Fotograffiti.: 2012

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Change is the Only Thing That Remains the Same

When did it all change? There are times when I love this movement. I eat, sleep, and breathe this movement. And then there are times that all I want is a stable place to live, a job that I love and that will sustain me and allow me to eat. Why can't I have both? I suppose if I had the latter, there would be no reason to love the former? Or at least not as much because, let's be honest, it wouldn't be affecting me directly. I wish I didn't think that way, but I do. I think if we're all honest with ourselves, we all do.

My current relationship has taught me a lot about myself. I'm selfish. I want people to love me for me, in spite of all my shortcomings, yet all I do is point out the negative characteristics of the one I'm with and try to change him. And he let's me and is constantly stepping up to the plate to please me. It makes me feel awful. When did I become this way? Have I always been this way? Is this why so many people leave? He is the only person so far to call me on my shit. And he stays with me in spite of me and I still act ungrateful, although I'm far from it. I want to change. I want to be a better me.

I periodically have to remind myself that tomorrow will come. No matter what happens today or how discouraged I get, the sun will rise again. Another chance to get it right. Or another chance to learn what's wrong.

On a positive note, the weather was A-mazing today. The first signs of warmness here that I have experienced this year. The sun and warmth are my energy and I look forward to a healthy and productive Spring and Summer <3

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Why Do I Occupy?

Why do I Occupy?

I occupy for the four million New Yorkers that have been stopped and frisked

in New York City since 2004.

I occupy for Jatiek Reed, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Ramarley Graham, and others

whom the NYPD have beaten and/or murdered and for all the victims of police brutality.

I Occupy for the 2.4 million incarcerated as a result of the prison industrial complex.

I Occupy for the millions that have been murdered domestically and abroad

in the name of democracy and the spread of U.S. Imperialism, our so-called Manifest Destiny.

I Occupy for the children that learn from a broken education system about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman,

but not Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, or the countless other

unsung heroes that white nationalists deem unworthy and attempt to make disappear from history.

I Occupy for students that will be indentured servants for life

trying to repay loans for an education that should be a right, while banks get bailed out for failing.

I Occupy for the artists and slaves of the 9-5 that cringe when the alarm goes off in the morning

because all they want is to make a living doing what they love.

I Occupy for retirees that worked and saved for their entire lives for their golden years,

but now patiently await the fate of their Medicare and Social Security

as politicians squabble about not raising taxes on the rich

and fail to even mention cutting the defense budget as the nation neared the debt ceiling.

I Occupy for the soldiers that return from war with PTSD and other traumatic symptoms

and are neglected and dismissed after serving their country.

I Occupy for those soldiers and the millions that become homeless

while homes are being foreclosed upon due to predatory lending practices

and many are subject to gentrification.

I Occupy for the millions nationwide that walk through life like a lemming,

falling in line, consuming, being obedient and submissive to the “rules,” even unto death.

I Occupy so my future children and grandchildren won't have to.

I Occupy for a better world.

If not us, who? If not now, when?

"It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do;

but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do." ~Edmund Burke, Second Speech on Conciliation, 1775

Sunday, February 5, 2012

We Are Unstoppable, Another World is Possible

I am outraged.

And how are you NOT? Regardless of what your views are on the Occupy Movement, let's be honest here, there is an organized suppression of this movement and there has been from day one. It took almost an entire week before media covered what we were doing and then suddenly it became the trending fad. Our media coverage peaked and then slowly began falling off, and at the other side of that peak was coverage full of condemnation and discrediting what we had accomplished. The mainstream media, conveniently owned by corporations, spread messages of disorganization, health hazards, and rape. Did all of these exist? Absolutely. There's no denying it. But is that what our movement stood for or condoned? HELL NO. We stood for organization, a new democratic system that was non-hierarchical, a community that could exist together and take care of one another. And that, that scares the shit out of the 1%.

