ACTIVIST TRAINING SEMINAR SUNDAY 13/11/11

So, how's that Occupy Melbourne thing going? 

Sometimes I just don't know any more.

There have been a lot of accusations in the media that we "don't stand for anything." 

Sometimes I find it difficult to cut through that media generated hostility and confusion to simply explain what I think we're about. I'm not a media professional, so it can be very frustrating. But I do know that there have been many times in the past when everyday people have been able to touch the public psyche in a very deep and powerful way, just by talking about their own feelings and experiences.

So how about this? How about we say: OK, we all know the banks and corporations have far too much power. I know the last time I went to the bank, I signed a contract with a lot of complicated language and I didn't understand the fine print, but I knew if I didn't pay off my interest or my loans, they would send men in uniforms around to take all my gear and if everything I own isn't worth enough, they'd put me in jail or make me work off my debt on a community based order. 

So how about we say: banks do the same thing to entire countries. Entire countries are forced into taking loans they'll never be able to pay back and the people in these countries don't get to read the fine print on these contracts, but they know if their governments don't pay back those loans - which they will never be able to do - it won't just be their furniture and cars that get confiscated, it will be their mineral resources and forests. And when these governments take out these loans, one of the conditions is structural readjustment deals with the banks and corporations, which force the people to slave their lives away to pay off these debts.

So maybe we just say: this is fucked up. Maybe we say: we here at Occupy Melbourne have been forced to take radical direct action to hold a space in our city, a few square meters, where we can talk about these things and put our heads together and put our hearts together, along with our brothers and sisters in all the occupied places around the world, to think up some solutions. 

And we say: we want to back up our words with our actions.

And we say: we need this space, these few square meters, because what we need to talk about, urgently, is never going to be taught to us in schools and is never going to be discussed by the media, because the schools and the media are already complicit in this system.

And so we reclaim some space, we start talking about these things, we try to back up our words with our actions. We give free food to the homeless and run free Spanish classes, we put some plants in pots out the front of this space for anyone passing by to have, for free, we invite all kinds of people to join us, older people, carers and children, working class people and people who wear suits. We invite people into this reclaimed space to sit with us and we hope that what we're doing in this space, in these few square meters, will have a big effect on the world around us. 

And the police force, acting on orders from the government, who are complicit with and controlled by the banks and corporations, try to stop us using violence.

And so we set up again. We reclaim some more space. We know it won't be easy. We know we face not insignificant risks. But we do it anyway. And we learn from our experiences and we try to do it smarter and we try to do it better.

Because if we don't have this, what have we got?

And so some of my friends and I are offering a skillshare this Sunday. We want to talk about things like affinity groups, decentralised decision making, what to do if you or the people around you get capsicum sprayed, how to take care of our own physical and mental health and look out for our brothers and sisters, how to stand our ground, while still reserving the right to tactical retreat, how to use a camera at a protest without falling on our arses and why it's important to always wear sensible shoes. 

I want to make it clear that we are not "professional activists" and we don't have all the answers. We are just people, like you, who have done some things like this before and have learnt from our mistakes. We have some skills and experiences we want to share with you. We are learning too.

I also want to make it clear that everything I have written above is my own personal opinion, the other trainers may or may not agree with me. We come from different backgrounds and perspectives. The purpose of this training is not to convince you to agree with our personal beliefs, it is to empower you to take radical direct action in the safest, smartest and most inclusive way possible. We are not an Occupy Melbourne working group, we are some people who want to work with others who are participating in the Occupy Melbourne movement, despite the police violence, despite the bickering amongst ourselves, despite the media's accusations that we "don't stand for anything" and despite the fact that a lot more work needs to be done to make every single participant in this movement truly equal.

Brothers and sisters, we can do this. We can reclaim this space and we can make it vibrant and inclusive and fun and beautiful. We've done it before and we can do it again. And if we're serious about holding this space, we need to look after each other and do everything possible to share our skills and resources.  

We don't need heroes and we don't need martyrs, we need everyday people, and lots of them, to stand together, in genuine solidarity, for justice.

I hope to see you* all there, this Sunday. 

Here is the facebook invite.

*not you, [e]stalkers, you suck bad.