TRIUMPHANT VICTORY! (ok, it was more like a plea deal)

But it was, in the end, what we had been asking for from the beginning. Yesterday in court, it was more like we skidded into the sweet spot of possible out comes. Thanks to the fancy footwork of our lawyers, the judge saw it our way about the added charges, and about the seriousness of the offense itself (he did deny our motion that the arrest was unconstitutional, but he said that this was an "unusual case", meaning it was occupy related and not simply about blocking the street) and he gave us his own deal to get this to go away. We entered a straight plea, essentially bypassing the prosecutor for refusing to deal, and all got charged the same thing. A petty misdemeanor with a fine. (Which is what we, as a group, decided was acceptable 9 months ago when we had our first appearance).

Woo-hoo! To be clear, this isn't a "not guilty" verdict. We didn't go to trial and we didn't win. The deal is just a reasonable thing to agree to. The reason the prosecutor had two of us singled out for harsher charges was because we had past arrests for political reasons and he wanted to make an example. For that same reason (our past experience) we were unwilling to take such a bad deal. The prosecutor was being heavy handed and we knew better. This kind of thing (engaging in civil disobedience as an act of free speech) USED to be a fifty dollar fine and a sharp reprimand about not doing it again for a year. Maybe you served some community service time (of your own choosing) something I would not have been at all opposed to because it enriches our community. It is a punishment that is much better suited for the crime.
The fact that the city is being so hard on non-violent protesters is cause for grave concern. In context with the broader political repression that we are seeing from the FBI raids on activists homes, to the conduct of police in Anaheim, it becomes more and more important that we speak out (and stick together).

Me in the street in front of US Bank plaza

The first time I was arrested it was at a political protest with the Anti-War Committee. We were upset about the latest war spending approval or another, so we blocked traffic in front of then-senator Coleman's office on University ave. We were there to demonstrate what check points and road blocks were like in occupied Iraq, where people were dealing with the consequences of war in a way U.S. citizens never had to see. The police chief, when asked by the press, said that while people have the right to Free Speech in this country, sitting down in an intersection was akin to yelling FIRE in a crowded theater- there are some things you just can't do.

My response to that was, and has always been,  that it isn't illegal to shout FIRE in a crowded theater if there IS one. If there is a fire, it is our duty as concerned citizens to say something. In fact, to get up and DO something about it. If there is a crisis, it is up to us to respond! In this case, the crisis is home foreclosures. The banks are forcing people out into the streets while the houses sit vacant. Over 25,000 homes in the last year in this state alone. And that's just one bank!. That is a crisis, if you ask me. And its up to us and our neighbors to stand up and say something!

And the cost of my speaking freely about it, that day, was a fine or some STS (picking up trash on the side of the road for the county). But others are facing much more serious charges. The more heavily they charge folks, the more difficult it is to fight. And the city has made it clear that they are going for real convictions. And what started out being about the foreclosure crisis is now raising all kinds of questions about police misconduct, the clogged and dysfunctional "justice" system, and how Free our Speech can really be if non-violent protesters are going to be dealt with like this by the state.

For now, I am glad to be done with this battle, but we have by no means won the war. Now we need to rally support for the next group of occupiers up for court, the Cruz home defenders. I still believe the next step is to take this thing all the way to trial. People need to start standing up to the banks and to this faulty criminal "justice" system. We have to put our foot down and say "No More". We need to be ready to fight them in the streets, and in the courts, and in our own homes. The prosecutor said at one point that if we were allowed to "get off so easily"  it would embolden other protesters to do the same and I think he's exactly right. We need to empower people to stand up for themselves and know their rights and use them.Then we can win.

Peace and Solidarity,
Misty

Occupy activists go to trial Stop Foreclosures Now!

This is the statement that I wrote up for the 7 of us protesters that were arrested last Oct. for Occupy Mpls. We will have to see what happens tomorrow, but if we have to go to Court just to make a point about this, it is one more soap box to yell from. So here goes:

Call for support of Occupy Mpls activists as US Bank activists go to trial.

The first group of occupy protesters to be arrested locally will be going to court this week, starting Monday July 30th^th at 9am at the Hennepin County Government Center (also known as the building attached to the people’s plaza). 7 activists were arrested at a demonstration outside of the US Bank branch in downtown Minneapolis last fall, where they were protesting foreclosures and homelessness. US Bank foreclosed on 25,000 homes in Minnesota alone in 2010, forcing families into the streets. On October 20^th 2011, 100+ protesters occupied the intersection of 2^nd Ave and 6^th St in front of the bank where several of them pitched tents and occupied them, demanding that housing is a human right. They are now facing criminal charges of obstruction of traffic.

