Robin Jacks on #Occupy & encuentro 5 after the Dewey Square Repression
In the wee hours of December 10th, I watched as the Boston Police Department ripped what was left of the Occupy Boston encampment in Dewey Square to shreds. I live tweeted my new friends being shuttled into police wagons as the sun came up, wondering what exactly my next move would be. All of the tenuous stability I had known at Dewey-- the media tent where I’d written press releases and blog posts, the direct action tent where I’d planned marches with other Occupiers, the food tent where I nourished myself and managed to keep myself going-- was gone in an instant. As the BPD removed me from the media area and onto the sidewalk in front of South Station, I stood with the last two occupiers left and tried to strategize with them, despite the fact that none of us had slept in days. The next step that we came up with was a given: head to encuentro 5.
When we arrived at e5, I found the rest of the Occupy Boston media team sitting in a circle on the floor, responding to media inquiries and forming a media strategy. Others were meeting nearby, working on a silent protest strategy for the later part of the morning. Still more were taking space simply to talk about what they’d just endured. Every occupier who wasn’t at home asleep, it seems, was at e5 making our next move.
Even before we were in Dewey Square, encuentro 5 gave us a space to hold GAs and working group meetings during inclement weather. They helped us with resources when we had none. They introduced us to other groups working for positive change in the Boston area. They allowed our media team and our radio working group to rent space in order to continue functioning post-Dewey. Perhaps most importantly, encuentro 5 gave us validation in Boston. They were one of the first organizations to be vocal about their support for Occupy Boston, the Occupy Wall Street movement as a whole, and this “The 99 Percent” that people were starting to talk about.
It is no exaggeration to say that encuentro 5 has been critical not only to the success of Occupy Boston, but to its survival. Without encuentro 5, our media team would have floundered. Without encuentro 5, meetings couldn’t have taken place. Without encuentro 5, it’s very possible that we would have no Occupy Boston Radio.
I can’t thank encuentro 5 enough for everything they’ve done not just for Occupy Boston, but for the entire Boston community.
When we arrived at e5, I found the rest of the Occupy Boston media team sitting in a circle on the floor, responding to media inquiries and forming a media strategy. Others were meeting nearby, working on a silent protest strategy for the later part of the morning. Still more were taking space simply to talk about what they’d just endured. Every occupier who wasn’t at home asleep, it seems, was at e5 making our next move.
Even before we were in Dewey Square, encuentro 5 gave us a space to hold GAs and working group meetings during inclement weather. They helped us with resources when we had none. They introduced us to other groups working for positive change in the Boston area. They allowed our media team and our radio working group to rent space in order to continue functioning post-Dewey. Perhaps most importantly, encuentro 5 gave us validation in Boston. They were one of the first organizations to be vocal about their support for Occupy Boston, the Occupy Wall Street movement as a whole, and this “The 99 Percent” that people were starting to talk about.
It is no exaggeration to say that encuentro 5 has been critical not only to the success of Occupy Boston, but to its survival. Without encuentro 5, our media team would have floundered. Without encuentro 5, meetings couldn’t have taken place. Without encuentro 5, it’s very possible that we would have no Occupy Boston Radio.
I can’t thank encuentro 5 enough for everything they’ve done not just for Occupy Boston, but for the entire Boston community.