Notes from a participant in Oakland and Berkeley protests

I want to share a few observations and thoughts about recent Oakland-Berkeley protests. The protests are not perfect and there have been problems; nevertheless, they have been creative, angry, spontaneous, honest, brave, and hopeful. Nobody is protesting in order to gain something or personally benefit somehow from their actions. I believe the net impact of these peaceful protests is and will be absolutely positive.

I demonstrated 2-3 times last week in Oakland, twice in Berkeley and another time when the protest started in Berkeley and moved to Oakland. I also talked and listened to a couple dozen people right after they were released from jail on December 9^th. To be clear, I have not been part of the groups that took over highways, not have I witnessed any individuals or groups breaking any laws, not even the police. Anyway…

• Berkeley protests are overwhelmingly young people who seem to be Berkeley undergraduates. A few older people like me are there, and a few raggedy-looking people, who might be also students as far as I know. But the Berkeley protests are mainly UCB students.
• Oakland protests are a little different: A little more diverse in terms of age and apparent ethnicity. They’re still primarily young but a little older looking than Cal undergraduates with more Latinos and African Americans, reflecting Oakland’s population.
• The people who’d been arrested were primarily students and not “movement veterans.” They described their arrest and jail experiences as unsystematic, confusing, boring, and really cold. More on this below.
• Most protesters oppose breaking windows, lighting little fires, and other petty acts of vandalism that are often called “violent.”
• The antagonism and unsystematic aggressiveness displayed by police is shocking to everyone. A popular chant is Why You Wearing Riot Gear, I Don’t See No Riot Here. Police actions have increased tensions with and among protesters.
• The protests are a spontaneous reaction to the non-indictments of police and not part of an organized movement with clearly defined goals and strategies and demands.
• For many people, the issue of police violence is connected with their thoughts on economic inequality and the 1%, with racism, and with other national and international issues. The protests remain focused, however, on the non-indictments of people who killed unarmed black men.
• In my opinion, taking over a highway and blocking its traffic is generally not a good move because highways are ugly and far away from people. A highway’s isolation means fewer protesters can make it there and they won’t be seen by potential allies, so illegal cop actions might not be witnessed. However, the December 8^th taking of I-80 and Amtrak and BART seemed to enjoy very large support so I might be wrong about that.
• Breaking windows and lighting fires, thsse small time petulant acts are not unusual in this country. They can occur when people celebrate sports victories, when people protest, and at other times. A broken window does not make a statement any better than a sign or a chant. Nor does it pose a threat or send a message to the capitalist state. If I wanted to discredit a protest or discourage people from participating, I’d break a few windows because (1) that gives some people a diversion away from the real issue, (2) an excuse not to participate in a protest, (3) the police an excuse to move in. Broken windows, unsurprisingly, really rile up the radical right wing, but those people are already so batshit crazy that it doesn’t matter. I’m much more concerned with reaching out to allies than upsetting the rabid right.
• Protests that begin at night have a different momentum and energy than protests during the day. I like daytime protests but we can’t always choose.
• Major news outlets aren’t covering the protests very well and spend a lot of time on individual acts of vandalism. I wish there were more interviews with protesters and even interviews with individual cops rather than repeating press statements from the official police. Ask protesters, “How did it feel when you saw cops charging, swinging clubs, and shooting at you? and “What’s it like to be arrested?” Ask cops, “How did it feel when you were hitting students with your clubs and they couldn’t escape?” and “How does it feel to arrest someone whose only crime is protesting?”
• When dozens of protesters were released from jail yesterday, December 9^th, no media was on hand. Their stories should have been collected and told – major missed opportunity.

OK, that’s a hodgepodge offered to those unable/unwilling to participate, and with a lot of patience to read this whole thing…! FYI, I’m 63 and my first protest was against the war in Vietnam, probably in 1967.