Anti War Committee member Misty Rowan, who is one of the defendants, had this to say about the coming trial “It’s unfortunate that we live in a society that treats protesters like criminals for speaking out and calling attention to such practices, when the real criminals are the big banks that are forcing people out of their homes after being bailed out with our tax dollars. Its time to stand up and fight back. They can arrest us but they can't stop us. Because you cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”

Supporters are asked to fill the courtroom on Monday July 30th^th to show solidarity, and to call and demand that they drop the charges against the US Bank activists! (phone numbers below)

Housing is a human right!

My day in court

Well, this is just taking forever. After several continuances, and some mean-spirited new charges we might actually be on our way to court next week for an action taken last fall. I wish I had my thoughts collected enough to post my full argument here, but I probably should save all that passion for the stand. I hope to post my thoughts (of triumphant victory) after the case is settled, but until then here is the statement put together from our friends in the People's bailout coalition (regarding the new charges and a call to action for our supporters).

Wish me luck, folks. 

Say NO to political prosecution of anti-foreclosure protesters!

We need to stand up for the right to protest!

CALL…Mayor R.T. Rybak at 612-673-2100,
Assistant City Attorney Mary Ellen Heng at 612-673-2270
City Attorney Susan Segal at 612-673-3272

• Ask them why Occupy protesters are facing unusually harsh charges.
• Demand that they drop ALL CHARGES on anti-foreclosure protesters

including the 4 people in the U.S. Bank action who are going to court on July 30th and those arrested at the Cruz home.
On October 20, 2011, hundreds of people participated in a demonstration in front of U.S. Bank in downtown Minneapolis to draw attention to the fact that over 25,000 Minnesotans lost their homes to foreclosure in 2010 alone. 7 people were arrested in the intersection in front of the bank and charged with “interfering with pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”
Four of them are scheduled to go to trial on July 30th, but on July 20th they had 3 more charges added (unlawful assembly, public nuisance and not complying with a “peace officer”)!
Nationally, the Occupy movement is facing increasing police brutality, police infiltration, and trumped up charges. Locally the Minneapolis city attorney’s office has decided to try to shut down the growing movement of people standing in solidarity with families struggling to save their homes from foreclosure by giving protesters outrageous charges. For example, the city prosecutors have escalated charges on the 14 protesters who defended the Cruz family home on May 30th. Prosecutors at the City Attorney’s office originally charged supporters with trespassing, but have now moved to significantly more serious charges including 3rd degree riot – a gross misdemeanor which carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.
The city of Minneapolis is trying to scare people from standing in solidarity with people being thrown out of their own homes. Solidarity is not a crime! Don’t jail the movement, jail the bankers! We, the People’s Bailout Coalition, know from our work defending the homes of Rosemary Williams and Leslie Parks that it is essential to our movement for people to be able to protest home foreclosures. The foreclosure crisis is a central issue in the U.S. economic crisis – we cannot be scared away from this important issue and from the tactic of civil disobedience!

No New Wars! Hands off Syria, Hands off Iran!

(my speech at the MPAC demo at Fed building June 25th 2012)

Threats of U.S. intervention in Syria must stop. While they claim to have humanitarian reasons, we in the peace community know “military aid” is an oxymoron. In military-speak “humanitarian aid” is just another term for war, just as “collateral damage” is just another term for dead civilians, “surgical strikes” “sanctions” “timelines for withdrawal” – all of it is propaganda.

If you listen to the mainstream media, the situation is Syria is that we, the benevolent United States, must swoop in and save the poor people of Syria from their brutal government. It sounds nice, heroic even, but the real motives are far less chivalrous.

As we assembled...

Just take a look at recent history and you can see that our help isn’t going to bring a single Syrian closer to their freedom. Look at Libya, or Iraq for that matter! At the start of the war with Iraq they told us they had weapons of mass destruction (which was a lie). And then they also told us the people there were desperate for our help, for us to come to their “aid”. But over a decade later, the Iraqi people have suffered uncountable atrocities because we are there. And while the U.S. government would like us to believe that occupation is essentially over, the reality is they just don’t want us to talk about it anymore. Meanwhile, they’ve installed a puppet government that serves U.S. corporate interests in the next big resource grab of the war on terror. Never forget that this is a for-profit war, a model that our government has used again and again and always under the guise of supporting democracy.

