“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;”>Occupy Wall Street made the nation’s discontent global news.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Last year, people were waking up to the systematic war being waged against poor and working-class families and communities, said Robbie Clark, an Occupy organizer from Oakland, CA who was the keynote speaker at the Organization for Black Struggle annual celebration on Jan. 28.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>OBS celebrated 32 years of fighting for liberation of the black community Saturday, and Clark’s words riled the audience. Voices from communities of color – where the impacts of the crisis are deepest and most visible – will emerge this year.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You can’t fight against economic inequality and not have black folks leading that charge,” Clark said. “This is the time for us to step into that leadership and to push for the liberation that we want for our people.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Clark helped to organize the general strike that took place in Oakland on November 2, 2011. As a housing organizer with Just Cause: Causa Justa in Oakland, Clark has witnessed the foreclosure crisis, police assaults and effects of economic marginalization on the black community.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“As revolutionaries, it’s our goal to transform spontaneous peoples’ movements into conscience movements,” Clark said. “Because spontaneous upsurge is not enough for the transformational change we need in this country.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Clark used the example of Rosa Parks and her role in starting off the Montgomery bus boycott. Though many think that she was just tired, Parks was a trained organizer, Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Conscience action anchors spontaneous moments. These must be actions based on a common understanding of how society works, Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Black people have an extremely clear understanding of how American society works, how it has changed and been manipulated,” Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Clark spoke about American society in three key parts: the American empire, the capitalist economy and use of force to protect the empire and economy.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“When we talk about having a common movement for transformational change, we have to be clear on the history of these institutions,” Clark said. “We have to be clear that when the foundation on our country was being built, it was based on the killing of indigenous people and it was based on the kidnapping of our ancestors. That kind of government is rotten to the core.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The government passed a number of laws that restricted people of color from participating in the capitalist economy. These laws supported the subprime lending practices, which allowed banks and lending groups to charge impoverished people with high, unsustainable interest rates.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”> “The loss of black wealth from subprime loans alone is the biggest loss of black wealth since black people have even been able to acquire wealth – since Reconstruction,” Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Aside from subprime loans, other forms of lending that still exist today often exploit the black community, including Payday loans, student loans, and credit cards. This is not a new trend, Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“From the beginning of this country, the accumulation of capital depended on the exploitation of black people and black bodies,” Clark said, “which means that any market that was started from the exploitation on black people is completely antagonistic to the survival and thriving of black people.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Capitalism is directly in contradiction to the survival of human beings, especially black people, Clark said. Africans were one of the first commodities bought and sold on the U.S. market, along with tobacco, sugar and cotton which slaves were forced to pick.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Our labor built the foundation for a lot of these corporations now that are effectively doing the same thing – exploiting other people all around the nation and all around the world.” Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The Occupy movement spread awareness that these corporations are not just antagonistic to black people but everybody who is not in the “one percent.”Â
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Looking at the history of enforcement, the police force was started to capture slaves who were running for freedom, Clark said. From its inception, it has been made to harm, control and stop black people from pursuing freedom. Clark used the example of OBS’ fight to free Reggie Clemmons, who has been on death row for the murder of two white women since the 1990s. Co-founder of OBS Jamala Rogers and other from the organization have tirelessly worked to prove his innocence. Clemmons’ case is an example of using the judicial system to continue lynching black people, Clark said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“A black man would look at a white woman and get lynched,” Clark said. “In 1991 a black man was on the same bridge where white women were killed and now they are trying to lynch him for being there. It is the same thing. It is changing form but it’s nothing new.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When police started raiding Occupy encampments, it represented a significant shift in the movement, Clark said. People began to acknowledge the marriage of the capitalist economy and the police force. Prior to this point, those in the Occupy movement did not want to make demands, Clark said. But the crackdowns changed that.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“That is really the potential of this moment,” Clark said. “Now is the time. There are people who are ready to take militant action and are taking militant action every day against economic inequality.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Clark commended OBS for creating a united front in St. Louis for three decades. These partnerships will lead to transformational change.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“This is really the time that we can make this a movement,” Clark said. “Up until this point, it’s been a moment. It’s been a lot of spontaneous action. We need to make sure we have a united front among those who are pushing for this moment to be for revolutionary change.”
