People outside of Gezi Gardens. |
While degraded in the media as 'outsiders' and often written off by some revolutionaries for being homeless and not up on the latest revolutionary theories, the homeless kids who made up the backbone of the encampment were the foot soldiers that made the space possible. Many were radicalized and politicized during Occupy SF and the wider Occupy movement and have continued to involve themselves in ongoing struggles. Occupy was the most important recent political event because of this; it pulled in many people on the bottom of American society, outcasted, rejected, and from the gutter. This came with warts and all. Many kids I met at Gezi Gardens came from hard lives and the streets, but in Occupy they found a family and a community. They found a commune. The bourgeois media overlooked this and tried to play on middle-class fears, but in doing so they missed out on what was most subversive thing about Occupy. That it created an event that brought so many of us together and united us in a project. One part resistance, one part simply living. In doing so, we came up against the state, it's repression and surveillance and police, as well as it's media, and also the Left, which attempted to channel us back into political parities and non-profits.
According to various people interviewed and internet reports, people gathered close by Gezi Gardens and attempted to march on the space. With police surrounding the entrance, people then tried to get into the garden from the side only to find that another swarm of police were already inside the garden. Marchers then took to the streets, shooting fireworks and blocking traffic. Several arrests occurred. According to the People's Record:
Gezi Gardens organizers & supporters marched around the farm, shutting down two intersections during rush hour. The National Park Service was also called to the space after hummingbird carcasses were found, as well as nesting crows in the eucalyptus trees, so the construction & demolishing has been halted (for now)! An archaeologist has also been called to go into the land to confirm that it is a sacred indigenous burial ground.
People work vacant lot in Richmond. |
At Gezi Gardens, the trees have been cut down and the crops plowed over, but the spirit of the SF Commune remains. For all of us who took part in the occupation of this land for two weeks the experience of living together and fighting together will not dissipate anytime soon. The seed of revolt that has been planted inside so many of us continues to grow. The fight against gentrification and displacement must and will continue. The battle for a new relationship to the land outside of capitalism and against the state will go on. Because quite simply, we have no other choice.
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