Back during the Bush administration, we were fond of the slogan “the regime change starts at home”. It was popular when we had an unpopular president and it became unpopular when we got a popular one. Unfortunately for us, there seems to be no real difference in our government’s attitude towards foreign policy. And very unfortunate for the Syrian people, because we know what happens next.

So, I would just like to reiterate that if our government was so interested in fighting for democracy and supporting a people’s right to fair government, than perhaps they should start here at home. How about calling off the dogs that have been beating up protesters, forcibly evicting occupations across the country, aggressively spying on U.S. citizens, and targeting peace groups- like the anti-war committee- with political repression, labeling us as terrorists because we advocate for peace and justice. How about ending the corporate control of our government, instead of allowing corporations to buy elections to serve their un-human agenda. How about restoring the power of governance to the people, the way it was first envisioned.

Maybe then, the United States would be in a position to teach other people about democracy. Until then, the hypocrisy of these claims cannot go unchallenged by us, people smart enough to read between the lines. We want a non-military solution in Syria that allows the people to establish their own government and decide their own fate. It’s basically the same thing we are asking for here. And it’s what any sane person would want.

We, also, want an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The people have never supported this war. We never wanted to go there in the first place, or keep funding it to the obscenities that we have, or stay there indefinitely. Yet these politicians keep beating the war drums, now with Syria and next with Iran in their crosshairs. This war on terror is run amuck and it is up to us, the American people, to rein it back in.

And I don’t want to hear any promises from any politicians, either! It’s an election year. Their promises, now more then ever, don’t mean shit. I want to see action. And if they wont listen, then it is up to us to take our message into the streets- like we are doing here today.

So, thank you for coming and please continue to spread this message: Guns don’t help people. Bombs can do no aid. We’ve heard this all before. It is time to end the war on terror and no new wars on Syria or Iran. Listen to the voice of the people, all over the world. The people want peace.  

Soooo about that arrest last fall

This is the statement that I wrote up for the 7 of us protesters that were arrested last Oct. for Occupy Mpls. It is a little silly because I quote myself, but give me a break. I'm the only person I can contact at this hour. Okay? I'm not exactly looking forward to court, but hey, it's just another soap box, really. Might as well use it. Here goes:

Call for support of Occupy Mpls activists as US Bank 7 go to trial.

The first group of occupy protesters to be arrested locally will be going to court this week, starting Monday June 4^th at 9am at the Hennepin County Government Center (also known as the building attached to the people’s plaza).  The 7 activists were arrested at a demonstration outside of the US Bank branch in downtown Minneapolis last fall, where they were protesting foreclosures and homelessness. US Bank foreclosed on 25,000 homes in Minnesota alone in 2010, forcing families into the streets. On October 20^th 2011, 100+ protesters occupied the intersection of 2^nd Ave and 6^th St in front of the bank where several of them pitched tents and occupied them, demanding that housing is a human right. They are now facing criminal charges of obstruction of traffic.

Anti War Committee member Misty Rowan, who is one of the defendants, had this to say about the coming trial “It’s unfortunate that we live in a society that treats protesters like criminals for speaking out and calling attention to such practices, when the real criminals are the big banks that are forcing people out of their homes after being bailed out with our tax dollars. But it doesn’t matter. You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”

Supporters are asked to fill the courtroom on Monday June 4^th to show solidarity, and to call the prosecutor and demand that he drop the charges against the US Bank 7

Housing is a human right!

I am removing the prosecutors number because, as amusing as it is to bother him, calling him wont do much good. The pressure is coming from higher up (all the way up). If this is how Occupiers are going to be treated in this city, then we need to build a real campaign against unnecessarily heavy charges, and police misuse and misconduct, for those recently arrested at Occupy Homes actions, and for all of us moving forward. The rights to free speech and assembly are under attack in this country at every level, and taking this to trial is just one more way to put your foot down (my foot) and take a stand. It takes challenging the law to change it, and we need to push back against the police state that has taken hold. This battle isn't over. It has only just begun.

When I write a poem

OK, have we gotten that out of our system?

I wanted to share the recently rejected poem that I sent to Poetry magazine (mostly to see what a rejection letter from them looked like). I didn't expect them to print it, but now that they wont I can. It is a little something. That's all.

When I write a poem

When I write a poem I picture myself stringing

words together like they are yarn.

