Local activist and one-time resident of Occupy Bath in Queen Square, Simon Jilley, reports on Occupy Democracy and the continuing efforts of Bath activists to create a better world for all...
Just over three
weeks ago, several Bath Occupiers headed over to London with the TUC
wagon to be a part of something pretty massive. Not only was there
to be an 80,000-strong march on Hyde Park to add ourselves to, but,
perhaps more current to our sentiments, the day marked an energetic
beginning to a 9-day occupation of Parliament Square.
As Alex and
myself arrived at Parliament Square, having taken a planned detour
whilst en-route to the march, we were greeted by vivacious greetings
from the Big Ben-side of the Square, as our drumming was warmly
welcomed over to a small group of pavement-occupiers. Strategically,
we worked our way around the square before joining the group, as to
suss out the situation police/security-wise. In the 1-minute journey
across the square towards the demonstrators, we met a kindly warden
who advised that we were not allowed to drum on that particular
30-metre path that crossed the square; then we met a couple of Met's
finest profilers, who asked us all about ourselves and our drums and
what we were doing, yadayada. To add to tensions, two GBC Legal
Observers rushed over to us as the Met were trying to spark
conversation, apparently assuming that our arrests were imminent.
We got to
our group, about 30-or-so there, and brought the drumming vibrantly
to the surface. We drummed, shouted 'FREEDOM!', sang our 'freedom
song', and chanted some more about freedom. Within a few minutes
some Westminster Council fellows came on over, seemingly claiming
[but we couldn't hear for sure...everyone started shouting and
chanting and singing and we drummed when they came over] that we
couldn't play there despite having been specifically told by our
profiling coppers a few minutes previous that we could. So, we kept
our tune, as it was raising spirits, and people were really
encouraging us. We continued playing for quite a while, till another
friend came along, and played some more before Alex was given
direction to do the speech from The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin).
Greed has poisoned men’s souls...more than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness...the hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people...you are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
Soon we had rounded up
a few people for the rally, and promised others that we would return
with a huge crowd more. I didn't quite expect that we could do that
– but the intentions were out there, and there were thousands on
the march, so why not?
The march was very
regimented, with lovely neatly formed groups from particular unions
and groups that we rounded past with our drums and chants for
freedom. The black block darted off, over the railings, shortly
followed by the 20 cops that had been following them probably for the
whole march.
We got to Hyde Park,
where a Green Party spokesman from Taunton was slamming the talk
about how 'THIS IS GOING TO BE A FIVE PARTY ELECTION!!!'. The whole
situation, combined with my lack of sleep, reminded me of Alex Jones'
appearance on Waking Life. But, it precipitated what was then to
come for the Green Party – an absolute onslaught on the media for
failing to represent the party at an acceptable level. Hash-tagged
as #invitetheGreens, the campaign has pushed the party into a bit of
a publicity limelight over the past fortnight.
A Hare Krishna stall
was there, serving up the same kind of irresistible nourishment that
they continuously provided throughout the 2011 Occupy St Paul’s,
and at plenty of other demos, completely for free. It felt like I was on
another march that had climaxed in the middle of nowhere, and I was
starting to get anxious to move on back to Parliament Square. The
idea of a rally, anyway, has never appealed to me in the slightest –
let alone a rally, as was apparent in this instance, that didn't seem
to even physically exist (I saw no stage, nor knew of there being any
main gathering place anywhere in Hyde Park..). We'd all finished our
prasadam curry, and my two friends were stretched out on the grass,
seemingly getting ready for a siesta. The samba band, who had been
playing about 50 metres away from us, had stopped playing, and all
was becoming quiet.
I noticed that one of
these two towers, which we'd marched near for some of the march, read
'democracy'. I was jubilant as I read the other: 'OCCUPY'. They had
each been carried upright by a few people, but now were being brought
to a horizontal, like as if a movement was being planned. Five or
six people took each tower, red and black flags started waving, and
the samba band were about to start up again.
I rushed my friends to
get themselves ready to go – we had another march to get on! As
Occupy Democracy, Reclaim The Power, the Black Block, and plenty of
non-affiliateds gathered and started moving on out of Hyde Park, a
police van rushed to a stop and a squad of maybe ten cops shyly
marched alongside the group. Their presence was weak, and largely
ignored.
We joined as the march
was working its way out of Hyde Park, and reclaiming the streets
towards Parliament Square. 'Whose streets? OUR STREETS!' roared our
crowd, the samba gave the pulse, myself and Alex drummed too, and we
gave our lungs to 'FREEDOM!', too. I met a few activists I hadn't
seen in quite a long while, which was fantastic. The camaraderie was
really really strong. We are united, together in whatever happens.
I suspected that we may miss our bus home through this – but it
didn't matter. This was something more important than a safe trip
home.
A police line were
waiting for us at the end of one road, about halfway to Parliament
Square, lined up. They were hardly formidable-looking, lacking the
riot shields and batons that I came to expect through my time last
year at Balcombe. There was a park on our left, so we all hopped the
railings and walked through the park, leaving the cops a little
embarrassed by their stunt.
We got back onto the
road, causing very little road disruption and even being supported by
a few motorists along the way. As we approached Parliament Square, I
was feeling very excited at what was soon to follow. The
hundred-or-so of us in our march were to return to Parliament Square
as a huge wave of energy, taking the Square from the oppressive
forces that dictate this 'democracy'. A slim line of police stood
between us and the Square. We weaved around them, and marched
straight into the centre of the square. I remembered finishing a Stop
The War march in 2007 in this square, as a samba band kept rhythms
going and police started surrounding the square. This was a similar
scene – but there were plenty more of us than them, and we were
committed to doing something incredible. We weren't going to be
moved.
