~Standing Side by Side for the Occupation~
They were chanting ”Police and Brokers standing side by side for the occupation.” I took this photo at Occupy Wall Street on October 24th, and it has gone viral. The dialogue in the multitude of comments on my facebook posting of this photo , besides focussing on the question of whether the pic is real or not, also opens up a much bigger question: does the 99% really want the 1% to join? And are the police part of the 99%? From the perspective of Occupy Love, we are clearly 100% love, 100% whole. Notions of separation are simply constructs. We need to welcome the 1% - for their liberation is our liberation. We need to welcome the police - yes even the ‘white shirts’ - for we are all in this together. Right now,at Occupy Oakland, the police have been clamping down with brutality. Like the police that brutalized the protestors in the Civil Rights movement, our greatest power is to meet them with Love. Fierce Love. Martin Luther King’s teachings to the Civil Rights Movement were very very clear - stay non-violent, fill the jail cells if need be, but always, always love. In South Africa, Mandela famously said that until all blacks are free, whites will never be free.
Eartha Harris commented on the pic, “To those who are mocking this, please read my status from today: I’m sitting inside a cafe across the street from the Bank of America outside Occupy Boston. Its filled with suits who work in the financial district, speaking of how much they love and support the movement. I’m hearing these folks describe an existance that sounds like a soft, grey cage…working 12-16 hour days, crunching numbers under florescent lights, moving only their fingers. Regardless of how much $ one`s making,no one deserves to spend their lives like this, just as no one deserves to be without home, food, or healthcare. Just a nice reminder of how diverse this “99%” is. One reason people have no jobs is because companies have downsized and more than tripled the workloads of those few remaining. They have just as much a right, and reason, to call for change as those without work and money.”
Let us not fall into the trap of “Us and Them” ~ keeping us divided is a powerful way of keeping us oppressed. Our freedom, our happiness, our lives are inextricably bound together. So let us invite everyone to join us in this incredible time of awakening. We are all the 1%. We are all the 99%. We are 100% human, and it’s time to Occupy Love.
Please join Occupy Love on Facebook.
About
Dedicated to chronicling the heart in Occupy Wall Street and beyond. Direct images and words from the people’s movement brought to you by acclaimed filmmaker Velcrow Ripper, who’s been covering the story here in NYC since the first day. Big ups to Ian MacKenzie for putting the site together. Please share widely. The feature documentary, “Occupy Love” will be in theaters 2012. Love is the movement!
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“Velcrow Ripper is the John Lennon of documentary filmmakers.” - Michael Markwick, SFU Communications
Velcrow Ripper is a lot like his movies — friendly, hopeful, full of electrifying ideas. He is an award-winning filmmaker with dozens of films and videos under his belt, including Scared Sacred, named one of Canada’s Top 10 movies of 2004, and winner of the 2005 Genie (Canadian Academy Award) for best feature documentary. Ripper’s newest movie, Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, has been wowing audiences around the world with its investigation of how we are connected to each other and to this planet. This award winning film’s message of hope and change is delivered via magnificent visuals. -Liz Braun, Toronto Sun
