinely democratic government.

This is pretty obvious to most politically aware liberals/progressives.

[AntiFascist]

31. In case you didn't notice....

recent law allows for unlimited political donations by corporations. They don't really need the people anymore.