by Wilma Howe-Bennett   

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear (unfortunately, that isn’t true in this case)

What’s happening here is the violent showing of police repression. Yes, I agree that Zuccotti Park probably needed cleaning. So, set up some dumpsters and let the PROTESTORS clean up the place. They were already doing something like that, and all they needed was somebody to cart the trash off. They even had the money to RENT the dumpsters, fer cry-yi-yi! I do NOT agree that the level of police presence and the violence with which the occupiers were evicted was neither necessary nor was it appropriate.

There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

The FACT that the evictions in Oakland, Portland, Houston and New York all took place at about the same time does NOT make me a paranoid – but it does speak to the fear that the Establishment politicians are living with. The longer a politician, or a policeperson, is in a position of authority and power, the more inclined they are to actively support the status quo. Because that status quo means that their power and authority stays in force and grows stronger. Orchestrating the evictions so that they all took place at about the same time on three different coasts shows that The Establishment is a lot more dialed into what is happening, and a lot more fearful of what MIGHT happen than even I thought.

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Quan, Mayor Parker: Do not make the mistake of assuming that evicting protestors is going to shut them up. On the contrary, it makes us ALL more vocal. It also gets people that wouldn’t otherwise be inclined to participate out of their comfortable chairs and out in the streets. Remember, this country was founded by contrarians – and contrarian behaviours are programmed into ALL American citizens, born and adopted, on the genetic level.

Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

The kids that are the majority of the protestors are the grandsons and granddaughters of those of us that marched with Dr. King, and marched in protest of the Vietnam war. They are putting their bodies and their convictions RIGHT out there, in public, and I am proud of them. Remember that I wrote about our “American Winter” last year. The OCCUPY WALL STREET protest is in the process of evolving from a movement to a revolution. The difference between the two? It’s simple. A movement goes a certain distance and then stops. A revolution never stops.

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

The non-violent behaviours of the OCCUPY protestors has been exemplary. The violent reactions of the police and the political structure has been shameful. The panic and the fear of The Establishment is very clear. There’s already been blood, and there’s going to be a lot more before this is finished.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

Not THIS time, gangers. Remember the Arab Spring? Too many cell phones with cameras, too many iPads – and the bright light of day took the dictators down. Eventually, this always happens.





(Buffalo Springfield, FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH)

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Copyright Buffalo Springfield, 1967