We have a tough road ahead of us and it will be an uphill battle, but we've already overcome so many obstacles. Nearly all major cities have had their occupations raided and evicted and we're STILL HERE. They don't seem to understand that although it is nice for each occupation to have a home-base, the occupation is NOT the movement. Just because a home is foreclosed upon doesn't mean that family dies, it means they regroup and move on to FIGHT.

I joined this movement as a non-violent protester, who was very naive when it came to police brutality and how this world is currently functioning. It doesn't take long living in this movement before one realizes what is taking place, all at the exploitations of the many for the benefit of the few. If you're not a millionaire you can't even take a seat at their table. I wish I only meant that figuratively, but when the president is charging $38,500 PER PLATE for his fundraising dinners, that statement becomes literal, as well. While I am still in non-violent mode, the time is quickly approaching where things may take a turn for the worst. Sorry, Mom, I've gotta tell it how it is. There's only so many times a person can get a baton in their neck or be thrown up against the wall by the very people that are supposed to be "protecting and serving" you. There's only so many times a person can walk out of their front door and see a mobile police station with its eye in the sky or stopped and frisked by New York's so-called "finest" before they really start to believe they are the animal that they're being treated like. I've lived this for five months. Others have lived this their entire lives. Society puts sex, drugs, violence, and mistreatment of women in the forefront of every tv show and movie, yet when our youth idolize these things and become them, we criminalize them. DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS AS A PROBLEM?!?! Every time another person tells me that it's the fault of our young people for doing what they do, my heart aches more and more. YES, it is their decision, but what other decision are they left with? Get a job? There are NONE. Go to college? Can't afford it. Get a loan? They'll be an indentured servant for life trying to repay them while the very entities that they're repaying are failing and getting bailed out. What about a bailout for the people? They have us believe that the economy is unpredictable. I say BULLSHIT. They know EXACTLY what the economy is doing and they're benefiting from it while everyone else suffers, losing their homes and unable to eat. CAPITALISM IS THE PROBLEM. It is a system set up for greed. We need a system that is set up for the care of EVERYONE, not just the people wealthy enough to buy their way in.

So for everyone who says I need to get a job, I say this - I do not want to function in your society. Your society manipulates and exploits those willing to work the hardest and then tries to condemn them by calling them lazy when they are unemployed because they can't find work. Your society functions off of the exploitation of the laborers to make a few rich while indefinitely keeping them in a cycle that they are terrified to get out of for fear of the unknown. I AM NOT AFRAID. I will gladly starve before I work for another corporation that doesn't give a damn about whether I live or die. I will sleep in the streets before I go back to being a lemming, blindly walking through this world and this life caring only for myself and what I'm going to consume next because that's what society has taught me. I AM NOT AFRAID. And you shouldn't be either. Just REALLY think about what it is you're afraid of losing. A home? A car? A cushioned lifestyle? All materialism. Millions across the globe are dying of starvation and illnesses that are as curable as the common cold here in America. All that matters is what we do for people.

"I believe I'm going to die doing the things I was born to do. I believe I'm going to die high off the people. I believe I'm going to die a revolutionary in the international revolutionary proletarian struggle." -Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party

PLEASE WAKE UP. If you're awake, shake the person next to you. Then have them shake the person next to them. We have very little left and they're after that. They won't stop until they have it all, I promise you. The police are not here to protect you, if you think they are, try exercising your first amendment right against a corporation and see how quickly they're given orders to turn on you. They can hold us indefinitely now without trial because of the NDAA. Not far away is the day that they label protesters as terrorists, if you don't believe me, just wait.

This is a very small portion of what is actually on my mind. I love this City, but they speak truth when they say it is fast-paced and if you're not careful you will get caught up in it. Even quiet moments of alone time are rushed as I'm frantically getting ready for meetings, rallies, marches, court dates, travel. It's the life I wanted and the life I never want to give up, but if I'm not careful it will drive me mentally insane. It's not for the faint of heart. I love you all. We are unstoppable, another world is possible.