I am knitting hats and scarves and on

ambitious nights of self I make sweaters with patterns.

They're cute.

They're getting better.

But when I read one of your poems

I imagine that you've carved them out of clay,

sculpted them carefully with no crevasse or

point of interest unplanned,

no punctuation mark a mistake,

no syllable unaccounted for.

Your creation stands as it was meant to stand.

Is it possible that there's an art inside an art?

That your voice or style might be characterized

by another genre altogether?

Fired in an oven,

shrunken in the wash

and walla!

The finished product.

Signed and dated.

And once you've created enough of them

to call it a life's work they'll say that you made it

when I was just sitting at home having fun with patterns.

(dedicated to Sharon Olds, one of my favorite poets)

BLOG DRAMA

Ok, to explain the last post so that we can move on:
Recently, I noticed a large amount of traffic to my blog coming from a certain site and when I clicked on the link I found some nasty republican blogger was bashing me on his dumb blog. Apparently, the whole purpose of this blog is to go off on things he finds and doesn’t like on the website Democratic Underground, and he had seen a video of one of my poems and hated it so much that he decided to go off about it pretty viciously, including alternate, crappy lyrics and accusations that I must be all that is wrong with this country. This prick went so far as to pull my bio (corner, right) and take a few pot shots at me, personally- calling me a wing bat and a pothead, because I voted for Cynthia McKinney (and other such liberal flights of fancy).

 I was, of course, shocked and upset to discover this. My heart was beating in my ears like war drums as I read the comment thread (which is never a good idea, but especially here, considering this person’s obviously fowl readership). Besides the easy cracks about my having no talent, or being a spoiled brat with a trust fund (HA!) the cuts went so low as to complain that I had frizzy hair in the video and rectangular glasses (oh yeah, I did that just to piss you off). I left a few sharp replies of my own and posted that last entry on my blog for any persons reading his post and following the link. (Note: I am not going to mention his stupid blog’s, stupid name here. I wouldn’t want to do him any favors). I mean, really, fuck off.

 My friend suggested that the bright side of this was that at least my message was getting out there. That even people who vehemently dislike what I have to say are talking about it. And I guess she’s right. But it’s about as backhanded as a compliment can get. In reality, it’s a petty, hateful thing to do. How about if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. You don’t have to go out of your way to ridicule and slander me just so you and your asshole friends can reaffirm your own closed minded and warped worldviews. It’s got the seedy feel of having someone hack into your email address and send out weird spamy links in your name for Free Trails of Viagra!, and money orders from some prince in Africa and the like. You know there are some dangers to “putting your self out there” on the internet and sometimes-this is what you get.

 So, accepting that people will think and say what they like, and that some people will never agree with you, or even try to see things eye to eye, what I am left with is this: my own blog. My own opinion, for what it is worth, and for those who care to read it. So, I’ll just leave my response to it all here and be done with it. K?

1. For the record: yes, I do think your poetry sucks balls. I also think the rest of your prose sucks, so at least you are being consistent. I take solace in the fact that assholes like you rarely make it off the couch, which leaves the real world (which I operate in) a much nicer place to be.

2. To the asshole in the comments who goes by Anonymous –who fucking cares what you think? You say you are a professional writer but you wont own up to your own words in a comment thread? What a loser you must be! Why should anyone care what you have to say? At least I stand for something, and I back up what I say. I mean every word I use (even the ones you can’t understand cause I’m going too fast). And what I think is we don’t need anymore asshole commentators on the sidelines, thank you. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that if you don’t have anything nice to say, maybe you should just shut the fuck up?

3. Oh yeah, and to everyone that doesn’t like it when I swear: why don’t you eat a dick. I know that makes you uncomfortable (that’s why I said it). I am sick of people saying whatever nasty, hurtful things they want and then balking at my response because I use “adult language”. I am an adult. And I don’t see any difference. If you can’t handle a little four letter word, don’t throw stones motherfucker!


In truth, I was going for a strong reaction. If someone were to disagree with me in the first place, that reaction would be a fairly negative one. And for so much nastiness to be hurled my way from one nobody’s blog is, I guess, to say I got what I wanted. It is easy to remind myself that lots of people with worldviews closer to my own also saw this video, and also had a reaction. Hopefully, a positive one. Hopefully, it balances out. I would like to think we are tipping the scale. That is the real work of spreading ideas. It’s not simply convincing others to agree with you, it’s about encouraging an open mind, so people can decide for themselves.


But, seriously. Nobody likes a hater.

.