Report from Occupy Wall Street

Mohandas Gandhi’s theory of social action entails that we select the right cause, use the right means, and leave the results to a higher power. Before spending two days and one night in Zuccotti Park, the makeshift encampment and epicenter of Occupy Wall Street, I had serious doubts about the movement’s cause, means, and even spirituality. From far away in Rochester, it appeared that this planned revolt was more like a political circus orchestrated by angry and disenfranchised youth. The general message seemed to center on corporate reform but included a plethora of issues typically associated with the radical left. Moreover, it was difficult to discern any form of spirituality emanating from scanty, slanted and superficial news stories in publications like the New York Times.

After witnessing these events first hand, I can report that Occupy Wall Street may not have a specific cause but speaks with a clear voice. The “core” demonstrators want the world to know that corporate greed is poisoning the heart of American democracy. They also want the world to know that young people are tired of sitting on the sidelines while their government fails to provide meaningful jobs, adequate health care, and effective environmental conservation.

I discovered that protestors use a variety of means to express their concerns. These means include music, street art, political theater, and subversive forms of journalism. On the scene, it is clear that the protestors are able to talk about these complex issues with both thoughtfulness and tremendous passion. One of the more encouraging examples I can share with readers is a communication technique known as the “people’s mic.” Denied access to electronic amplification, protestors have developed a means of sharing information that uses the collective voice of the crowd to echo the words spoken by individuals. This tactic struck me as a profound demonstration of ingenuity in the face of adversity.

But some of the means are crude and counter-productive. One protestor was ominously dressed in zombie garb and walked around limply with a sign that read “When the world ends, I will eat the bodies of the rich.”

In general, the chaotic scene is imbued with a healthy appreciation for nonviolence that acted as a sort of glue to the many conflicting elements that appear to be in tension with each other and could erupt into violence otherwise. For example, the three major rules that everyone must obey as they enter “Liberty Plaza” include: no drugs and alcohol; no stepping on the park’s flowers; and no disrespecting other people’s belongings. Nevertheless, this community is not as autonomous as it pretends to be. After spending the night in the park, I awoke at dawn to witness several NYPD and paramedics lifting an unconscious man onto a gurney and rushing him to the hospital. The OWS medics were forced to stand on the sidelines while the city’s emergency responders attempted to save the man’s life.

As for the movement’s spirituality, I did see so-called anarchists flaunting their atheism in a rather bellicose way, and most people would concede that this is a secular movement.  Yet the very sight of thousands of people exercising their inalienable right to speak truth to power is a tantalizing experience. I also admired the small but energetic bands of protesters singing civil rights hymns that would have brought a smile to the face of Martin Luther King, Jr.

So yes,  from my viewpoint, this movement does have a certain spiritual vitality.  However, it is far too early to surmise where this powerful energy is going and just how far it can take a grassroots revolution founded on such an unspiritual ambition as occupation.

George Payne

Payne is a peace activist with the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence

Members of Gandhi Institute Celebrate Special Birthday

From the sidewalk, the house at 929 S. Plymouth Ave. looks like it’s seen many better days.

But Sunday, members of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence picked this old house to celebrate the birthday of the man who inspires their work because next year this former abandoned crack house will be the home for the institute.

“We are celebrating Gandhi’s birthday — he was born Oct. 2, 1869,” said Kit Miller, institute director. “This was originally scheduled to be a house-warming party when we started rehabbing this house months ago, but it has been an abandoned house for the past 17 years and it needed a lot more work than anticipated.”

Mohandas K. Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma which means “great soul”, organized nonviolent protests that eventually freed India from British rule in 1947.

Named after Gandhi, the institute is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and communities develop resources and practical skills to promote nonviolence. The organization also sponsors classes on nonviolence, mindful communication, sustainable living and restorative practices. It is currently based at the University of Rochester.

The new center, expected to be completed in December, will offer office for staff, a meeting area and rooms for visitors.

“But literally when we got in there it was filled with furniture with crack pipes on the floor and it was a crack house,” Miller said. “It’s actually looking beautiful to me right now.”

The century-old house is actually owned by David Skinner and David Knoll, who own 26 houses in the southwest neighborhood across the river from the University of Rochester. Skinner said he first came to the neighborhood in the 1970s as a UR student. After graduation he returned in the 1980s to Rochester and started investing, with partner Knoll, in the area.

“We are really delighted at the prospect of luring the Gandhi institute into the neighborhood,” said Knoll. “They wanted an urban community presence and we are looking to bring a positive energy to our neighborhood.”

The university has been promoting the area for students for the past several years. Neighborhood leaders are beginning to see changes in the area with new investment such as the Staybridge Suites hotel at Brooks Landing and the Gandhi Institute.

“Words cannot describe what is happening in this neighborhood,” said John Borek, co-chair of the Southwest Common Council. “It is transforming and it is a collaborative effort of many, many people.”

JBLACKWELL@DemocratandChronicle.com