So as myself and my
two friends ducked out of the square some minutes later, as we had a
coach back to Bath to catch as well as thirty-or-so comrades on the
coach to elate to, we left realising that this is the start of
something beautiful, again. What began as a mere idea, conjured by a
collective of 'subvertivists' under the 'Adbusters' motif, became an
assembly of whoever and whatever, all across the world. Reclaim The
Square became a common reality. What is strange for me, though, is
that since early 2012, when the last of the camps were decamping and
people getting burnt out, there has been little motion towards taking
this much, much further.
Now we are over two
weeks since that initial action, and just over a week since Occupy
Democracy ended the 24/7 occupation of Parliament Square. Russell
Brand brought the occupiers pizza, but occupiers were warned that,
should they fall asleep on the pizza boxes, they would be prosecuted
under the 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill for using
'sleeping equipment' in Parliament Square. Tents and structures are
banned in Parliament Square, to which police also claimed that
umbrellas were banned as a form of 'structure'. Tarpaulins were
banned, leading to two 'Battles of the Tarpaulin' between the
occupiers and the police. The police kicked the occupiers out of the
central square after the second Battle of the Tarpaulin, creating a
#TarpaulinRevolution on the periphery of the 2-metre police fence
guarded by police dogs. Banners and posters were banned from
Parliament Square, in one of the most obscure depictions of policing
in a 'democratic nation' that can possibly be imagined. People were
arrested
for giving food and drink to activists, and the
Police even arrested
the deputy chair of the London Assembly's Police & Crime
Committee, Jenny Jones, in one particularly
embarrassing episode for the London Met/the government. The
Occupiers persisted through wind and rain, through police brutality,
and through a media blackout for the first few days. And what has
come of this?
A Return
to Parliament Square is planned for 6pm on
Friday 21st November. The National Campaign Against Fees
and Cuts are calling to 'Build A Movement Not Just A Demo', urging
students to Occupy their campuses, organise walkouts during classes,
and 'resist'. Focus E15 Mothers, on 29th October,
occupied
the East Thames Housing Association Headquarters,
turning the entrance to the offices into a creche for the day. The
Adbusters collective called
us all to greatly unify ourselves, that the right time for revolution
will be the right time for revolution ('our
battle tactic will become one of subtlety and subversion, hover and
sting, actively waiting for our revolutionary moment to come').
The Occupation of
Parliament Square made the TUC rally mean something to me. I am
often one for quite controversial statements, and will not hold back
again this time. 'Britain Needs A Pay Rise' is a shallow and fairly
arrogant idea. What will a pay rise do, when we are living in a
society of broken communities? In my experience, money does not save
any troubles around us, but often leads to increased isolationism and
paranoia. In this time of austerity, we need to look beyond the
financial ripping-off that we are experiencing.
We are living in a society that claims to be democratic, and where we are fooled into thinking that we can actively change anything that is happening by voting for another party, or by going on a march. I felt unwelcome at the 'Britain Needs A Payrise' demo, and I know a fair few other Occupiers refused to join the march because of a complete disconnection with the focal point of the march. It was a big, digitally-printed, banner-waving, boxed-in march for the middle-class/Unionised working class to feel like as if they were actively doing something about austerity. The feeling on the coach to and from Bath reflected this. People spoke of this year's march in relation to last year's march, like as if the march is a yearly commodity, that it's just a day out strolling with thousands of other people through the city and occasionally, should the occasion arise, shouting a pre-printed slogan. There was a general feeling of a reluctance to actually do anything. The Occupy Democracy and Reclaim The Power activists emblazoned the march with a meaningful purpose. Through the march, we gathered energy and pace to march powerfully on Parliament Square, and kick-start Occupy Democracy. It is in rooting myself with collectives that actually are as direct as RtP and Occupy, as well as the countless grassroots activists that are occupying, resisting, and risking arrest and personal livelihoods through standing up for what they believe in, that I continue to believe and feel that change is happening, and that the world around me is gradually becoming liberated. For now, just as much as any other time, a question resounds in my mind: if not now, when?
We are living in a society that claims to be democratic, and where we are fooled into thinking that we can actively change anything that is happening by voting for another party, or by going on a march. I felt unwelcome at the 'Britain Needs A Payrise' demo, and I know a fair few other Occupiers refused to join the march because of a complete disconnection with the focal point of the march. It was a big, digitally-printed, banner-waving, boxed-in march for the middle-class/Unionised working class to feel like as if they were actively doing something about austerity. The feeling on the coach to and from Bath reflected this. People spoke of this year's march in relation to last year's march, like as if the march is a yearly commodity, that it's just a day out strolling with thousands of other people through the city and occasionally, should the occasion arise, shouting a pre-printed slogan. There was a general feeling of a reluctance to actually do anything. The Occupy Democracy and Reclaim The Power activists emblazoned the march with a meaningful purpose. Through the march, we gathered energy and pace to march powerfully on Parliament Square, and kick-start Occupy Democracy. It is in rooting myself with collectives that actually are as direct as RtP and Occupy, as well as the countless grassroots activists that are occupying, resisting, and risking arrest and personal livelihoods through standing up for what they believe in, that I continue to believe and feel that change is happening, and that the world around me is gradually becoming liberated. For now, just as much as any other time, a question resounds in my mind: if not now, when?
